US embassy cable - 04ABUJA264

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000264 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, NI 
SUBJECT: TARABA: APATHETIC STATE 
 
REF: ABUJA 192 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR PUBLICATION ON THE 
INTERNET OR INTRANET. 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Taraba State is a microcosm of Nigeria with 
over 50 different ethnic groups, great economic potential 
from agriculture, solid minerals, and tourism, but poor 
administrative management, epileptic infrastructures and 
age-long communal violence have militated against the 
progress of the state.  Governor Jolly Nyame, a Methodist 
minister and the only civilian governor since the state was 
created in 1991, has many economic and social development 
dreams, but his administrations have done little but talk 
about them.  He owes his continued election successes to his 
reputation as a peacemaker, and to more powerful political 
forces in the state canceling each other out on communal 
grounds.  The longstanding armed conflict between Jukuns and 
Tivs in the south has abated in the past few months, but 
banditry and communal conflict still occur in many areas. 
End Summary. 
 
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DISORGANIZATION WRIT LARGE 
-------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) On January 13-16 PolCouns traveled to Taraba State 
in the northeast, one of the largest states in Nigeria and 
one of the most underdeveloped.  Electricity is haphazard, 
and public water so scarce that residents rely on water 
vendors carrying jerricans for their daily consumption, even 
in the state capital Jalingo.  An aide to Governor Nyame told 
us that he and other residents in Jalingo buy water without 
knowing its source, even though the nearby streams and wells 
where the water is drawn may be contaminated.  Landline 
telephones are rare, and there are no mobile phone services. 
There are very few banks.  At first impression, Taraba 
appears to be severed from the rest of Nigeria. 
 
3. (SBU) Official business at the Government House was 
lackadaisical.  Most of the state officials appeared 
incompetent in their jobs, and some did not even know the 
state very well.  Several planned a day trip to one far 
corner of the state that the Governor wanted PolCouns to see, 
for example, only for the PolCouns' party to point out, 
comparing the plan to a map, that driving over 800 miles in 
eight hours through the mountains was impossible.  As it 
turned out, none of the planners had ever been to those 
places, and none had looked at where they were on a map. 
Most Taraba state "experts" we met knew little about what was 
going on in their portfolios, and the only member of the 
Governor's cabinet who was reputed to be effective in any 
way, a medical doctor who has been Commissioner of Health, 
was recently booted upstairs from health to public relations. 
 At least the clinics he had built across the state are still 
working. 
 
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ROADS, A PROBLEM ALL OVER NIGERIA 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Governor Nyame has a cabinet of 22 commissioners, 
many of whom have overlapping portfolios.  A Commissioner of 
Works is supposed to build roads, but so is the Commissioner 
of Roads.  An aide to Governor Nyame told PolCouns that 
Taraba has more political appointees than most states in 
Nigeria, and complained, "Apart from receiving fat salaries 
and wages, one wonders what they actually do."  Apparently 
not build or repair roads; PolCouns' party transversed most 
of the state over three days, and the only road workers seen 
were local children filling in potholes by hand and asking 
passing motorists for handouts. 
 
5. (U) Road maintenance is problematic across Nigeria, in 
part because the responsibility is divided between national, 
state and local governments that have very different planning 
systems.  Local Government Areas get essentially patronage 
money from the states and have some revenues of their own, 
and the few local government-built roads seen in Taraba were 
in fair condition. 
 
6. (U) State government gets most of its money in a form of 
revenue sharing from the federal government, but is not sure 
how much it will receive when from the feds.  As a result, 
only well-run state governments have the road contracts 
planned and ready when the money reaches the state till to 
pay for them.  One aide to the Governor, Ibrahim Yarobo, 
pointed out that Nyame has not constructed even one road 
since the beginning of his second term in 1999.  The state 
roads we traveled were in appalling condition; they were hard 
to drive at 40 mph, let alone the 100 mph the Taraba planners 
would have wished. 
 
7. (U) National roads are maintained on a scheduled basis, 
with adjustments made to the schedule when there is major 
damage to the road, major funding not released by the Central 
Bank, or major influence is used in Abuja.  Nyame's aide also 
said the Governor has not lobbied the feds to rehabilitate 
Taraba's one federal road, which spans the state.  PolCouns' 
party drove the length of it one day, often reaching 60-70 
mph for kilometers at a time before slowing down for the next 
few kilometers of potholes. 
 
------------------------------- 
SO HOW WAS THIS GUY RE-ELECTED? 
------------------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) It appears the administratively impaired Governor 
Nyame was re-elected in a mostly free and fair election in 
2003, rather the opposite of the Governor in neighboring 
Gombe (reftel) who has done much better for his citizens but 
was probably rigged in.  There appear to be two answers, both 
related to communal conflict that has wracked the state for 
several years.  Governor Nyame is a Methodist minister, and 
has emphasized and succeeded at reducing those conflicts. 
Also, the war and enmity between Taraba's largest two tribes, 
the Tivs and Jukuns, in the more populous southern half of 
the state have canceled out their two candidates for 
governor, leaving the field to Nyame, a minority Mumuye from 
the northern town of Zing. 
 
9. (SBU) The only practical zing Nyame has shown in office 
has been in mediation and the construction or rehabilitation 
of medical centers for most major towns of the State. 
Impractically, Nyame is full of ideas.  The Governor lectured 
PolCouns on exploiting Taraba's mineral resources almost 
literally while the police were arresting the only miners at 
work in Taraba.  They were illegals, in the sense that the 
GON makes registration of land titles and mineral rights 
(other than oil and gas) almost prohibitively difficult and 
expensive.  The other project Nyame pressed on PolCouns for 
foreign investment was the construction of a huge dam and 
hydroelectric plant on the Mambilla Plateau.  Nyame said that 
he needed 4 billion USD for the project, and that at 4,000 
megawatts it would produce roughly as much electricity as 
Nigeria consumes.  Nyame lamented that American companies had 
studied the project, but had not invested even after 
receiving feasibility studies and other necessary 
information. 
 
10. (SBU) Nyame travels frequently outside the state to Abuja 
and abroad, supposedly in pursuit of foreign investment. 
Most Tarabans, including his staff, said he spends more time 
outside the state than inside.  He reportedly was originally 
a close ally of VP Atiku, but now prefers Babangida.  In 2000 
he narrowly survived an impeachment attempt by the State 
Legislature during a bitter dispute over legislative finances 
and allowances.  Nyame was first elected governor 1991-93, 
and worked for the Methodist Church before and after that. 
He received a Bachelor of Divinity from the Theological 
College, University of Jos, a Certificate in Administration 
from Emory University, and a Higher Diploma in Theology from 
University of Jos in 1980.  Nyame was born in Zing on 
Christmas Day, 1955. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, MAJOR FIGHTING HAS SUBSIDED 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
11. (U) Nyame and leaders of various Taraba NGOs told 
PolCouns that the age-long triangular conflict between Jukuns 
and Tivs and between Jukuns and Kutebs has greatly subsided. 
Nyame said his background as a clergyman coupled with his 
childhood upbringing had helped him to broker a peace among 
the warring factions.  His father was a medical assistant who 
welcomed and treated patients in villages from all segments 
of the society, regardless of tribe or religion.  He 
mentioned that efforts were being made to address grievances, 
especially on land disputes.  He had given the Tivs, long 
excluded from state government, one cabinet slot, and the 
Tivs' traditional ruler (the Tor Tiv in Benue State) made 
Nyame a chief in the tribe. 
 
12. (U) The Taraba NGO leaders collectively agreed, in a 
meeting with PolCouns, that security was still a major 
concern in the State despite relative peace between Jukuns 
and their rivals.  Periodic fighting among communities over 
land ownership, leadership tussles and ethnic domination was 
common, and nomadic Fulani fought with farmers over land 
control.  Other nomads wandering seasonally down from Chad 
added to both disputes and banditry, and they were the best 
armed.  Two days before PolCouns arrived in Jalingo, a senior 
state official was attacked on the highway. 
 
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HIGH POINTS AND LOW POINTS 
-------------------------- 
 
13. (U) There is much beauty in Taraba State, however, as 
well as untapped development potential.  One example was the 
Highland Tea factory on the large and fertile Mambilla 
Plateau, about 4000 feet above sea level in the mountains 
about 6 hours from Jalingo by road.  Present and past 
Nigerian presidents reportedly have farmhouses there, 
including Obasanjo and Babangida. 
 
14. (U) With better marketing and distribution, Highland Tea 
could become a serious tea exporter.  It already ships bulk 
tea through Chad and Niger to Sudan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, 
but it only has a 5 percent market share in Nigeria for its 
branded and packaged tea.  The plantations and factory were 
established in the 1970s, the factory maintains a consciously 
chosen combination of old and new technology.  They dropped 
mechanical picking machines for local workers picking by 
hand, to protect the tea bushes and to gain local favor. 
They dropped their old diesel electricity generators in favor 
of high-tech wood burning stoves for the critical 
drying/fermentation process.  Its tasters (a rather technical 
skill in chemical balance as well as flavor, somewhat akin to 
winemaking) are trained in the UK, although the company 
believes training in the US would be better. 
 
15. (SBU) Marketing is their weak point.  Highland Tea staff 
said Lipton and other foreign brands sold in Nigeria are 
actually blended in Nigeria mostly or completely from 
Nigerian teas.  Highland Tea is the only producer in Nigeria 
selling under its own brand.  Governor Nyame hopes Nigerians 
and foreigners will make the tea popular.  His apathetic 
state government does little to make that happen. 
 
16. (SBU) Taraba State owns the two year-old Jalingo Motel, 
the only hotel for foreigners or middle-class Nigerians in 
the state.  Its restaurants, however, do not serve the 
state's Highland Tea.  They also do not serve any of the 
dishes on their menus, although Highland Tea is not 
advertised there either.  Electricity (generated by the 
hotel) is turned on at 2:00am and turned off at 6:00 am.  The 
cooks have gas stoves, but said they do not buy the foods 
necessary to make the dishes on their menu because nobody 
comes to Taraba to eat them.  The hotel desk cheerily said 
management runs the generators on the schedule it does (when 
people are asleep) to save electricity.  Like Taraba State as 
a whole, the Jalingo Motel could be appealing if it would 
just try a little. 
ROBERTS