AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS NIGERIAN PERMANENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000144

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2019
TAGS: PREL UNSC UNGA NI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS NIGERIAN PERMANENT
REPRESENTATIVE OGWU

Classified By: ECOSOC Robert Hagen for reasons 1.5(B) and (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: During a February 12 initial call on
Nigerian Permanent Representative to the UN Uche Joy Ogwu,
Ambassador Rice pressed Ogwu on the need for Nigeria to
expeditiously complete its preparations for deployment of a
battalion to AMISOM in Somalia. Ogwu referred to difficulties
in logistics and understanding the situation on the ground in
Somalia, but said she would "exert all the pressure I can" to
ensure timely deployment. Ogwu asked for an emergency open
Security Council meeting on Somalia and invited Ambassador
Rice to participate in the upcoming C-34 review of
peacekeeping operations that Ogwu will chair. END SUMMARY


2. (C) Ambassador Rice began a February 12 initial call on
Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
Uche Joy Ogwu by inquiring on the status of the Nigerian
deployment of a battalion to AMISOM in Somalia. PR Ogwu
stated that during a visit to Nigeria the previous week, she
had consulted with Ministry of Defense staff and would
continue to "expert all the pressure I can" to ensure timely
deployment. She referred to difficulties in logistics and
understanding the fluid situation on the ground as factors
impeding timely completion of Nigeria's preparations. Ogwu
requested an emergency open debate in the Security Council on
Somalia in order to better understand recent developments.


3. (SBU) In response, Ambassador Rice noted that the US had
promised to assume a substantial part of the cost of the
AMISOM support package that had been discussed in the
Security Council earlier that day. She warned that recent
news from Somalia underscored the need for expedited
deployment to forestall any possibility of Al-Shabaab taking
over Mogadishu, noting that extremists had just fired on a UN
ship.


4. (U) PR Ogwu briefly discussed the regional situation,
noting that Liberia and Sierra Leone seemed to be "settling
down." However, Guinea-Bissau presented a "new type of
problem", referring to narco-trafficking and state
corruption, and Ogwu said that Africa was determined to
address the narco-trafficking threat to Guinea-Bissau. In
discussing West Africa, she did not refer to the recent coup
in Guinea.


5. (U) PR Ogwu pledged her full cooperation on issues of
common concern at the UN, including poverty and health,
climate change, and improving peacekeeping, noting that she
is a "team player" and the days of anti-Americanism are gone.
She offered to put Ambassador Rice in contact with former PM
Obasanjo, now the Secretary General's Special Envoy to the
Great Lakes, during his next visit to New York. She noted
that PM Obasanjo had "come full circle" in returning to the
Great Lakes region and had complete mastery of his portfolio.
In her capacity as chair for upcoming C-34 committee
deliberations on peacekeeping, PR Ogwu invited Ambassador
Rice to participate and present US perspectives.
Rice