Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10ABUJA141
2010-02-05 17:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- FEBRUARY 5, 2010

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR SOCI KPAO NI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7876
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #0141/01 0361757
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 051708Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0198
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0056
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 000141 

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SOCI KPAO NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- FEBRUARY 5, 2010

REF: ABUJA 0123 AND PREVIOUS

CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 000141

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SOCI KPAO NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- FEBRUARY 5, 2010

REF: ABUJA 0123 AND PREVIOUS

CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (SBU) Mission Nigeria provides the following compilation of
recent political, economic, and social developments not reported
previously.



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RENEWED POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AKWA IBOM

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2. (C) Contacts of the Regional Security Office at ConGen Lagos
reported the kidnapping of a retired general and Chairperson of the
ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) from his church in Akwa Ibom
on January 31. Kidnappers reportedly killed the victim's wife
during the abduction. ConGen is seeking additional details,
including whether the kidnap victim is a current or former party
official. ConGen has heard other reports of political violence in
Akwa Ibom, including the alleged assassination of former State
Assembly member and PDP candidate for Local Government Area
Chairman Udo Nnwa, killed about October 15. Independent
businessman and International Visitor Leadership Program
participant John Akpan claimed to PolOff in November 2009 that
current PDP Governor Godswill Akpabio has attempted systematically
to eliminate opposition to his rule within the PDP via kidnapping
or other violent means.



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MUSLIM OUTREACH AROUND LAGOS

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3. (SBU) PolOff and Political Specialist met with Professor Lai
Olurode, author of "Glimpses of Madrasas from Africa," on February
2 to discuss Muslim outreach opportunities with ConGen Lagos.
Olurode said schools within the Muslim community in Southern
Nigeria received insufficient funding. He emphasized the need for
better trained and experienced teachers as 60 percent of
non-literate Nigerians are Muslim. He noted that low test scores
of students who attend Madrasas reflect lack of financial support
and educational resources in Muslim communities. Olurode suggested
that ConGen Lagos host a sensitization and empowerment workshop and

invited PolOff to speak to Muslim youth in communities outside
Lagos.



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STATUS OF DOWNSTREAM OIL

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4. (U) Mobil Downstream Managing Director (MD) Tunji Oyebanji
asserted at the February 2 Apapa Diners Club monthly gathering that
refineries in Nigeria do not make economic sense. He said the
inefficiencies and operating costs of refineries in Nigeria
remained high, while larger European refineries operated more
efficiently. The cost savings from European refineries more than
made up for transport costs to Nigeria. Oyebanji added that,
whenever oil travelled in an overland pipeline in Nigeria 40
percent of the oil was lost either through bunkering or leakage.
He alleged that police assigned to guard the pipelines actually act
as coordinators for those involved in illicit bunkering activity,
telling the thieves who can steal, and where, on the pipeline.

ABUJA 00000141 002 OF 004


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LAGOS BUSINESS SCHOOL VIEWS

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5. (U) Financial Derivatives MD Bismarck Rewane told the monthly
February 2 Lagos Business School breakfast meeting that Nigeria's
GDP had risen to 8.23 percent as of January, underscoring the
strength of the economy. He noted, however, that job creation
remained a challenge. Hareema Nigeria MD Peppo Ravelli estimated
that companies invested 30 billion dollars into the Nigerian oil
services sector and planned to invest an additional 400 billion
dollars before pulling out of Nigeria due to Niger Delta
instability and anticipated consequences of the proposed Petroleum
Industry and Local Content Bills. Rewane remarked that the Asset
Mortgage Company (AMC) Act elicited resistance from stockbrokers,
who thought the AMC favored bankers. Whether the public or private
sector owns the AMC remained a point of contention, he said. If
the AMC incorporated private sector interests, Rewane predicted,
the act would achieve greater credibility. He noted that Shell's
sale of three oil leases in Bayelsa State involved 30 wells
producing a total of 50,000 barrels per day.




6. (U) Dean of Lagos Business School and former Presidential
Candidate Pat Utomi remarked that some Northern leaders want Vice
President Jonathan to assume the Presidency while others had
concerns over his leadership abilities. He said, however, Cabinet
members did not want to cede power to him and, therefore,
uncertainty would continue for the rest of 2010. Utomi declared
that "The violence in Jos is close to becoming another Rwanda due
to the lack of attention and exacerbation of tensions." He noted
that violence could easily erupt tomorrow. The Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND),he warned, retained the
capability to halt oil operations and could signal their
disappointment during the next week or so regarding how the country
has treated the Vice President. He commented that the solution to
the Niger Delta involved allowing people to create wealth. Lagos
Business School Economics Professor Doyin Salami suggested that the
people in power are "playing ostrich in order to protect their
SUVs," intimating that personal well-being is placed ahead of
national



-------------- --------------

FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM BENEFITS 1.2 MILLION NIGERIANS

-------------- --------------




7. (U) A recent independent assessment of USAID's MARKETS private
sector led, value chain, agriculture and food security project
concluded that every dollar invested in the project since inception
in 2005 generated a four-dollar increase in net income for 400,000
farmers and agro-processors; created over 100,000 short and long
term jobs; increased sesame production by 25 percent, and rice
production by 250 percent for rice farming from the initial base;
extended 50 million dollars in commercial credit to participants,
90% of whom are women; and four value chains between farmers and
specific agro-processors had become sustainable without further USG
assistance.




8. (U) Additionally, over 66,000 women increased their incomes
while hundreds of women's organizations now more effectively
advocate women's needs to local governments. Total net income
generated since 2005 reached 66 million dollars, with a projected
increase to 85 million dollars for 1.2 million farmers and
processors by December 2010, when the funding for the Fiscal Year
2009 emergency food security program will be fully expended.

ABUJA 00000141 003 OF 004


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HIV-AIDS AND TB COP

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9. (U) USG-Nigeria PEPFAR team submitted the 2010 annual Country
Operation Plan (COP) to the Global AIDS Coordinator January 29. The
plan builds a partnership for sustainability with the Nigerian
Government to continue strengthening ongoing service delivery to
patients; renew focus on health systems strengthening; and align
activities with the Nigerian National Strategic Framework for
HIV-AIDS, 2010-2015. The Plan will also intensify and focus
prevention efforts; deepen integration of HIV-AIDS response into
the broader health care system; strengthen the health care system
at all levels; and expand access to quality services. USAID's
proposed FY2010 PEPFAR budget is 249.9 million dollars.



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CORPORTATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PARTNERSHIP

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10. (U) USAID-Nigeria and four private sector partners, including
Zinox Computer Technologies, Microsoft Nigeria Limited, Ocean
Energy Nigeria Limited, and British American Tobacco, Nigeria,
launched a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partnership at the
University of Lagos. A grant from USAID and the British American
Tobacco, Nigeria, will fund CSR activities, including redesigning
and upgrading of the University's business school curriculum by the
Kansas State University. Previously, USAID funded an activity to
build the capacity of the University's computer science and
business programs to produce graduates better equipped to enter the
Nigerian workforce.



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HERE'S TO YOU, MR. ROBESON

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11. (U)The ConGen Lagos Public Diplomacy Section and the Music
Society of Nigeria launched Black History Month activities by
hosting a performance of "Call Mr. Robeson," a one-man play with
music by Nigerian-born architect-turned-actor Tayo Aluko. Based on
the life of American Renaissance man Paul Robeson, the play touched
on his academic achievements, his career as an actor, singer and
orator, and his activities as a trade unionist, the last resonating
especially with the 2010 theme of economic empowerment in the black
community. The play also highlighted Robeson's 1956 appearance
before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The audience
and several local media outlets reacted in an overwhelmingly
positive way.



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ARRESTS OF DRUG TRAFFICKERS

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12. (SBU) The Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)
personnel arrested three major drug traffickers, Marcel Chibueze
Udeze (also known as "Molue"),Chidi Ugbaja, and Monday Paul Edeh,
for importing from Lahore, Pakistan, 2.4 kilograms of heroin with

ABUJA 00000141 004 OF 004


an estimated street value of about 153,000 dollars. The Murtala
Mohammed International Airport (Lagos) NDLEA Commander said the
traffickers established a shell business to conceal the smuggling
of illicit drugs through the airport and received help from a
clearing and forwarding agent who worked in airport's cargo
section. NDLEA agents seized the drugs after surveiling
consignments delivered to the clearing agent. According to NDLEA,
the traffickers formed part of a notorious drug trafficking cell
operating in Nigeria with affiliates in Pakistan.
SANDERS