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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR BRIAN WALCH 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 
ABUJA FOR POLITICAL OFFICER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ZI NI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL ON NIGERIAN AMBASSADOR 
TO ZIM 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES A. RAY FOR REASONS 1.4 B,D 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Since Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe out of the 
British Commonwealth in December 2003 relations between 
Nigeria and Zimbabwe, while not hostile, have been decidedly 
cool.  Mugabe blames Nigeria for plans to expel Zimbabwe, and 
believes the current Nigerian president is 'misinformed' 
about conditions here.  Nigerian Embassy activity in Harare 
centers mostly around looking out for the welfare of some 
5,000 Nigerian small traders and nearly 30 Nigerian citizens 
who are here as employees of international organizations. 
While Nigeria acknowledges that Mugabe's ZANU-PF has ruled 
poorly, there is concern that MDC-T is incapable of governing 
the country by itself.  There are many 'pools' within ZANU-PF 
waiting for Mugabe to die, and when that happens, there will 
be an internal scramble to seize power which could spell 
chaos.  There are also leadership struggles within MDC which, 
if they are not settled, will further compromise MDC's 
ability to develop into an effective governing party. 
 
¶2.  (C) Among the African ambassadors there is some concern, 
and a bit of resentment, at the appearance of exclusiveness 
of the European donors, as if the views of Africans are not 
valued.  Some of this is created by the Africans 
(Zimbabweans) themselves.  PM Tsvangirai, for instance, 
routinely holds separate meetings with the African 
ambassadors and the Europeans, providing different 
information to the two groups.  Even the Zimbabwean Foreign 
Ministry (ZANU-PF-controlled) holds separate meetings.  While 
there are significant differences in interests and 
priorities, there is a general feeling that more should be 
done to reconcile them. 
 
¶3.  (U) Representatives of West African nations here are 
often nonplussed at the cultural attitudes of Zimbabweans. 
They seem more placid and accepting of hardship than West 
African populations.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶4.  (U) I met with Nigerian Ambassador Kunle Adeyanju on 
January 7, at the Embassy of Nigeria in Harare.  Adeyanju has 
been in Zimbabwe for 20 months.  During that time, he has 
been occupied mostly with looking after the welfare of some 
5,000 Nigerians resident in the country.  Most of them are 
small traders, but there are also 25 or so Nigerians working 
here for international organizations.  The traders deal in 
electronics and cosmetics, getting most of their wares from 
China. 
 
¶5.  (C) Adeyanju said that he has little or no political 
activity here.  Since Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe pulled out of 
the British Commonwealth in December 2003, preemptively ahead 
of plans to expel the country from that body, relations 
between Nigeria and Zimbabwe, while not hostile, have been 
decidedly cool.  Mugabe blames Nigeria for the planned 
expulsion.  Adeyanju said that just two weeks before he was 
to present his credentials the current Nigerian president in 
a speech said that "Mugabe must go."  The Zimbabwean Foreign 
Ministry had planned to cancel his presentation and withdraw 
QMinistry had planned to cancel his presentation and withdraw 
agrement, but Mugabe intervened, and at the ceremony said 
that Nigeria's president was 'misinformed' about conditions 
and events in Zimbabwe. 
 
¶6.  (C) There are many 'pools' of people within ZANU-PF, 
Adeyanju said, who are waiting for Mugabe to die, and when 
that happens, there will be a mad scramble to grab power. 
This will surely lead to chaos.  Unfortunately, he lamented, 
there are also leadership struggles within Tsvangirai's MDC, 
and if these are not settled, it will compromise MDC's 
ability to be an effective part of government, or to lead any 
future government. 
 
¶7.  (C) Among the African Ambassadors here, there is a 
 
HARARE 00000008  002 OF 002 
 
 
feeling of resentment at the 'exclusive' way Western (mostly 
EU) embassies conduct their business.  They (western 
embassies) seem to be unaware that Africa has developed its 
own cadre of intellectuals and they would like their opinions 
valued.  This attitude of separateness is also fed by the 
actions of Zimbabweans.  PM Tsvangirai, for instance, holds 
separate meetings for African and Western ambassadors, and 
often provides the two groups with different information 
(COMMENT:  This is something that has bothered us as well. 
END COMMENT.), and they then have to ask at receptions and 
other meetings what was said in order to reconcile the 
different information.  The Zimbabwean Foreign Ministry also 
holds different meetings with Western and African 
ambassadors, further creating a sense of apartheid. 
(COMMENT:  While the major Western donors likely have no 
desire to create such an impression, at times the Fishmonger 
Heads of Mission meetings resemble a 21st Century version of 
the 1884-85 Berlin Conference, with a bunch of Europeans 
sitting around a table deciding on the future of Africa.  END 
COMMENT.)  The problem with this, he said, is that it 
reinforces the impression of European control, especially of 
the MDC, which further erodes its ability to effectively 
govern on its own. 
 
¶8.  (U) West Africans who serve here are often nonplussed by 
the placidity and apparent tolerance for suffering and 
hardship of Zimbabweans.  "They line up for hours to get a 
few dollars from their bank accounts," Adeyanju said.  "Then, 
they go home and do their chores, and come back the next day 
and line up again.  If this was Nigeria, we would burn the 
bank down."   Adeyanju said that personal relations between 
the two peoples, however, are not difficult.  Many 
Zimbabweans have studied in Nigeria, and until the economic 
crisis there were many Nigerian students and professors in 
Zimbabwe.  Now there are only a few at the African University 
in Bulawayo. 
 
¶9.  (C) COMMENT:  There were few surprises in Adeyanju's 
comments.  I have heard them from almost every other African 
ambassador that I've met.  While it is true that the 
interests and priorities of the African countries differ from 
ours and the EU, that should come as no surprise to anyone. 
We all operate in our own interests.  It does, however, 
reinforce the need to communicate better and more frequently 
in an effort to reconcile these differences.  If we truly 
believe that the future of Africa is (and should be) in the 
hands of Africans, it hardly seems logical to exclude them on 
the basis of their interests being different.  END COMMENT. 
 
RAY