US embassy cable - 03LAGOS1930

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 001930 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON FOR GURNEY, PARIS FOR NEARY 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2008 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, OVIP, PINR, NI 
SUBJECT: ABIA STATE GOVERNOR ORJI KALU'S VISIT 
 
Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL ROBYN HINSON-JONES FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AN 
 
 
D (D). 
 
 
1. (U) This is Post's response to Department's request for 
information on Abia State Governor Orji Kalu who is to meet 
with A/S Walter Kansteiner September,2003. 
 
 
2. (U)  Orji Uzor Kalu is 44 years old.  Both he and his wife 
hold "green cards" and their two daughters are AmCits.  Kalu 
and his wife hold degrees from US universities.  Before 
entering his first term as governor on May 29, 2001, Kalu 
owned and led several international companies manufacturing 
or producing furniture, paper and vegetable oils.  His 
business operations were last reported to earn around USD 20 
million annually.  Kalu has been dubbed the "Action Governor" 
by President Olusegun Obasanjo because of his ability to get 
projects and programs for Abia State going quickly soon after 
he assumed office.  He is said to have close ties to former 
military dictator Ibrahim Babangida, who is also rumored to 
have steered lucrative contracts to Kalu's businesses during 
the military's rule.  He is a member of the ruling Peoples 
Democratic Party (PDP), but counts as a close friend the only 
Alliance for Democracy (AD) governor to win re-election in 
2003, Lagos Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.  "Spontaneous" 
movements to put Kalu forward as a potential candidate for 
the presidency were launchedbefore the just-completed 2003 
elections and arealready being reported for the 2007 
elections.  alu is ambitious, demanding, fearless, and 
decisive to the point of bluntness, but he keeps his 
promises, pays his debts and has a reputation for delivering 
the goods. 
 
 
3. (C) Kalu is an Igbo and has, from his days as a student, 
espoused the notion that the Igbos should have their turn 
running Nigeria.  He, like many southern governors and 
political players, has repeatedly called for "true 
federalism" as the solution to the problems of the nation. 
From our conversations with contacts, what is understood by 
the term "true federalism" is a return to local (or at least 
regional) control of States' income and resources.  As the 
system now functions, all income goes to the federal 
government to be parceled out to the States as the central 
government sees fit and for those projects the federal 
government wants to support.  Most of the southern States, 
the almost exclusive source of the national income from oil 
and gas, have never been satisfied with this system and 
complain continuously.  Kalu has reportedly used some of his 
own money to get needed projects off the ground in Abia.  All 
the matters -- except debt relief -- that Kalu wishes to 
discuss relate to the issue of returning control of funds 
back to the States. 
 
 
4. (C) On a recent trip to the US to address a gathering of 
Nigerian-Americans, Kalu brought up the fact that Abia State 
was saddled with paying back a crippling and unfair share of 
the national debt incurred during the civilian administration 
of Shehu Shagari.  We have information that Kalu has been 
successful in past years in getting loans for the State to 
pay operating expenses such as salaries.  During his months 
long struggle with his Deputy Governor Enyinnaya Abaribe, 
this was one of the main points of friction between the two, 
with Abaribe charging that Kalu was needlessly getting the 
State into uncontrollable debt.  We do not have direct 
information on the current financial situation in Abia, but 
it is certain Kalu can not continue to finance out of his own 
pocket and may be looking for ways the USG could help get 
outside funding for his State. 
HINSON-JONES