NIGERIA'S FIRST NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SUMMIT: A

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000809 SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, AF/W PLEASE PASS USTR FOR AGAMA DOL FOR SUDHA HALEY DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS BAGHDAD FOR DUNDAS MCCULLOUGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2019 TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL PHUM ENRG ASEC NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA'S FIRST NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SUMMIT: A SNAPSHOT OF TRIPARTITE DISCORD ABUJA 00000809 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Political Counselor Walter N.S. Pflaumer for reasons 1.4 . (b & d). ¶1. (C) Summary: On April 23, the Ambassador participated in Nigeria's First National Employment Summit, which focused on the theme, "Meeting the Employment Challenges of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis." According to the Minister of Labor Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, the Summit's purpose was to find concrete solutions for job creation amidst a global economic recession. However, presentations from government, organized labor, and employers revealed strong ideological disagreements and widely differing policy positions which are likely to prevent tripartite consensus from occurring any time soon. The Summit also revealed that the Labor Minister is keen to showcase publicly tangible leadership on these issues, while privately demanding that international donors help him succeed in this effort. End Summary. THE SUMMIT - - - - - - ¶2. (U) From April 21 to 23, the Ministry of Labor and Productivity in collaboration with employers, labor unions, federal and state government representatives, academics, and members of the international community, gathered for Nigeria's first National Employment Summit. The Summit included several high-level Nigerian officials and international delegates, such as Nigeria's new Labor Minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode; Nigerian National Assembly Senate and House Committee Chairmen on Labor, Sen. Wilson Asinobi Aki and Hon. Ado Dogo Audu, respectively; National Labor Congress (NLC) President Abdulwahed Omar; ECOWAS President Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas; International Labor Organization (ILO) Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Africa Charles Dan, World Bank Senior Economist Volker Treichel and the Ministers of Labor from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana. ¶3. (U) According to Labor Ministry conference organizers, the major objective of the Summit was to "examine employment creation, challenges, opportunities, and prospects in key production sectors of the Nigerian economy to respond to the effects of the global economic and financial crisis." The sectors that most of the expert panelists identified for employment potential were information technology, maritime trade, agriculture, education, and health. Most of the experts stopped short of providing concrete evidence of having used these sectors to tackle unemployment and instead focused on broad criticism and future-oriented action. UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE ECONOMY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (U) The Summit concluded on April 23, with a panel of high-level Nigerian labor leaders and members of the international community. World Bank Senior Economist Volker Treichel gave Summit participants the context of Nigeria's economy as it relates to labor, claiming that poverty and unemployment rates have not fallen despite the growth of many sectors. This is especially true of youth unemployment -- a "disturbing trend," according to Treichel. Treichel also pointed out that only 4-5 percent growth is expected for 2010, (compared to 8-9 percent in 2001). Despite these low projections, he noted there has been fast growth in the food processing, information technology, light manufacturing, and cocoa sectors--all of which could be targeted for employment generation. However, he told Summit participants that major obstacles, such as unreliable power generation, government bureaucracy and over-regulation, and poor agricultural mechanization, are still stifling growth in these sectors. USG JOB CREATION IN NIGERIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (U) In her remarks, the Ambassador outlined USG projects in Nigeria, specifically focusing on public-private ABUJA 00000809 002.2 OF 003 partnerships, which presented concrete examples of jobs created in agriculture, trade, information technology, and micro-enterprise. At the same time, she acknowledged the problems of unchanging unemployment rates overall and rising youth unemployment. The Ambassador called on the Nigerian government to create opportunities for decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equality, security, and human dignity for both men and women. The Ambassador also made special mention of Nigeria's children, who are most vulnerable to the worst forms of labor as well as human trafficking. (Note: ILO Assistant Director General Charles Dan gave high praise for the Ambassador's speech, a copy of which he will deliver to ILO Director General Juan Somavia in Geneva. Several union leaders also complemented the Ambassador's speech, specifically her proposal for the GON and private sector to work as partners toward mutually beneficial solutions. End Note.) EMPLOYERS: PRIVATE SECTOR IS THE ANSWER - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (U) Agreeing with Treichel's assessment of the current employment situation, Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) Director General Olusegun Oshinowo emphasized that employment opportunities are being stifled by too much government interference. Oshinowo held that it is the role of the private sector, not government, to create wealth. He also warned that "Nigerians should not rely on the GON to solve their economic problems." (Note: Oshinowo told PolOff on April 28 that "instead of creating more government programs, Minister Kayode should look for ways to allow market forces and the private sector to thrive, free from government meddling." End note.) In his presentation, Oshinowo provided an example of wealth creation without government interference: NECA's Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NEW) project. Oshinowo explained that the program uses ILO's entrepreneurial development and training models to set up or improve small businesses for more than 250 women in Southeast and South South Nigeria, with no assistance from the GON. ORGANIZED LABOR: GOVERNMENT IS THE ANSWER - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (U) While NECA extolled the virtues of the free market, Nigeria's largest conglomeration of organized labor, the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC),condemned it, specifically for creating the global economic and financial crisis in the first place. NLC President Abdulwahed Omar specifically blamed the Washington Consensus, Alan Greenspan, the Chicago School, limitless privatization schemes, and neoliberal models of economic development, as "responsible for the current state of economic instability." Omar admitted that the private sector has an important role to play, but that the government's role is even greater. After describing "over-reliance on the free market" as a "failed strategy for economic development", Omar then praised China as a perfect model for "state-managed privatization that prioritizes the well-being its workers before anything else." GOVERNMENT: INTERNATIONAL DONORS ARE THE ANSWER - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (U) In both his opening and closing remarks at the Summit, Minister of Labor and Productivity Prince Adetokunbo Kayode announced that job creation, social security, efficiency, and harmony would be the "hallmark goals of his tenure" and that he will vigorously pursue "rebuilding infrastructure and human capital, relying on President Umaru Yar'Adua's Seven-Point Agenda." Kayode laid out an ambitious job creation plan in multiple sectors--agriculture; commerce and industry; power and energy; petroleum and solid minerals; public works; housing and urban development; transportation; land, water, and air; communication and information; education; health; culture and tourism; entertainment and sports; and the informal economy--for which the Labor ABUJA 00000809 003.2 OF 003 Ministry will design technical training and skills development programs. Kayode did not share any details of the plan, other than his expectations of international donor support, and of labor unions to "drop their critical approach and find a solution to the crisis." ¶9. (C) Immediately following the end of the Summit, Kayode summoned LabOff to a private conference room, along with ILO Assistant Director General Charles Dan and ILO Nigeria Director Sina Chuma-Mkandawire to lobby for resources to support his job creation plans. A day before the Summit, on April 20, Kayode publicly chided the ILO for not placing its regional headquarters in Nigeria or providing additional staff to its Abuja office, which Kayode maintained "would be commensurate with the GON's governing membership and contributions to the ILO." Kayode reiterated his demand privately to ILO staff, who explained that relocating the West Africa regional headquarters to Nigeria is neither economically feasible nor practical, but assured Kayode that the level of technical support will not depend on the location of its regional headquarters. ¶10. (C) Kayode also insisted to LabOff that the USG support (i.e., fund) projects that will help the Labor Ministry achieve its job creation goals. When LabOff reiterated the Ambassador's Summit remarks that USG is funding projects that have so far helped to create more than 67,000 jobs for Nigerians within the last two years, Kayode replied, "Yes, that's excellent, but I need something more to make me look good and show that I am doing something." Kayode also informed LabOff that he plans to travel to the U.S. in July to meet with high-level officials at the State Department, Department of Labor, and AFL-CIO. Kayode specifically requested a meeting with the Secretary of Labor. (Comment: Kayode's lobbying efforts have been very aggressive and we suspect he will do the same during his upcoming trip to the U.S. End Comment.) ¶11. (C) Comment: In the three days of Nigeria's first National Employment Summit, panelists and experts spent less time on best practices or concrete accomplishments than they did on harsh criticism for the causes of Nigeria's unemployment problem. Although organized labor, the private sector, and to some extent the government, agreed that corruption, inefficiency, and poor leadership are to blame, it seemed to be the only thing on which they agreed. With union leaders calling for more government, the private sector calling for less government, and the government calling for more international support, there was little common ground on which to build tripartite consensus for a future plan of action. End comment. ¶12. (U) This cable coordinated with Consulate Lagos. SANDERS