VZCZCXRO0654
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOS #0630/01 2611452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181452Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9410
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 9186
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0138
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000630 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--HANDLE ACCORDINGLY; SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
ENERGY FOR CAROLYN GAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID EPET SOCI NI
SUBJECT: UNDP PLANS IN THE NIGER DELTA 
 
REF:  Lagos 0060 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  A United Nations (UN) official outlined a four 
part development program in the Niger Delta to be implemented in 
partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company.  He decried 
the lack of a concerted international plan to address ongoing unrest 
in the region.  The UN continues to operate in most parts of the 
Delta under "normal" security precautions and wants to open an 
office in Port Harcourt. 
 
--------------------------- 
Delta Assessment is Grim, 
Lack of Coordination Decried 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During a round of introductory meetings with host country 
and international organization officials in Abuja, ECONOFFS met with 
Turhan Saleh, the Country Director for the United Nations 
Development Program (UNDP) in Nigeria.  Saleh started the discussion 
by decrying the lack of international coordination on development 
activities in the Delta.  While acknowledging the good work of US 
Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK's Department 
of International Development (DFID), he said most development 
activities failed to fit into any broad plan for the region or 
engage in any coordinated way with Nigeria's federal government.  He 
urged more international cooperation and planning on development 
activities. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Saleh said the UNDP's assessment of the situation in the 
Delta was grim.  He later shared a copy of a restricted UNDP report 
written prior to the April 2007 Nigerian national elections, which 
outlined projections for best case, medium case, and worst case 
scenarios post-election.  The medium and worst cases, deemed most 
likely to occur, predicted increasing violence in the region with no 
movement towards a solution.  However the worst case's most dire 
predictions of severe instability and oil production falling to 
300,000 bpd have so far failed to materialize. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Shell Funds UNDP Initiative in the Delta 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Saleh described a MOU the UNDP has signed with Shell 
Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to fund and manage a Niger 
Delta development program in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states.  SPDC 
will contribute $14 million of the program's $18 million budget with 
an additional $10 million contribution for an environmental damage 
assessment project. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The development program consists of four parts.  One part 
is a local governance improvement program designed to strengthen the 
capacity of local leaders and governments and to improve 
transparency.  Activities include financing a local development fund 
to be used by Local Government Areas in small development projects, 
the creation and implementation of coherent local budget and 
planning procedures and facilitating local dialogue. Additionally, 
the UNDP program will create a knowledge base that can be used by 
local leaders in policy creation and implementation. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Also envisioned is a youth empowerment and employment 
project.  Planned are three vocational skills training centers that 
will combine technical skills training with HIV/AIDS counseling and 
courses on conflict resolution and leadership development. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The largest, if most narrowly focused project, is an 
assessment of environmental conditions in the troubled Ogoniland, 
the tribal home of the Ogoni people and an area in Rivers state hit 
hard by oil spills, oil fires, and gas flaring.  This is the most 
detailed portion of the four part development plan and will include 
overhead imagery, soil, water, and air sampling, a review of local 
fish stocks, a database of environmental conditions in the area, and 
technical recommendations on alleviating environmental damage. 
According to Saleh, the initial assessment is due in the third 
quarter of 2008.  Ogoniland was the home to some SPDC operations 
until 1993, when production was shut-in due to severe unrest and 
intense local opposition. [Note: SPDC has estimated that Ogoniland 
could produce 28,000 bpd.]  It was also the home of Ogoni activist 
and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, executed by the Nigerian government in 
¶1995. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
UN Personnel Free to Move in Most of Delta 
------------------------------------------ 
 
LAGOS 00000630  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Saleh went on to mention that the UN wishes to open an 
office in Port Harcourt to house the various UN organizations 
working in the Delta.  The approximately fifty person staff would 
include not only locals, but expatriate UN employees.  When asked 
about the impact of security restrictions on UNDP activities in the 
Delta region, Saleh responded that UN personnel are free to move 
about the region using what he termed, "normal security 
precautions," and that he had traveled to the Delta on numerous 
occasions.  The only area considered out of bounds is Warri South. 
He did acknowledge that a review of the situation in Port Harcourt 
is possible in light of recent clashes between security forces and 
armed gangs. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment:  The discussion with Saleh was a welcome insight 
into UNDP activity in the region.  Saleh appears eager to share 
information on ongoing projects and participate in closer 
international coordination on Niger Delta development and engagement 
with the Nigerian government.  Our Ogoni contacts have expressed 
suspicion over the UNDP/SPDC cleanup project in Ogoniland because 
they were not consulted.  We will continue to monitor the progress 
of the UNDP's efforts.  End Comment. 
 
McConnell