VZCZCXRO8856
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #2894 3071327
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031327Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7677
INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 5436
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0376
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0308
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ABUJA 002894 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOT PASS TO FAA 
DAKAR PASS TO FAA REP ED JONES 
ROME PASS TO TSA REP JOHN HALINSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR CASC AMGT ASEC NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN AVIATION, TOURISM MINISTERS EXCHANGE JOBS 
 
REF:  ABUJA 2867 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Following concern over the October 29 ADC 
Airlines crash that killed 96 persons, Nigerian President Obasanjo 
announced November 2 he had switched the jobs of two ministers. 
Former Minister of Aviation Babalola Borishade took the job of Femi 
Fani-Kayode, Minister of Culture and Tourism, and the former tourism 
minister became aviation minister.  Virgin Nigeria Airlines 
continues to replace expatriate employees with Nigerian staff. 
Fani-Kayode's appointment is unlikely to lead to badly needed reform 
of the aviation sector, whose safety performance has been in 
freefall since early 2005.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Following public concern over the latest major air disaster 
in Nigeria, an ADC Airlines crash on October 29 that killed 96 
persons, Nigerian President Obasanjo announced November 2 he had 
switched the jobs of two ministers.  Former Minister of Aviation 
Babalola Borishade took the job of Femi Fani-Kayode, Minister of 
Culture and Tourism, and the former tourism minister became 
Nigeria's new minister of aviation. 
 
¶3. (U) Public and political reaction in Nigeria to the crash has 
been strong.  Earlier in the week, at least four senators called for 
Borishade's immediate resignation following the ADC crash. 
 
¶4. (U) Femi Fani-Kayode was Obasanjo's special assistant on public 
affairs prior to being named tourism minister.  The new aviation 
minister is a lawyer and is from Ile-Ife in Osun State, in Nigeria's 
southwest.  Fani-Kayode is very close to Obasanjo and on several 
occasions has described the president as his "political father." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Regarding Fani-Kayode, a Lagos Consulate aviation contact 
said that Virgin Nigeria Airlines and the Aero Contractors airline 
blacklisted him approximately six months ago from using their 
services because the minister would not submit to their security 
screenings and became belligerent when airline staff insisted that 
he do so.  This contact contended that Obasanjo's selection of 
Fani-Kayode as his new aviation minister signaled the president's 
belief thatLvzWin Atlantic Nigeria Group representative with Virgin Nigeria 
(VN) Airways and chief executive officer of aviation logistics. 
Adebanjo said VN's gradual replacement of the airline's expatriate 
technical staff with Nigerian employees was part of a long-term 
business plan.  This was being carried out as the company's 
wet-lease arrangements expire and as Nigerian crew members who had 
been trained in the United States and the United Kingdom replace 
foreign crews.  Currently, Nigerians staff all of VN's domestic 
flights, while the airlines' regional and international flights use 
a mixture of expatriate and Nigerian employees.  An expatriate 
employee oversees the airline's security operations. 
 
¶7. (U) In the next 24 months, Adebanjo said VN plans to replace most 
of its expatriate technical employees with Nigerian citizens.  He 
emphasized that security and safety were of the "utmost concern" to 
VN, and that this replacement of expatriates would be as gradual as 
necessary to ensure that Nigerians in technical positions have 
received state-of-the-art training.  Adebanjo added that VN very 
much hopes to receive USG approval for direct flights to the United 
States, and that the company's hiring and training of Nigerian 
employees are part of VN's efforts to demonstrate it is a Nigerian 
airline, rather than a UK-dominated company. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Borishade also is a close associate of President Obasanjo, 
which likely account's for the former aviation minister's retaining 
a cabinet post.  For his part, new Minister of Aviation Femi 
Fani-Kayode has inherited a very challenging portfolio, and one that 
might prove even more difficult than attempting to lure tourists to 
Nigeria.  It is difficult to predict where Fani-Kayode will start 
his efforts to "reform" a badly and broadly broken aviation sector 
whose safety performance has been in freefall since early 2005. 
 
CAMPBELL