US embassy cable - 03ABUJA2207

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 002207 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/PD, AF/W, AF/RSA, IIP/G/AF, IIP/T/D, HR, 
IIP/T/GIC, IIP/T/PS, IIP/T/SV 
ABUJA FOR PAS, POL, ECON, FAS, FCS, DAO, FBI, USSS, DEA, 
CONS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS, KPAO, NI, OEXC, OIIP, OPRC 
SUBJECT: Success Stories Take Media Beyond Visas 
 
Ref:  A) State 93896 
 
1.  Summary.  Dozens of PAS success story placements over 
the last six months broadened Nigerians' perception of USG 
involvement in southern Nigeria.  Beyond the routinely 
negative visas stories, audiences now see, and want more, 
stories on the positive USG programs in agriculture, health 
and education.  End Summary. 
 
2.  Description of Activity: Over the last six months, 
Nigerians in the country's southern states learned that 
visas represent only one small part of U.S. involvement in 
Nigeria.  Audiences of the dozens of PAS success stories saw 
USAID health, education and agriculture projects, Defense 
Department school material donations, special Embassy rural 
outreach programs and USG aviation and law enforcement 
efforts.  Dozens of editors, producers and reporters worked 
with PAS from July to September to identify, research, visit 
and report on key USG humanitarian and development programs. 
With IIP and PA funding, PAS supported the journalists' 
logistics costs. 
 
3. Results: The education programs generated so much 
interest in rural education, girls schooling and parent- 
teacher involvement that a reporter for the Muslim-focused 
Star FM/Murhi TV had to set up a regular procedure to answer 
requests for more information.  She said her program on 
education turned her into a recognizable resource for 
accurate and positive information on the USG.  In the 
eastern Cross River state's television station, a reporter 
said that her education programs have prompted neighboring 
state television stations to look into doing stories of 
their own. 
 
4.  Focusing on HIV-positive persons and their caregivers, 
the HIV/AIDS programs generated a similarly large audience 
response.  DAAR Communications, the largest independent 
media house in Nigeria with markets in Abuja and Lagos, as 
well as a recent entry in the international satellite 
market, got so many requests for more information on 
partnership with USAID and access to implementing partners 
that it had to restrict incoming calls. 
 
5.  Lastly, the agriculture and aviation programs generated 
praise from industry experts and consultants who thought the 
programs were not only well produced but also a positive 
reflection of progress in Nigeria and cooperation with the 
USG. 
 
6. Success Stories by Category: 
 
EDUCATION 
--------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
Literacy Enhancement Assistance Program (LEAP): September 13 
(3-minute news report) on Star FM/MiTV, a Muslim-focused 
private station.  Featured interviews with LEAP students, 
parents and officials cooperating in a community-based 
education forum to improve rural schooling. 
 
RADIO: 
LEAP: August 25 (5-minute news report in English) on Ogun 
State Broadcasting Corporation, the public radio station for 
Lagos satellite towns.  Featured the LEAP program in several 
Lagos schools, including participants and organizers. 
 
LEAP: August 15, 16 and 22 (two different 3-minute programs 
in English and one 3-minute program in Yoruba) on Tiwan 
Tiwa, the Lagos state radio station and primary outlet for 
Yoruba-language listeners.  Featured LEAP organizers, 
participants and school officials. 
 
NEWSPAPER: 
LEAP: August 20 (full-page article) in This Day, which is 
one of the most prominent private papers and also has a 
branch in South Africa.  Featured LEAP participants and 
organizers as well as photos of a rural community education 
forum.  Follow-up related story on October 1. 
 
LEAP: August 28 (full page article) in Champion, the biggest 
eastern-focused private newspaper.  Featured LEAP 
participants and organizers as well as photos of a rural 
community education forum. 
 
 
EDDI/Girl's Scholarship 
----------------------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
Community Resource Centers: September 25 (20 minute feature) 
on Cross River State Television, a southeastern state's 
television station.  Featured the opening of a Community 
Resource Center for the entire region, including 
explanations by US officials and implementing partners of 
the center's benefits for education and rural outreach. 
 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program: mid-August (news 
reports) on Ondo State NTA, a powerful southwestern 
transmitter of the Nigerian Television Authority.  Featured 
interviews with scholarship recipients at Benin City schools 
for orphans and the physically disabled as well as the 
teachers who work with them.  Explained how the students' 
education has improved since the girls received the money. 
 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program: September 13 (3- 
minute news report) on Star FM/MiTV, a Muslim-focused 
private station.  Featured recipients and officials of the 
program, including lengthy explanations of what the program 
is, how schools participate and how girls are chosen. 
 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program: September 22 (20- 
minute feature) on Cross River State Television, a 
southeastern state's television station.  Featured 50 girls 
receiving their scholarships, their stories and the 
projected benefits of the program for their education. 
 
RADIO: 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program: mid-August (news 
reports) on the Radio Nigeria network several times and once 
on the Enugu State broadcasting service. Featured interviews 
with scholarship recipients and the teachers who work with 
them. 
 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program: August 25 (5-minute 
news report in English) on the Ogun State Broadcasting 
Corporation, a state-owned station for Lagos satellite 
towns.  Featured the scholarship program, including rural 
recipients in Abeokuta, a town near Lagos. 
 
NEWSPAPER: 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program: September 3 (half- 
page article) in This Day, which is one of the most 
prominent private papers and also has a branch in South 
Africa.  Featured scholarship recipients, including several 
blind girls who gained access to an education through the 
program. 
 
 
HIV/AIDS 
-------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
Internews, Family Health International and Johns Hopkins 
University programs: August 24 (20-minute feature) on 
Superscreen, a major private Lagos television station. 
Featured interviews with USAID partners and local officials 
extolling the values of the USAID HIV/AIDS programs, 
specifically their work with radio education and the Johns 
Hopkins University education outreach. 
 
Internews, CEDPA programs: September 11 (17-minute feature) 
on Minaj Broadcasting International, a southern Nigerian 
broadcast network.  Featured interviews with USAID partners, 
especially those involved with community education and 
outreach to women and children. 
 
Family Health International and Internews programs: 
September 12 (3 minutes) on African International 
Television, which is the biggest private network in Nigeria 
and which also broadcasts to other African countries and the 
US.  Featured interviews and work on community outreach with 
a group that operates an HIV testing center. 
 
RADIO: 
Internews programs: August 24 (10-minute feature) on Eko FM, 
the English-language station of the Lagos State radio 
corporation.  Featured prominent USAID education outreach 
programs, discussions with participants and explanation of 
the programs' benefits. 
 
Family Health International and Internews programs: 
September 12 (3 minutes) on African International 
Television, which is the biggest private network in Nigeria 
and which also broadcasts to other African countries and the 
US.  Featured interviews and work on community outreach. 
 
NEWSPAPER: 
Basics, Internews and Johns Hopkins University programs: 
September 22 (full-page article) in Punch, which at the time 
was viewed as the largest circulating newspaper in the 
country.  Featured three USAID partners and their work in 
Nigeria regarding child survival, HIV prevention and 
education. 
 
Pathfinder and Johns Hopkins University programs: August 26 
(full-page article) in This Day, which is one of the most 
prominent private newspapers and which also has a branch in 
South Africa.  Featured the work of two USAID partners that 
work with HIV/AIDS patients, prevention and education. 
HEALTH 
------ 
 
RADIO: 
Africare/USAID child survival programs: September 2 (2- 
minute news report) on Rhythm 93.7, the most popular 
southern radio station.  Featured interviews with 
implementing partners of USAID child survival programs in 
the Niger River delta region, an area important to U.S. 
commercial and political interests.  The report featured a 
USAID partner that helps communities through donations of 
books, mosquito nets and small grants to HIV/AIDS orphans' 
caregivers. 
 
AVIATION 
-------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
Nigerian-U.S. cooperation on aviation: During the week of 
September 18 (13-minute documentary) on two channels of the 
government-owned Nigerian Television Authority network as 
well as on African International Television, which also 
broadcasts by satellite to neighboring African countries and 
the US.  Featured U.S. and Nigerian officials explaining the 
various advances in U.S.-Nigerian aviation and aviation 
security advances since 1999.  Examined the relaxation of 
Nigeria-U.S. flight restrictions, expansion of air links and 
the donation of security equipment.  Spoke with travelers 
who cited the work of the USG as improving flying and flight 
safety in Nigeria. 
 
AGRICULTURE 
----------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
Rural Sector Enhancement Program (RUSEP): September 24 (20- 
minute documentary) on Galaxy Television, a network with 
stations across southwestern Nigeria.  Featured interviews 
with US officials, implementing partners and local 
recipients of USG assistance. 
 
RUSEP: August 24 (5-minute news report played twice) on the 
powerful Abia State transmitter of the Nigerian Television 
Authority, reaching at least four states.  Featured USG 
agricultural assistance in action, including shots and 
interviews with village recipients of improved agricultural 
tools and inputs. 
 
RADIO: 
RUSEP: September 2 (3-minute news report played twice) on 
Rhythm 93.7 FM, the most popular private radio station in 
the south.  Featured interviews with officials and 
recipients of USG agricultural assistance, including 
individual farmers who saw direct benefits from the work. 
For example, farmers praised the improved prices for their 
new cassava stems and for the processed cassava they can now 
produce under the program. 
 
AMBASSADOR'S SELF-HELP PROGRAM 
------------------------------ 
 
TELEVISION: 
Community training and meeting center: September 1 (5- 
minute news story) on the Ondo State transmitter of the 
Nigerian Television Authority.  Featured a rural project 
dedicated to boosting a community's ability to network, 
learn computer skills and plan political strategies for 
further empowerment. 
 
Women's palm oil processing center: September 23 (5-minute 
news story) on the Enugu State television station.  Featured 
ongoing work on a rural project to empower women through the 
installation of a palm oil processing center, including 
interviews with those working on - and likely to benefit 
from - the project.  Some of the women said economic 
empowerment is one of the first steps to democratic 
participation. 
 
RADIO: 
Community training and meeting center: August 31 (3-minute 
news story in both English and Yoruba) on Ekiti State 
Broadcasting Corporation's station.  Featured a rural 
project that boosts a community's ability to network, to 
learn computer skills and to plan political strategies for 
further empowerment. 
 
LAW ENFORCEMENT 
--------------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
U.S.-Nigeria Law Enforcement Cooperation: during the week of 
August 18 (40-minute documentary) on Nigerian Television 
Authority affiliates in Kwara, Kaduna, Kano, Abuja and Benin 
states, twice on Minaj Broadcasting International and once 
on Lagos State Television.  Featured interviews with several 
U.S. officials, many Nigerian counterparts, videos of police 
in training and the cooperative nature of fighting terrorism 
by also fighting crime.  Highlighted USG support to fight 
fraud, boost police training, improve airport safety and 
fight drug trafficking.  Followed by selections of USG- 
produced material on neighborhood watch programs. 
 
OFFICE OF DEFENSE COOPERATION 
----------------------------- 
 
TELEVISION: 
School materials donation: August 24 (3-minute news report 
played twice) on the powerful Abia State transmitter of the 
Nigerian Television Authority, reaching at least four 
states.  Featured interviews with recipients of a Defense 
Department container filled with educational and 
recreational materials. 
 
RADIO: 
School materials donation: August 28 (3-minute news report) 
on Rhythm 93.7 FM, the most popular southern radio station. 
Featured interviews with recipients of a Defense Department 
container filled with educational and recreational 
materials. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
The result of the success stories has been much good press 
for USG programs affecting the lives of ordinary Nigerians. 
USAID in particular has seen heightened public awareness and 
appreciation for USAID projects in the country.  Public 
Affairs staff will be working more closely in the coming 
year with USAID's implementing partners to ensure that the 
success story concept of engaging the media will continue. 
We must take care, however, that the success story approach 
maintains USG commitment to a thoughtful and independent 
press.  End Comment. 
 
 
ROBERTS