VZCZCXRO3699
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #1333/01 2031532
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221532Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6614
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 2007
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0969
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 1703
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ABUJA 001333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA, S/P FOR GREG BEHRMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON OEXC OSCI PREL SCHUL ESENV SOCI
TNGD, TSPL, XF, SI, ZP, ZR, KISL, PGOV, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: POST'S FOLLOW UP TO THE CAIRO SPEECH AND 
RELATED ACTIVITIES 
 
REF: A. STATE 71325 
     ¶B. ABUJA 1296 
     ¶C. ABUJA 1271 
     ¶D. ABUJA 1270 
     ¶E. ABUJA 1010 
 
¶1. Summary:  Following President Obama's June 4 speech in 
Cairo, Mission Nigeria has engaged audiences throughout 
Nigeria with various outreach activities, including meetings 
with journalists, government officials, civil society 
organizations, and traditional religious leaders.  Post has 
also compiled and distributed commemorative transcripts in 
folders which include video of the Cairo speech; sent SMS 
broadcast messaging on themes from the speech, held 
discussions with Islamic leaders and other community 
stakeholders, and Ambassador gave a speech in Nigeria's 
conservative Northeast on themes from the Cairo speech and 
held a roundtable with conservative Islamic leaders.  In 
addition to these recent events, the Mission has ongoing 
development initiatives and public diplomacy programs that 
support Muslim outreach.  In order to bolster these existing 
projects, Post recommends increased language training for 
personnel, translation of speeches and important documents 
into local languages, continued training and exchange 
programs, and continued dialogue with the GON and Nigerian 
civil society.  End Summary. 
 
CONTINUED DIALOGUE AFTER THE SPEECH 
----------------------------------- 
¶2. Beginning on June 4, Mission Nigeria engaged audiences 
throughout Nigeria employing the following tools and 
undertaking the following activities: 
 
-- Prior to June 4, Post sent SMS broadcasts to 1,400 of the 
U.S. Mission to Nigeria's Information Resource Center 
contacts providing them with the date and time of the speech 
and encouraging them to watch the speech. 
 
-- On June 4, Ambassador hosted Muslim and Christian 
religious leaders, as well as members of the press, for a 
viewing of President Obama's speech followed by a roundtable 
discussion (ref E).  Ambassador then posted a message about 
the discussion and the speech on her blog. 
 
-- Following the speech, Mission Nigeria's Public Affairs 
Section (PAS), in collaboration with Post's Mass Information 
Support Team (MIST), compiled and distributed folders which 
include the commemorative transcript of the speech, a 
brochure about President Obama, and prepared a DVD with video 
and text of the speech to our contacts including distributing 
them in the north.  The Mission's commemorative folders and 
DVDs are being used as a best practice in AFRICOM and AF/PDPA 
. 
 
-- On June 10, PAS hosted 18 Nigerian journalists and 
academics at an Africa Regional Services Paris organized 
Digital Video Conference on President Obama's Early 
Initiatives, including the speech in Cairo (septel). 
 
-- On June 29-30, Ambassador discussed the Cairo speech with 
government officials and traditional religious leaders in 
Nigeria's conservative Northeast geopolitical zone, including 
the Governor of Borno, Governor of Yobe, and the Deputy 
Governor of Gombe, the Shehu of Borno and the Emir of Gombe 
(ref C and D). 
 
-- On July 1, Ambassador held a roundtable discussion with 15 
prominent Imams, Sheikhs, and Islamic scholars in Maiduguri, 
Borno State on the messages from the Cairo speech.  Copies of 
the aforementioned commemorative folder were distributed to 
each participant (ref D). 
 
-- On July 1, Mission distributed commemorative folders to 
the Vice Chancellor and faculty at the University of 
Maiduguri and left additional copies and other resources in 
the American Corner located in the University's library (ref 
D). 
 
 
ABUJA 00001333  002 OF 005 
 
 
-- On July 1, Ambassador delivered a policy speech entitled, 
"A New Beginning - Reaffirming America's Partnership with 
Nigeria" to government officials, religious and traditional 
leaders, university students and faculty, youth, community 
and business leaders, and journalists.  The speech linked 
themes from the POTUS Cairo speech to issues of concern to 
Muslims in northern Nigeria.  More than 50 commemorative 
folders were also distributed at the venue (ref D). 
 
-- On July 6, Ambassador held another roundtable with 
democracy and human rights groups in Ekiti State, where they 
discussed themes from the POTUS Cairo and Accra speeches, 
such as the importance of governments who take care of their 
people and promote transparency in holding free and fair 
elections (ref D). 
 
-- Mission linked a Hausa translation of the Cairo speech to 
its web-site. 
 
OUTCOMES FROM THE CAIRO SPEECH 
------------------------------ 
¶3. Overall, Nigeria's Muslim community has been very 
receptive to the opportunities to dialogue with the U.S. 
Mission to Nigeria on these issues.  In order to include the 
wider non-English speaking northern Nigerian population as 
part of the outreach audience, Post recommends that the 
President's Cairo speech and other future relevant documents 
be translated into local languages such as Hausa, Yoruba, and 
Kanuri. 
 
¶4. The commemorative folders are in great demand, but between 
the video and the written speech, the text is in higher 
demand.  One of our partner media outlets also translated the 
speech into Hausa, which we have linked to the Mission's 
web-site.  The folders are an excellent example of 
partnership between the Department of State and the 
Department of Defense.  Based on the success of the folders 
in Nigeria, AFRICOM has agreed to fund the production and 
distribution of up to 35,000 additional folders throughout 
Africa based on Mission Nigeria's model. 
 
U.S. MISSION INITIATIVES THAT 
SUPPORT MUSLIM OUTREACH 
----------------------------- 
¶5. USAID has a number of ongoing initiatives which support 
the Mission's efforts to engage Muslim communities.  USAID 
provides support to the Interfaith Mediation Center (IMC) and 
three Conflict Mitigation and Management Regional Councils 
(CMMRCs), made up of 37 Muslim and 30 Christian clerics in 
Kano, Kaduna, and Plateau states. USAID is also training the 
CMMRCs to collect and disseminate early warning information 
to relevant agencies and to respond directly and quickly to 
threats to peace and ethnic religious tensions. 
 
¶6. USAID works with a broad range of institutions and groups 
including public primary schools in northern Nigeria, which 
teach the core Quranic curriculum as well as math, English, 
and social science.  In late 2009, USAID will initiate 
several new education projects, including a Northern 
Education Initiative that will address policy development and 
implementation, strengthen information management and use of 
data for decision-making, human resource development, 
performance management and accountability, and demand-side 
capacity development.  The inclusion of Islamiyyah schools 
constitutes an essential element of Muslim outreach.  Over 
the four-year life of the program 600,000 students, 24,000 
teachers and 1,000 administrators will receive benefits from 
these USG interventions.  Interventions will address systems 
that support both public and Islamiyyah primary schools, as 
well as provide learning centers for the provision of 
non-formal education to Almajari boys.  Additional resources 
beyond those currently anticipated by USAID would permit the 
expansion of this program to additional northern states. 
 
¶7. The new teacher training initiative will have a special 
focus on increasing the enrollment of females in teacher 
training programs, especially in the north where female 
teachers are in the minority, to facilitate efforts to 
 
ABUJA 00001333  003 OF 005 
 
 
increase girl-child enrollment and retention.  USAID will 
also provide training and technical assistance to IMC to 
enhance its capacity to develop and implement interfaith 
activities, conduct outreach, and ensure sustainability  The 
project will include implementation of the new National 
Teacher Education Policy (approved in January 2009 and 
developed with USAID assistance), review the curriculum in 
primary and pre-school education, and introduce reading and 
child centered pedagogy courses.  It is also expected to 
increase the enrollment of women in Primary education Studies 
and Early Child Development teacher training programs, 
focused on selected northern states. 
 
¶8. USAID and Sesame Workshop have been implementing a pilot 
to bring "Sesame Street," the critically-acclaimed children's 
program to Nigeria. The goal is to mobilize Nigeria's major 
mass media outlets, including television, radio, print media, 
and Internet to provide consistent and daily access to 
education programming to young children.  Significant early 
support was provided through PEPFAR funding.  The Mission's 
initial agreement length of program was from February 25, 
2008 through April 25, 2009, but the agreement has just been 
extended for another five years.  Additional resources would 
allow for the development of an inter-faith conflict 
prevention and mitigation model that would support the 
expansion of Muslim outreach. 
 
¶9. The Mission's USAID, PEPFAR, and CDC offices have worked 
closely with the GON and Nigerian Islamic leaders and 
scholars to develop an Islamic policy on HIV/AIDS prevention, 
care, and treatment.  The policy development and distribution 
includes efforts to address HIV/AIDS stigma issues within the 
Nigerian Ummah. 
 
¶10. The Mission supported several significant outreach 
efforts, under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto and the 
Emir of Kano to improve awareness and advocacy efforts on 
polio eradication among traditional leaders and Islamic 
clerics in northern states.  In coordination with Nigeria's 
National Primary Health Care Development Agency, USAID held 
several conferences and workshops were supported to directly 
address misinformation and secure active support in favor of 
the immunization campaigns.  USAID also contributed to the 
expansion of the Voice of America Hausa Service, which has 
boosted listenership in the northern Muslim states and 
bordering countries with key maternal child health, family 
planning and reproductive health messages.  The Hausa Service 
has supported several town hall meetings, inviting community 
leaders, women's group leaders, clergy and traditional 
leaders to participate in open debates about key issues 
affecting the northern Muslim communities.  Each of these 
meetings has drawn crowds of standing room only and has been 
taped for re-broadcast.  These initiatives will continue in 
2009; additional resources would allow for widened scope and 
increased outreach. 
 
¶11. The Department of Defense Mass Information Support Team 
(MIST) and Civil- Military Support Element (CMSE) assist 
northern Nigerian communities with development projects, such 
as constructing bore holes, restoring classrooms, and 
distributing supplies to Muslim schools and clinics. 
 
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PROGRAMS SUPPORTING MUSLIM OUTREACH 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶12. PAS routinely includes Muslim community leaders, youth, 
business leaders, and religious clerics in its programs.  In 
July 2009, the CPAO, Public Affairs personnel, PolOff, and 
Econ Intern attended the Speech and Prize Giving Day of new 
Horizons College in Minna, Niger State - one of four schools 
established by the Islamic Education Trust to provide Muslim 
children with balanced education rooted in Islamic Studies. 
In June, the Mission donated books to Sunrise International 
School (another Islamic Education Trust School) after the 
school completed a reading program encouraging young children 
to read.  The CPAO will also attend the school's Speech and 
Prize Giving Day in Abuja. 
 
¶13. The Ambassador has met with, visited, and had a dialogue 
 
ABUJA 00001333  004 OF 005 
 
 
with all of the senior Emirs and traditional leaders in the 
North (including the Sultan of Sokoto), except the new Emir 
of Katsina who was not available during her two trips to the 
state. 
 
¶14. In May, the DCM attended a symposium on Nigeria's Arabic 
and Ajami manuscript resources. The Mission supports the 
preservation of Nigeria's Islamic manuscripts as part of its 
commitment to investing in people, in this case by preserving 
part of Nigeria's unique culture and history. Facilitation 
efforts of the U.S. Mission to Nigerian in collaboration with 
Arewa House have encouraged private partners to contributed 
through training, equipment, and grants. 
 
¶15. PAS has held several roundtable discussions throughout 
northern Nigeria, as well as in Abuja, Lagos, and Port 
Harcourt, which centered around American values including 
diversity, tolerance, non-violent change, and peace. 
 
¶16. The Mission hosts annual outreach events throughout 
Nigeria during Ramadan, including Iftar dinners. 
 
¶17. Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program was initially 
worrisome to a number of Islamic clerics who were weary of 
what they perceived to be another attempt by the West to 
indoctrinate Islamic youth.  However, after a group of 
concerned Nigerian citizens paid a visit to the U.S. in an 
attempt to better understand the program, widespread support 
and acknowledgment of benefits from the program has grown. 
Participants are now included from 5 northern states.  The 
Mission has designed and distributed a YES program brochure 
which is widely distributed to interested students. In July, 
the Embassy hosted thirty high school students and one 
teacher selected for this year's exchange for a pre-departure 
program where the country director said increased commitment 
to community service and religious tolerance are among the 
benefits participants obtain. 
 
¶18. In June, PolOff and PolAsst attend the first Islamic 
Summit hosted in Kano (ref A).  PolOff gave a message of 
appreciation for the opportunity to demonstrate USG desire to 
listen and learn, partnering with Islamic institutions in 
promoting common understanding. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
--------------- 
¶19. The Mission recommends that additional staff receive 
training in appropriate local language skills.  Post also 
recommends that the USG increase support for the Voice of 
America Hausa Service in order to increase their capacity to 
report fair and balanced views on communal conflict and human 
rights issues. 
 
¶20. Post advocates for the continued USG sponsorship of 
exchange programs for religious leaders, civil society 
activists, and government officials, on the topics of 
religious freedom, tolerance, and human rights.  Post also 
advocates for the continued USG support and funding of the 
Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative. 
 
¶21. Post recommends that the USG expand support for communal 
conflict prevention and mitigation through increased funding, 
training and assistance to the Nigerian federal police force 
and Nigerian military, especially in regards to non-lethal 
responses to crowd control, response to sectarian violence 
and increased investigative and conflict prevention 
capacities. 
 
¶22. The U.S. Mission to Nigeria will continue to urge the GON 
to ensure that Shari'a codes uphold the principle of equality 
under the law, do not apply Shari'a criminal codes to 
non-Muslims or individual Muslims who do not wish to go 
before Shari'a courts, and to ensure that practice of Shari'a 
law does not result in the violation of human rights.  In 
addition, we will urge the GON to cease official support for 
the Hisbah (religious police) and entrusting professional law 
enforcement agencies with defined jurisdiction to enforce the 
law. 
 
ABUJA 00001333  005 OF 005 
 
 
 
¶23. The Mission will continue to work with existing Nigerian 
social institutions including civil society and 
non-governmental organizations, and religious bodies - 
especially those which address conflict prevention and 
mitigation, promote peace, are committed to inter-religious 
and inter-ethnic reconciliation, emphasize capacity-building 
at the local level, and assist human rights defenders.  We 
recommend the USG support the expansion of the Nigerian 
Inter-Religious Council to promote dialogue between 
Christians and Muslims, and replicate the council at state 
and local levels. 
 
¶24. This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos. 
SANDERS