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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000968 
 
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DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON ELAB EPET EFIN NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA:  BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON UPDATES FOR MAY 16-31, 2009 
 
ABUJA 00000968  001.2 OF 003 
 
Ref: 
 
¶1. (U) The following is a joint Embassy Abuja, ConGen Lagos 
compilation of May 16-31, 2009 political/economic highlights, which 
did not feature in our other reporting, covering: 
 
--Economic News 
--Health 
--Environment 
--Political News 
 
ECONOMIC NEWS 
------------- 
 
¶2. (U) FG TO REVIEW CBN's SELECTION FOR ADMINISTERING 200 BILLION 
NAIRA ($1.3 TRILLION) AGRIC FUND:  The Central Bank of Nigeria had 
initially mandated that two commercial banks will administer the 
disbursement of $1.3 trillion commercial agriculture fund, United 
Bank of Africa (UBA) and First Bank of Nigeria (FBN).  During an 
interview with News Agency of Nigeria on May 18, 2009, the Minister 
of Agriculture and Water Resources mentioned that GON intends to 
review the policy due to complaints by other commercial banks on the 
selection process used by CBN.  Minister mentioned the importance of 
reaching farmers by providing funding through a number of banks. 
 
¶3. (SBU) SINGAPORE AIRLINES CLOSE TO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE GON TO 
BEGIN FLIGHTS TO LAGOS:  On May 29, Lagos Consul General met with 
Sabbir Hassanbhai, Singapore's High Commissioner to Nigeria (not 
resident) and Harish Aswani, Honorary Consul General.  Hassanbhai 
told the Consul General that current recession has demonstrated 
Singapore's over reliance on a few trading partners and the country 
wants to diversify its trading network to include more African 
nations.  However, he remarked that Singaporean businessmen tended 
to be complacent and comfortable in Asian and American markets and 
many were reluctant to do business in Africa.  The High Commissioner 
noted that Singapore Airlines was close to concluding an agreement 
with the GON to begin flights to Lagos, possibly with an 
intermediate stop in India.  As quid pro quo, he thought the GON 
would insist on a code sharing arrangement with an unnamed Nigerian 
airline.  Singapore has a small but robust exchange program with the 
GON, including training for city planning and aviation. 
 
¶4. (U) INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS' SUMMIT ON COUNTERFEITING AND 
PIRACY:  The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on May 26 and 27 held an 
international stakeholders' summit on counterfeiting and piracy that 
brought senior customs officers in touch with other Nigerian 
regulatory bodies, the private sector, and the diplomatic community. 
 On behalf of the Consul General, EconOff delivered a speech that 
praised the work of the NCS and promised the U.S. Mission's 
continued assistance on intellectual property rights (IPR) that will 
include training in June at Nigeria's chief points of entry.  The 
Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, Rong 
Yansong, delivered a similar message in support of Nigerian efforts 
to enforce copy rights, violations of which he said undermined 
Chinese commercial interests in Nigeria.  Coming on the heels of a 
U.S. Department of Justice IPR workshop in April, the summit helped 
to maintain momentum in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. 
 
 
HEALTH 
------ 
 
¶5. (U) WHY POLIO IS STILL PRESENT IN NIGERIA:  The Minister of 
Health recently identified some of the constraints that fuelled the 
wild polio virus (WPV) in the country.  The Minister spoke at the 
62nd session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) on May 19 2009 and 
explained why the country still harbors the WPV despite progress. 
He cited the lack of consistency in Supplemental Immunization 
Activities (SIAs) across the state and Local Government Area; 
absence of target children from homes during campaign; lack of 
parental/caretaker consent and poor logistics for the vaccination 
 
ABUJA 00000968  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
team to reach all in some parts of the country as reasons why polio 
is still present in Nigeria.  The Minister asserted that political 
will and determination will eradicate polio from Nigeria. 
 
¶6. (U) ROLL BACK MALARIA PARTNERSHIP STARTS ITS BED NET DISTRIBUTION 
IN NIGERIA: On May 8, the Nigerian National Malaria Control Program 
(NMCP), with support from U.S. Aid for International Development 
(USAID) and other donors under the Roll Back Malaria Partnership 
program, launched the first wave of a national bed net distribution 
campaign designed to reduce by half the number of malaria deaths in 
Nigeria over the next few years.  If successful, the campaign could 
have significant impact on Africa's overall malaria burden, 
according to a report by the World Bank.  (Note:  Nigeria, with 
Africa's largest population (estimated at 160 million) and over 
300,000 deaths each year, bears the highest malaria burden in the 
world.  End Note.)   The campaign, which lasted from May 3-17 in 
Kano State, saw the distribution of 2 million long-lasting 
insecticidal bed nets (LLIB) covering 44 local government areas 
(LGAs).  According to the NMCP, the campaign aims to reach 80% of 
all households by the end of 2010 and will be conducted in all 36 
states of Nigeria.  The second phase of the campaign will focus on 
replacement of torn or worn out nets as well as distribution to new 
family members via routine health services, free or subsidized 
distribution through community-based organizations, and subsidized 
or full-cost distribution via the commercial sector.  The Mission 
will monitor the campaign's progress and report accordingly. 
 
ENVIRONMENT 
----------- 
 
¶7. (U) BUILDING NIGERIA'S RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE:  On May 27, 
Building Nigeria's Response to Climate Change (BNRCC), a project 
funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), held 
a roundtable discussion with members of the Government of Nigeria, 
civil society, and academia on the impacts of climate change on 
Nigeria and possible response strategies.  The primary goal of the 
BNRCC is to help Nigeria adapt to current and anticipated effects of 
climate change.  BNRCC aims to meet this goal by sponsoring studies 
on Nigeria's vulnerability to climate change, identifying possible 
adaptation actions, piloting these actions in Nigeria's most 
vulnerable communities, and assisting the government in developing a 
comprehensive, sustainable and gender sensitive national strategy 
for climate change.  Participants from the Government of Nigeria, 
civil society, and donors received presentations on the BNRCC's 
efforts to date, including its advocacy work with the government and 
the public and various studies that it has commissioned on climate 
change and adaptation strategies.  BNRCC's work is particularly 
geared to identifying and developing gender-sensitive adaptation 
strategies, as women in rural areas are most negatively impacted by 
drought, deforestation, and other natural and manmade disasters. 
Most NGOs complained about the lack of clear coordination within the 
GON on climate change, putting the blame on the Ministry of 
Environment (MOE) by ceding the issue to the Nigerian National 
Petroleum Company (NNPC).  (Comment:  The Group Managing Director of 
the NNPC was co-chairman of the Nigerian delegation at the Kyoto 
negotiations.  In addition, the NNPC has the resources and savvy 
among contending parties to articulate its interests on climate 
change issues and pursue them.  End Comment.)  Some at the 
roundtable argued that the MOE is one of the least funded GON 
agencies and said that it lack strong environmental advocate at the 
helm.  They said that although the climate change negotiations at 
Copenhagen are about six months away, there is no clear mechanism by 
the GON to develop a unified position for Nigeria.  This, however, 
was contested by a representative of the MOE's Climate Change Unit 
who disclosed that the Ministry will be hosting a meeting of all 
relevant parties on June 8 to start developing Nigeria's negotiating 
points for Copenhagen, which will require approval by the Nigerian 
Federal Executive Council.  We will continue engaging GON and 
environmental advocacy groups to learn about and report any movement 
on the GON's positions for the Copenhagen negotiations. 
 
 
ABUJA 00000968  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
POLITICAL NEWS 
-------------- 
¶8. (U) ISLAMIC GROUPS LAMENT POOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SHARI'A:  Noting 
the 10th anniversary of democracy in Nigeria, Islamic leaders in 
Zamfara State reportedly expressed dismay over the poor 
implementation of Shari'a laws in the state.  According to press 
reports, the spokesman for the Islamic groups, Sheik Ahmad Umar 
Kanoma said that the state government is compromising its stance on 
Shari'a and that as a result social vices have resurfaced in their 
communities.  Kanoma called on the state to urgently dismantle youth 
political offices (which he claimed were "sheds" used by young 
people for drinking and sex) and to commence the erection billboards 
with Islamic inscriptions, and to equip the Hisbah (Shari'a Police) 
and give them freehand to operate. 
¶9. (U) VIOLENT PROTESTS IN ZARIA:  On May 25 a demonstration 
organized by city youth in Zaria to protest three months of power 
outage turned violent.  Local press claimed that four people died 
and an additional 20 were injured.  However, Deputy Commissioner of 
Police of Kaduna State, Isaac Eke claimed that the police did not 
use guns on the protesters and denied that anyone had died as a 
result of the protest.  At least 60 people were arrested in 
connection to the violence. 
 
¶10. (U) VICE PRESIDENT MARKS DEMOCRACY DAY:  At an 
interdenominational church service to celebrate `"Democracy Day'" 
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said  the government of President 
Umaru Yar'Adua was worried about the country's electoral process and 
would do everything possible to put things right.  Also in the 
service, the General Secretary of the Christian Association of 
Nigeria, Samuel Salifu called on GON to fully implement the 
recommendations for electoral reform made by the Electoral Reform 
Committee under former Justice Uwais.  Specifically he said that the 
Independent National Electoral Commission must be reorganized in 
order to have credible electoral reforms.