VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHOS #0285/01 1890733
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080733Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0853
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0444
RUEHOR/AMEMBASSY GABORONE 0120
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH AFB UK
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS LAGOS 000285 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS NSC FOR MICHELE GAVIN 
FOR GABARONE PASS PDROUIN 
COMMERCE FOR KBURESS 
ENERGY FOR GPERSON 
TREASURY FOR DPETERS, RHALL, RABDULRAZAK 
STATE PASS USTR FOR LISER, AGAMA 
STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR KSAMPLE 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN, MSTUCKART, JEDWARDS 
STATE PASS TDA FOR EEBONG, DSHUSTER 
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER 
STATE PASS USAID FOR NFREEMAN, GBERTOLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON KCOR NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: EDO STATE REFORMS ON TRACK 
 
REF: A. 08LAGOS 477 
     ¶B. 08LAGOS 514 
     ¶C. LAGOS 227 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On June 18 PolOff met with senior officials 
of Edo State Government in Benin City to discuss progress on 
the reforms initiated by the Governor Adams Oshiomhole 
(Action Congress - AC) since he took office following an 
Appeals Court decision in his favor in November 2008.  The 
state is moving rapidly toward the implementation of key 
elements of "e-governance" such as automated systems for 
revenue collection, payroll disbursements, and record 
keeping.  The focus is on the elimination of "leakages" 
particularly in tax receipts and payroll in order to rapidly 
increase internally generated revenue to the point where the 
state will be self-sufficient (Reftel C).  The state's health 
care system poses major challenges which the Oshiomhole 
administration is seeking to address through greater reliance 
on the private sector, among other initiatives.  NGO contacts 
give the Oshiomhole government high marks for its performance 
to date and claim his administration still enjoys popular 
support.  The appointees of the Oshiomhole government appear 
motivated more by the desire to show that Nigeria can be made 
to "work" than by interest in material gain.  The question 
remains if they can motivate and mobilize enough support 
among their staffs to carry out the ambitious projects they 
have outlined.   End Summary. 
 
Fighting Fraud with Technology and Training 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a visit to Edo State, PolOff met with various 
members of the state government on June 18 to discuss their 
efforts to implement governance reform and improve services 
to local residents.  Yemi Keri, formerly SAP's Regional 
Manager for West Africa and now Oshiomhole's Special Advisor 
on Information Technology, outlined the various e-governance 
projects undertaken by the Oshiomhole administration to 
improve government efficiency and reduce corruption.  Edo 
State has introduced biometric ID cards for all public sector 
employees.  In conjunction with this program, all personnel 
records are being scanned into an electronic data base and 
will be associated with the biometric data of the workers. 
The objective is to eliminate "ghost workers," duplicate 
appointments and other unqualified recipients of salaries and 
pensions, and also record training, promotions and other 
personnel actions to enable merit-based advancement and 
rational personnel management.  The scanning of documents is 
in progress and the state government is currently hiring and 
training 300 college graduates to conduct personal interviews 
while collecting biometric data.  Once the project has been 
completed for all public sector employees, the state intends 
to introduce biometric ID cards for all citizens as the basis 
for tax collection.  Other projects Keri proposes include an 
automated motor vehicle registration and a geographic 
information system (GIS) based on aerial photography.  The 
automated vehicle registration is a low-cost item which could 
rapidly generate revenue, while the GIS is a high-cost item 
with multiple uses notably identifying land-use for 
generating property tax revenues, controlling de-forestation, 
assisting in planning the location of hospitals, schools, 
wells and enabling rational construction of roads with 
adequate drainage. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Keri noted that her department has been overwhelmed 
by job applications from college graduates eager for 
employment even at low salaries and that she has personally 
seen the dramatic changes in attitude which just a month of 
training produces in these young people.  According to Keri, 
 
job applicants often do not know how to dress or act and are 
completely lacking in self-confidence when they first arrive 
but leave training as self-respecting, professionals eager to 
introduce the new technology and implement the fraud-fighting 
policies of the government. 
 
Eliminating Tax-Collectors to Increase Tax Revenues 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Dr. Ese Owie, formerly of the World Bank and now 
Chairman of the Board of Internal Revenue for Edo State, 
claimed that the historically low levels of internally 
generated revenue in the state were primarily due to 
"leakages."  According to Owie in the past residents have 
paid cash to the tax offices and received written receipts, 
but the collected cash almost never made it into the state's 
coffers.  Owie said that the elimination of "the human 
factor" was the key to increasing revenue, and to this end 
the state is developing a pre-paid "tax card" which 
tax-payers load up and then "swipe" at "Points of Sale" (POS) 
connected directly to the state's tax accounts when paying 
taxes.  Alternatively, tax-payers can make cash payments at 
banks, which then transfer the funds electronically into the 
State's tax account.  The costs of introducing the automated 
system will be borne by the banks, which will collect fees on 
transactions.  Although starting with only 20 POS, Owie 
believes the state will be able to develop a widespread 
network of POS at banks enabling tax payment by card even in 
rural communities. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Owie stressed that many people have always paid 
their taxes and many more will be willing to do so once they 
see their taxes at work.  He added that his department is 
focusing on implementing the electric payments for corporate 
tax-payers first, enabling them to pay both corporate and 
payroll taxes directly into government accounts without the 
use of cash or middlemen.  Other measures taken to increase 
compliance are the establishment of 18 "Revenue Courts" to 
handle cases relating to tax disputes without getting caught 
in the backlog of other civil cases, and the hiring of 200 
tax auditors.  Although most of these measures, especially 
the electronic payment systems, have not yet been 
implemented, the state has seen monthly internally generated 
revenues increase from 530 million naira ($3.6 million) to 
750 million naira ($5.1 million) in just two months.  The 
goal is to generate 1.5 billion naira ($10.2 million) from 
internally generated revenue by the end of the year.  The 
first electronic payments are expected in July. 
 
State Health Care Failing on all Levels 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Dr. Moses Momoh, a professor and surgeon from the 
teaching hospital in Benin and now Commissioner of Health for 
Edo State, told PolOff that the state health facilities are 
"light-years" behind Nigerian Federal facilities at all 
levels.  Primary health care in the state is the 
responsibility, he said, of the Local Government Areas (LGAs) 
which have focused on building structures but not filling 
them with equipment, furnishings or staff.  The problem is 
compounded by lingering mistrust of modern medicine among 
many residents of rural communities.  Momoh's ministry is 
trying to educate people on hygiene and to build trust in 
modern medicine by sending health care professionals out to 
the villages. Still, most of the villages have no trained 
medical personnel, no medical equipment and no ambulances. 
There are three ambulances in the entire state, and many 
rural communities can only be accessed by two-wheel vehicles 
and/or boat. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Secondary medical care, under the jurisdiction of the 
(state) ministry, is in a state of collapse; hospitals are in 
a very dilapidated state of repair, many with leaking roofs 
and cracked walls and all with cement floors, which are 
unhygienic and foster the growth of molds and bacteria. Most 
hospitals lack the equipment necessary to safely perform 
surgery.  A minimum of seven nurses is required to staff a 
hospital around the clock, however, none of the hospitals 
have more than five nurses and many have only three. As a 
result, staff either works excessive hours or simply closes 
the hospitals at night.  The three specialty hospitals in the 
state are likewise in a state of decay and lack personnel and 
operable equipment.  Momoh hopes to negotiate contracts with 
medical equipment manufacturers to lease equipment to the 
state hospitals under terms which leave maintenance and 
repairs in the hands of the manufacturer, eliminating the 
need for in-house competence in these areas.  Momoh 
specifically mentioned the desire to lease ultra-sound 
machines, CT scans and other diagnostic equipment. 
 
Changing Attitudes by Changing the Environment 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶7. (U) Clem Agba, a Chevron employee of 19 years with 
extensive international experience currently on leave of 
absence to serve as the Commissioner for Environment and 
Public Utilities in the Oshiomhole government, told PolOff 
that he believes anti-social behavior can be curtailed by 
tackling environmental problems in the state. His strategy is 
to address low-cost/high profile projects first. For example, 
he said that the open sewage drains in Benin City are used as 
public toilets and dump-sites and so soon fill up with 
rubbish and human waste.  In the rainy season, these clogged 
drains cause widespread flooding, posing a hygiene and health 
hazard.  In response, Agba plans to cover the drains with 
side-walks and landscaping, provide public toilets, and set 
up street-lights and surveillance cameras to stop people from 
misusing the drains.  He cited street cleaning as another 
low-cost/high profile measure which could furthermore provide 
employment for 3,000 low-skilled workers and help create a 
sense of pride and identity.  Agba added that the state 
currently has no solid waste management program; it simply 
moves or scatters waste from one location to another.  He is 
preparing to subcontract waste collection based on 
specifications that will require proper management, and he 
says plans are already in place to start separating out 
medical and electrical waste.  Long term, the state would 
like to have land-fills capable of converting waste to 
fertilizer and electricity. 
 
A Sense of Government Presence 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (U) Leo Atakpu and Innocent Edemhanrla of the African 
Network for Environment and Economic Justice told PolOff on 
June 19 that the Oshiomhole government continued to enjoy 
popular support in large part because it has restored a sense 
of good government to the state.  According to Atakpu the 
state was virtually lawless for the last ten years.  No one, 
he said, obeyed the simplest laws, while the powerful and 
well connected flouted even the most serious laws. The fact 
that prominent or well-connected people, who used to be 
"above the law," have been called to account has made people 
start to respect the law, even to the point of admonishing 
traffic and parking violators. Atakpu admitted, however, that 
violent crime in the state is still very high, despite some 
recent success breaking up a kidnapping ring. He claimed this 
was because certain groups, notably the Transport Workers 
Union, have armed themselves and act as a vigilante group 
 
outside the law even operating their own "detention camps." 
Atakpu believes a shake-up in the police leadership which 
Oshiomhole recently carried out will lead to improvement. 
Addressing the popularity of Oshiomhole's tax measures, 
Atakpu claimed Oshiomhole had done a good job of convincing 
people to pay their taxes, even persuading pastors and imams 
to preach the importance of tax revenue in churches and 
mosques. People now understand, according to Atakpu, the 
connection between taxation and accountability, adding that 
because people can already see improvements such as better 
drainage, they are starting to pay taxes. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Comment: The appointees of the Oshiomhole 
government we have met are all professionals with 
international experience.  Most have left good positions in 
the private sector in order to serve in the Oshiomhole 
administration for nominal pay only.  They appear motivated 
more by the desire to show that Nigeria can be made to "work" 
than by interest in material gain.  The question remains if 
they can motivate and mobilize enough support among their 
staffs to carry out the ambitious projects they have outlined 
and started.  End Comment. 
 
¶10. (U) This cable was cleared with Embassy Abuja. 
 
 
 
 
BLAIR