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DE RUEHUJA #2162/01 3351604
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P 011604Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7621
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS PRIORITY 2398
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ABUJA 002162 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/SRMC FPANDITH, AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL, INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL NI
SUBJECT: ISLAMIC OUTREACH IN NIGERIA 
 
REF: A. HEINBECK-FAHEY E-MAIL OF 11/17 
     ¶B. ABUJA 02014 
     ¶C. ABUJA 02013 
     ¶D. ABUJA 01890 
     ¶E. ABUJA 01271 
     ¶F. ABUJA 01270 
     ¶G. STRATEGY PAPER ON ISLAMIC OUTREACH IN AFRICA 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) Recognizing the importance of improving our 
relationships with and understanding of Muslims in Nigeria, 
the U.S. Mission in Nigeria incorporates engagement with 
Muslim communities as part of our daily work.  As roughly 
half of Nigeria's population is Muslim, many of the 
interlocutors of Embassy Abuja and Consulate General Lagos 
involve members of the Muslim community.  Mission personnel 
regularly discuss religious freedom with the Nigerian 
Government (GON) as part of overall efforts to promote human 
rights and improve inter-religious relations.  The Ambassador 
and Mission staff play active roles in discussing and 
advocating these issues with government, religious, civil 
society, private sector, and traditional leaders.  Designated 
officers in Abuja and Lagos retain responsibility for 
integrating Muslim Outreach into other Embassy activities. 
Staff regularly travel to northern Nigeria, which has a 
predominately Muslim population.  This report provides 
information on the Mission's recent (since July 2009), 
ongoing, and planned (through March 2010) outreach 
initiatives and supplements information provided earlier via 
ref A.  Please see reftels E and F for details on earlier 
initiatives.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------- 
RECENT ACTIVITIES 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Mission provides the following information on recent 
Muslim outreach initiatives: 
 
-- On August 26, the Consul General hosted an Iftar dinner to 
commemorate the month of Ramadan.  Guests included 
traditional rulers, Muslim clerics, political leaders, 
diplomats, journalists, representatives of Islamic civic 
groups, Muslim staff of Consulate General Lagos, and alumni 
of USG-sponsored exchange programs.  Guests commended Mission 
Nigeria and President Obama for fostering peace, friendship, 
mutual respect, and better understanding between Americans 
and the Muslim world. 
 
-- On September 24, the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of 
Consulate General Lagos collaborated with the Center for 
Inter-Religious Relations in Africa, the Islamic Network for 
Development, the Youth and Gender Network, and the 
Organization for Non-Formal Education Foundation to 
commemorate World Peace Day.  Five guest speakers presented 
papers on peaceful co-existence and inter-religious dialogue, 
followed by a question and answer session.  The 115 guests 
also participated in small group discussions about the causes 
of conflict and ways of promoting peace and tolerance in 
Nigeria. 
 
-- From October 8 to 11, PolOff accompanied Special 
Representative Farah Pandith to meetings in Abuja, Kaduna, 
and Kano with Nigerian religious leaders, civil society 
activists, and government officials to promote 
person-to-person engagement with diverse Muslim communities. 
(Please see reftel D for details on Special Representative 
Pandith's visit.) 
 
-- On October 17, U.S. Mission personnel and volunteers from 
the Jos inter-faith community cleaned and refurbished 
basketball and volleyball courts at the Dadin Kowa Peace Zone 
Qbasketball and volleyball courts at the Dadin Kowa Peace Zone 
Recreation Center.  Several "Peace Clubs," consisting of 
Christian and Muslim youth from local neighborhoods, 
regularly use the Center's facilities as part of a program to 
reduce violence by integrating youth of different religious 
and ethnic groups into sports activities.  A program funded 
by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 
 
ABUJA 00002162  002 OF 005 
 
 
supports these "Peace Clubs." 
 
-- From October 20 to 23, PolOffs traveled to Maiduguri, 
Borno State, where they met with religious leaders and 
academics to better understand the causes of violence and to 
identify communities that may be most vulnerable to 
recruitment by extremists.  They expressed condolences to the 
Deputy Governor of Borno and the Shehu of Borno for the loss 
of lives during the Boko Haram attacks and distributed 
commemorative digital videos and transcripts of President 
Obama's speeches to students at the University of Maiduguri, 
a reported recruiting ground for members of Boko Haram. 
(Please see reftels B and C for details on PolOffs' trip to 
Maiduguri.) 
 
-- On November 12, USAID signed a $40 million, five-year 
cooperative agreement with Research Triangle Institute to 
implement the Mission's new local governance program, 
"Leadership, Empowerment, Advocacy, and Development (LEAD). 
The project, which will initially operate in Sokoto and 
Bauchi states, will build the capacity of local government 
councilors and chairpersons, staff, and other selected state 
government authorities to plan and manage budgets and to 
evaluate and improve fiscal and administrative tasks. 
 
-- From November 16 to 20, PolOff and Office of Security 
Cooperation (OSC) staff traveled to Borno State.  They met 
with students and security personnel and visited a school 
supported by the Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program, 
damaged in the Boko Haram attacks.  (Embassy will report 
details via septel.) 
 
-- Mission Defense Department personnel from the OSC and 
Civil Military Support Element (CSME) recently completed 
several humanitarian assistance projects in predominately 
Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria including: 
construction of a health education center in Niger state; 
renovation of medical clinics in Niger and Borno States; 
donations of adaptive eye wear and excess medical property in 
Niger and Borno States; renovation of an Intensive Care Unit 
in Kano; and construction of medical waste incinerators for 
hospitals in Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina States. 
 
------------------ 
ONGOING ACTIVITIES 
------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mission provides the following information on 
ongoing outreach initiatives: 
 
-- The Mission supports the "Greetings from America" radio 
program featuring the experiences of Muslim and Christian 
Nigerian high school and college students studying in the 
United States.  The program is syndicated on several radio 
stations throughout northern Nigeria, including the 
Kano-based Voice of America affiliate, Freedom Radio. 
 
-- The Mission supports job skills development training 
grants, totaling 85,000 U.S. dollars, for Muslim women in 
Abuja and Kaduna. 
 
-- PAS administers the Youth Exchange Program (YES) in eight 
Northern States.  The $1.8 million program provides 
high-school students with the opportunity to study one 
academic year in Iowa.  Upon return, many YES alumni have 
become involved in improving living conditions and governance 
in their communities. 
 
-- PAS administers the English Access Micro-Scholarship 
Program in Kaduna, Kano, and Bauchi States.  This program 
provides 40 underprivileged, high-school students with 
Qprovides 40 underprivileged, high-school students with 
opportunities to study English, thereby improving their 
future educational and employment prospects. 
 
-- PAS administers the International Visitors' Leadership 
Program (IVLP), providing opportunities for an average of 40 
Nigerian future leaders to learn more about the United States 
through personal experience.  The IVLP exposes potential 
leaders to U.S. professional counterparts, institutions, 
policies, culture, and values.  Visitors return from these 
three-week programs with a broad and positive understanding 
 
ABUJA 00002162  003 OF 005 
 
 
of the United States, which produces a multiplier effect 
within Nigeria.  Between July 2009 and March 2010, eight 
Muslims from Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, and Zamfara States 
will have participated in the IVLP. 
 
-- The Fulbright Foreign Language Assistant Program currently 
sponsors a secondary school teacher from Sokoto, who teaches 
Hausa language and culture at Michigan State University.  The 
program promotes the exchange of cultural values to establish 
mutual understanding. 
 
-- The Fulbright Junior Staff Development program sponsors 
four Muslim participants from Kaduna, Kano, and Kwara States 
involved in doctoral research in U.S. universities.  The 
program exposes participants to standard research facilities 
and the latest journals in their areas of specialization, 
with the goal of having them return to Nigeria as better 
teachers and researchers who will share their U.S. 
experiences with colleagues and promote a better 
understanding of U.S. society, culture, and education system. 
 
-- PAS personnel established American Corners operations in 
regional centers across Nigeria to support outreach and 
program activities.  American Corners operating in cities 
with significant Muslim populations include those in Abuja, 
Maiduguri, Kano, Bauchi, Jos, and Sokoto. 
 
-- To enhance communications and relations with interlocutors 
in the North, Embassy Abuja offers a weekly Hausa language 
course for interested personnel. 
 
-- In 2006, USAID established Conflict Mitigation and 
Management Regional Councils (CMMRC) in Kano, Kaduna, 
Plateau, Rivers, and Delta States under the Conflict 
Abatement through Local Mitigation (CALM) Program, 
implemented by the International Foundation for Education and 
Self Help (IFESH).  CMMRCs serve as the hub for responding to 
episodic, communal, ethnic, religious, and other ongoing 
conflicts in their respective states.  They implement their 
activities in collaboration with various implementing 
partners as well as with state and local officials.  While 
all Councils can collect and analyze data, they often lack 
systematic approaches to working with government or security 
agencies to act proactively against potential outbreaks. 
USAID personnel are helping the Councils to establish early 
warning systems and response protocols. 
 
-- The Inter-faith Engagement, a pilot program supported by 
USAID, strengthens community dialogue and reconciliation 
through the Inter-faith Mediation Centre (IMC), actively 
engaged in management of inter-religious conflicts. 
 
-- USAID's Civil Society Advocacy, Awareness, and Empowerment 
program strengthens the capacity of civil society 
organizations, transforming them into more effective 
advocates for their issues. 
 
-- USAID's Maximizing Agricultural Revenues and Key 
Enterprises in Target Sites (MARKETS) project helps increase 
agricultural productivity in several Northern States, 
including Kano and Kaduna. 
 
-- The USAID-supported Micro-Finance Services Program 
introduces innovative micro-finance solutions to under-served 
markets in Northern Nigeria. 
 
-- The USAID-supported Teacher Training Initiative supports 
curriculum development and recruitment of female teacher 
training candidates in three Northern States. 
Qtraining candidates in three Northern States. 
 
-- USAID supports several health programs throughout Northern 
Nigeria including:  dissemination of sexual and reproductive 
health information; immunization campaigns; net distribution 
and malaria treatment awareness; ante-natal and newborn care 
training; and HIV-AIDS prevention and treatment programs. 
 
-- The Department of Defense sponsors health research 
programs and HIV-AIDS testing and prevention programs 
throughout Northern Nigeria. 
 
-- Volunteers from the Mission use their personal time to 
 
ABUJA 00002162  004 OF 005 
 
 
develop curriculum and teach various skills in the African 
School of Excellence and the extended Old Waterboard 
Community in Suleja, about an hour from Abuja.  The Mission's 
Physician's Assistant recently led a team that organized a 
health education dialogue about breast cancer.  The session, 
sponsored by the Bluffton, South Carolina, Chapter of the 
American Cancer Society, informed participating women and 
girls about the importance of regular breast examinations. 
Mission volunteers plan to  discuss menopause and eyesight 
care and host soccer lessons in December. 
------------------ 
PLANNED ACTIVITIES 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) Mission provides the following information on planned 
initiatives through March 2010: 
 
-- During the next four months, Mission Nigeria will engage 
several Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria.  The 
Ambassador, for example, will travel in December to Katsina, 
Kebbi, and Sokoto States, where she will speak at Katsina 
University to follow up themes from the President's Cairo 
speech, meet with students and university leaders at the 
American Corner in Sokoto, and discuss polio eradication 
efforts and U.S. assistance with religious leaders, including 
the Sultan of Sokoto. 
 
-- PolOffs plan to travel to Katsina State in December to 
meet with religious leaders and host a round-table discussion 
for youth, to Sokoto and Kebbi States in January 2010 to meet 
with religious leaders and host roundtable discussions for 
women and youth, and to Bauchi State in March 2010 to meet 
with religious leaders and host a roundtable discussion for 
youth. 
 
-- In January 2010 Consulate General Lagos plans to host a 
luncheon for religious leaders, including Muslim scholars and 
clerics. 
 
-- The Mission's Northern Education Initiative will focus on 
strengthening basic-education service-delivery systems in 
several Northern States.  USAID is currently seeking an 
implementing partner. 
 
-- In February 2010, the Mission will host National Day 
receptions in Abuja and Lagos.  Guests for both events will 
include Muslim government officials, politicians, business 
leaders, civil society activists, religious leaders, and 
academics.  Besides the reception, activities will include 
cultural and education events sponsored by various Mission 
departments, including outreach to Muslim communities. 
 
-- OSC and AID plan jointly to design a new inter-faith 
program called Training of Leaders on Religious and National 
Coexistence (TOLERANCE).  The Inter-faith Mediation Centre 
(IMC) will implement this program to support durable 
inter-faith and inter-ethnic dialogue to encourage tolerance 
and peaceful co-existence among Nigeria's diverse religious 
and ethnic groups.  The IMC office will operate in Kaduna on 
a street between Muslim and Christian neighborhoods that has 
equal numbers of Muslim and Christian residents. 
 
-- The OSC and CMSE plan to complete the following 
humanitarian assistance projects, assuming approval by the 
Africa Command project manager:  donation of excess property 
to a school and the Suleja Hospital in Kano; renovation of 
the Government Girls' Arabic Secondary School in Kano; 
construction of an in-patient ward for Sheikh Muhd Jidda 
Qconstruction of an in-patient ward for Sheikh Muhd Jidda 
General Hospital in Kano; renovation of the Tudan Maliki 
Special Education School in Kano; construction of an 
in-patient ward and latrines for Bagwai District Medical 
Hospital in Katsina; bore-hole construction for the Rinjin 
Gaiya School in Katsina; and construction of a medical waste 
incinerator for the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital in Kaduna. 
 
---------------------------- 
SENSITIVITIES AND CHALLENGES 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) In implementing Islamic Outreach activities, the 
Mission has identified the following sensitivities and 
 
ABUJA 00002162  005 OF 005 
 
 
challenges: 
 
-- Political competition and manipulation, weak security 
infrastructure and governance institutions, resource 
competition, and ethnic and religious tensions continue to 
fuel violent conflicts throughout Nigeria.  Authorities have 
often responded ineffectively or slowly to violations of 
religious freedom and sectarian conflicts.  Violence, 
tension, and hostility between Christians and Muslims occur 
with some frequency.  Therefore, Mission Nigeria attempts to 
balance its outreach between Muslim and Christian communities 
and places priority on mitigating conflicts and promoting 
inter- and intra-religious respect. 
 
-- Travel to many parts of the predominately Muslim North is 
particularly difficult due to long distances, poor roads and 
infrastructure, and security concerns.  Mission Nigeria 
supports the opening of a new Consulate in Kano to promote 
U.S. interests and enhance mutual understanding and respect 
through increased contact with Muslim populations in the 
North.  A permanent presence there would ease travel and 
access to other points in the Northern States and enhance the 
sustainability and impact of our programs. 
 
-- The Mission currently has only one language-designated 
position, despite the status of Hausa as the predominant, 
spoken language in the North.  The Mission would benefit from 
additional language training for officers before arrival at 
post. 
 
-- With additional funding and space, the Mission could 
conduct additional, targeted, grass-roots programming.  The 
Mission, however, lacks support (ICASS) personnel and office 
space to increase the number of U.S. direct-hire personnel in 
Nigeria. 
 
¶6. (U) Embassy collaborated on this telegram with ConGen 
Lagos. 
SANDERS