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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000790 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USTR-AGAMA 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID/AFR FOR ATWOOD 
DOE FOR GPERSON 
LABOR FOR SHALEY 
USDA/FAS/OTP FOR MCKENZIE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON ELAB EPET SENV EFIN EAGR KDEM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA:  BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON UPDATES FOR APRIL 18-30, 2009 
 
Ref: A. ABUJA 483 
 ¶B. ABUJA 316 
     ¶C. ABUJA 714 
 ¶D. ABUJA 529 
 
¶1. (U) The Following is a joint Embassy Abuja, ConGen Lagos 
compilation of April 18-30, 2009 political/economic highlights, 
which did not feature in our other reporting, covering: 
 
--Economic News 
--Health 
--Political News 
--2011 Elections 
--House of Representatives 
 
Economic News 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On April 21, the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria 
(ISAN) organized the first shipowners' summit on the legislation in 
the National Assembly to develop Nigerian content in the oil and gas 
industry. (Note: the legislation would require strict levels of 
Nigerian content in all oil and gas related contracts.  End Note.) 
Summit participants decried the absence of the transportation 
sector, particularly maritime, in the bill.  Olisa Agbakoba, a 
maritime lawyer, said the bill shows Nigeria does not yet understand 
the importance of the maritime sector despite its employment 
creation potential.  Agbakoba opined that the Nigerian content bill, 
like previous maritime laws including the Cabotage Law, may not be 
properly implemented when it is enacted.  ISAN recommended that 
penalties be included in the bill to ensure compliance and that a 
review of achievements of the local content bill be done five years 
after enactment. (Comments: Previous version of the local content 
bill, which has been winding its way through the legislature for at 
least four years, included criminal penalties for oil company 
executives whose companies did not adhere to the proposed local 
content rules.  Thankfully those provisions have been dropped. 
Although the bill may not satisfy the ISAN, executives with two U.S. 
companies that run oil field service boats report that they've been 
approached by start up Nigerian companies demanding the US companies 
enter into a sale and lease back arrangement to satisfy the proposed 
local content law.  End Note.) 
 
¶3. (U) On April 27, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate 
General Lagos in collaboration with the International Visitor 
Leadership Program (IVLP) Alumni Association organized a seminar to 
commemorate Earth Day 2009.  Titi Anibaba, Permanent Secretary, 
Lagos State Ministry of Environment, said beautification and 
waste-to-wealth are cornerstones of the state government's 
environmental policy.  Over 100 private waste collectors collect 
waste across Lagos while programs to convert waste to energy, 
compost, ethanol, and water in collaboration with the private sector 
are under development, Anibaba said.  Professor Emmanuel Obot, 
Executive Director of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation remarked 
on the challenges facing the environment in Nigeria.  He said that 
9-13 million barrels of oil have been spilled in the Niger Delta 
over the past 50 years and pointed out that if sea-levels continue 
to rise at present rates, the entire state of Bayelsa, and much of 
Rivers, Delta, and Akwa Ibom states will be completely under water 
by 2050.  Dr. Obot stressed that saving Nigeria's bio-diversity is 
not about protecting exotic plants and animals for tourism or out of 
altruism, but rather about real economic opportunities to produce 
highly valuable niche products, like pharmaceuticals. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Credit Reference Company (CRC) Managing Director Tunde 
Popoola on April 29 told ConGen EconOffs nine of CRC's 11 associated 
commercial banks recently began to pool credit information on 
consumers, forming the larger of Nigeria's two credit rating 
agencies.  Although only a pilot phase before the system comes fully 
on-line in June when formal Central Bank of Nigeria approval is 
expected, several banks have already begun to draw data from the 
system to better assess the creditworthiness of would-be borrowers. 
Popoola estimated the initial population of credit worthy 
individuals captured by CRC would be small, noting that only about 2 
 
ABUJA 00000790  002 OF 003 
 
 
million Nigerians currently had access to credit.  Nonetheless, 
Popoola laid out plans to expand coverage over the next several 
months to Nigeria's more than 900 microfinance institutions and 
numerous utility companies, such as telecommunication firms, in part 
as a means to bring the large informal sector into the formal credit 
system.  Popoola said CRC's chief obstacles were the poor quality of 
basic biographic data and Nigeria's lack of a national 
identification system.  Popoola requested USG assistance in linking 
CRC with U.S. credit companies for training and information 
exchange. 
 
¶5. (U) OGUN STATE AND GUANGDONG FREE TRADE ZONE DISCUSS INVESTMENT 
OPPORTUNITIES:  On April 27, Yosolaoluwa Akinbi, the Economic 
Advisor to Governor Daniel of Ogun State; Chen Ziye, the Managing 
Director of the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (FTZ); and Liu Jun, 
the Economic & Commercial Consul of the Chinese Consulate; met with 
ConGen Econoffs and the Commercial Attach to discuss promotion of 
U.S. investment and companies for the FTZ.  Mr. Ziye sought U.S. 
Government assistance in facilitating a Nigerian trade delegation to 
build relationships with U.S. companies that could manufacture in 
the zone.  The meeting emphasized the importance of free trade 
policies and how state governments can establish a legal environment 
that protects foreign investment. 
 
¶6. (U) HEAD OF SEC RESIGNS: Director General of Nigeria's Security 
and Exchange Commission (NSEC) Musa Al-Faki resigned on April 23. 
He was appointed director-general (DG) of the NSEC in October 2004 
for a five-year renewable tenure.  The Executive Commissioner for 
Operations will be act as interim DG until the appointment of the 
new DG. 
 
¶7. (SBU) NIGERIA AND RUSSIA SIGN A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON 
NUCLEAR COOPERATION: According to press reports, Nigeria and Russia 
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 18, 2009 on 
nuclear technology cooperation.  On April 30, Professor Shamsideen 
Elegba, Director General of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory 
Authority (NNRA),in a phone conversation with ESTHOff confirmed the 
signing of the MOU saying that it will assist Nigeria to build its 
technical capacity for the peaceful use of nuclear technology.  The 
Nigerian House Committee on Science and Technology held a hearing on 
April 28 on the issue, where Director General of the Energy 
Commission of Nigeria, Dr. Erepamo Ossaisai, complained that his 
Commission, despite its mandate on energy issues, was sidelined in 
the negotiation and signing of the MOU.  He urged the House of 
Representatives to ensure that all GON agencies work together and 
adhere to their statutory responsibilities. 
 
Health 
------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) MENINGITIS KILLS 1,900 IN NIGERIA, NIGER, CHAD: Quoting 
Medecins Sans Frontieres, local press reported on May 4, that a 
meningitis outbreak has killed at least 1,900 people since the start 
of the year in Nigeria, Niger and Chad.  Of the 1,900 fatal cases 
recorded, 1,500 were in Nigeria, 300 in neighboring Niger and the 
remainder in Chad.  Since the beginning of the year more than 50,000 
cases of meningitis have been reported in Nigeria, making 2009 the 
worst year since a triple epidemic of measles, cholera and 
meningitis killed more than 12,000 people in 1996. 
 
Political News 
-------------- 
 
¶9. (U) WOMEN LAWYERS LAUNCH ANTI-VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN CAMPAIGN: 
On April 23, Lagos Consul General spoke at a dinner for the 
International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Lagos for the 
launch its Violence Against Women campaign.  The event was chaired 
by Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the President of the Nigeria Bar 
Association, and attended by a number of high-profile female lawyers 
and politicians.  The remarks focused on eliminating violence 
against women in West Africa and the role that FIDA members can play 
in combating trafficking in persons and assisting in the prosecution 
of traffickers. 
 
 
ABUJA 00000790  003 OF 003 
 
 
2011 Elections 
--------------- 
 
¶10. (U) On April 24, THISDAY newspaper reported that former governor 
of Adamawa State Boni Haruna plans to defect from the Action 
Congress (AC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  Haruna, a 
close ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, left the PDP 
with Atiku who became the AC presidential candidate for the 2007 
election.  Reportedly Haruna and other political allies of Atiku 
were pushing Atiku to return to the PDP, but Haruna and others may 
defect from the AC by themselves even though it no longer appears to 
be a viable option for the former vice president. (Note: Haruna and 
his former special assistant, Mohammed Inuwa Bassi, were arraigned 
by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in August 
2008 over alleged 93.9 million naira (about $636,600) fraud.  End 
Note.) 
 
¶11. (U) On April 26, THISDAY newspaper quoted Alhaji Bashir Tofa of 
the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) as saying that the party is 
"still in consultations mode" with other opposition parties, with a 
focus on forming a unified opposition to the Peoples Democratic 
Party (PDP).  Despite this statement, Tofa maintains that the ANPP 
is not part of ongoing discussions on the formation of a 
"mega-party". 
 
House of Representatives 
------------------------ 
 
¶12. (U) Nigeria's Speaker of the House Dimeji Bankole was elected as 
the President of the Afro-Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union at the 12th 
Afro-Arab parliamentary conference, which was held in Abuja from 
April 21-23. Bankole will hold the position for two years. 
 
SANDERS