US embassy cable - 04LAGOS1203

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 001203 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
 
LONDON FOR GURNEY, PARIS FOR NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ECON, KDEM, PINR, NI 
SUBJECT: AH, THE "O'S!" - A VISIT TO OGUN, OYO, OSUN, AND 
ONDO STATES (PART 1 OF 4) 
 
1. Summary. This is the first of a four-part report on 
ConOffs visit to four of the five former Alliance for 
Democracy Party (AD) States, that were taken by the Peoples 
Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2003 and 2004 federal, state 
and local elections.  After one year under new 
administrations, all four States seem to be making progress 
in delivering critical government services such as free 
education, poverty alleviation and infrastructure 
improvements.  The AD and its primary founding organization, 
the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, seem 
to be floundering in their effort to find political 
significance in the southwest before the elections in 2007. 
Ogun State, more than the other three, was able to show 
progress the new administration  made in only one year. 
Despite its proximity to AD-controlled Lagos State, we found 
AD had almost no visibility in Ogun. End summary. 
 
2. (SBU)  Ogun - "The Gateway State" and Home State of 
President Olusegun Obasanjo 
 
Ogun State surrounds Lagos State on the north, east and west, 
seeming to crowd Lagos south into the Bight of Benin.  Ogun, 
like the other three States visited, was once part of the now 
defunct Western Region and assumed its current borders only 
in 1976 when it was formed by the merger of the provinces of 
Abeokuta and Ijebu.  The majority of the population is ethnic 
Yoruba or from Yoruba "sub-ethnic" tribes such as the Oyo, 
Egba, and Ijebu.  State officials told us that the State has 
now equal numbers of Christians and Muslims.  However, our 
casual observation of the numbers of women wearing distinctly 
Muslim head coverings and men in white Hajj skullcaps on the 
streets and in the markets  gave the impression that Muslims 
are in the majority.  On the main road leading into the 
capital city, Abeokuta, the first place of worship visitors 
pass is a well-kept, possibly new, mosque.  There is almost a 
one-to-one ratio of mosques to churches in Abeokuta. 
 
Economics 
 
3. (SBU) The Right Honorable Titi Oseni, the only female 
Speaker of a State House of Assembly in Nigeria, arranged a 
formal presentation for PolOffs' visit on May 17.  In our 
meeting were the Commissioners for Information and Strategy, 
Economic Planning and Development, Communications, 
Agriculture and Tourism.  Oseni also invited fourteen members 
of the Assembly, including the lone, remaining Alliance for 
Democracy (AD) member, and a dozen press persons. 
Yosolaoluwa Akinbi, Special Advisor to the Governor for 
Economic Planning and Development, and one of two women in 
Governor Gbenga Daniel's cabinet, gave a lucid and detailed 
account of what this year-old administration has done already 
and plans to do.  She pointed out that the State government 
has saved 2 billion naira in the past year in awarding 
contracts for government services by imposing a system of 
transparency and accountability. Akinbi said that Ogun is 
unusual among Nigerian States because only about twenty 
thousand of its five million residents work for the 
government. Job creation by the private sector is, therefor, 
a priority economic issue for the Daniel administration. 
The State has established the Ogun State Employment 
Generation Programme to train unemployed youths for 
agricultural and nonagricultural jobs.  While in training, 
the youths receive 600 naira per week to encourage them to 
stay with the program, and are given favorable loans or 
grants of money and equipment to start up businesses after 
completing the program.  Five thousand men recently completed 
the program at a cost of 80 million naira, and, according to 
Akinbi, this will generate 45,000 future jobs. 
 
4.  (SBU) The Governor's goal is for all his administration's 
projects to be fully funded by internally generated revenue 
at the end of his four year term. Describing some of the 
steps the administration is taking toward that goal, Akinbi 
said Ogun is cooperating with neighboring Ondo State to 
develop a Free Trade Export Zone.  (Comment.  The Ogun State 
government has contacted the Foreign Commercial Service in 
Lagos to discuss what assistance the USG can give to this 
project. End comment.)  The State has also granted Agip Oil 
development contracts along its coastline. Speaker Oseni 
added that Ogun has already begun advance planning for the 
oil industry in Ogun through infrastructure improvements and 
environmental impact studies.  She said Ogun would not be 
overrun by tanker trailers and pollution as other 
oil-producing States had been.  Agriculture and tourism are 
also high priority areas where the State hopes to attract 
investors and create jobs.  Ogun has begun to rehabilitate 
old or abandoned citrus and cocoa plantations as well as 
establish new plantations.  It has made large purchases of 
the federal government's price-subsidized fertilizer for 
distribution to Ogun's farmers.  The State claims many scenic 
areas or historical sites, but there is, as yet, insufficient 
support for the 300% growth in the tourism industry that the 
Governor has demanded.  Although the roads in Ogun are some 
of the best-maintained that we have seen in southern Nigeria, 
there are no hotels, restaurants, etc. either along the road 
or in Abeokuta that would meet minimum Western standards. 
 
Image control 
 
5. (SBU) Commissioner for Information Niran Malaolu said the 
Governor's main public information message was "The PDP's 
(Peoples Democratic Party) taking over in Ogun is not just a 
fluke; it is a good thing for this region and will bring us 
together."  Governor Daniel wants improved government 
services delivered to all the people.  The governor is 
advertising Ogun's history of peace and security as a way to 
entice investors and create jobs.  Daniel is focusing on 
housing, especially for the low income families, by offering 
"micro-mortgages."  According to Malaolu, the administration 
is completely caught up on all salary back payments for state 
civil servants, pensioners, health care workers, and 
teachers, and has sufficient budget allocation to continue 
free primary education in the State.  In another move to 
improve services and enhance transparency and accountability, 
Daniel has let contracts to an information technology company 
to install "e-government" systems to handle state government 
communications networks, payroll and pension systems, and 
contracting.  Malaolu said these systems will "create easy 
access between the government and the governed." 
 
Politics 
 
6. (SBU) The Right Honorable Oseni then took the floor to 
describe the political scene.  She said that the House of 
Assembly has 26 members representing 20 Local Government 
Areas (LGAs).  Ogun did not create any new LGAs because, 
according to Oseni, they "didn't need them."  During the past 
year in office the Assembly has passed 158 resolutions and 
seen 12 legislative bills signed by the governor.  Ogun was 
the first State to pass a Children's Rights Bill that 
guarantees its citizens such things as free primary 
education.  The House holds its session in the Yoruba 
language every Wednesday, and has "Governor Explain This" 
meetings once every quarter where legislators are allowed to 
quiz the governor on his executive actions.  All general 
sessions of the Assembly are open to the public and records 
of all sessions are published and for sale to the public. 
Oseni said  some of her priorities are improving Assembly 
staff benefits and refurbishing the Assembly's public spaces. 
 She invited us to sit in briefly on one of the Assembly's 
sessions in its newly refurbished chamber.  In closing, Oseni 
said the legislators are very interested in US exchange or 
training programs for legislators. 
 
7.  (SBU) Biographic note: Justus Olugbenga Daniel was born 
April 6, 1956.  He is the son of a Protestant clergyman.  He 
was educated entirely in Nigeria and holds a degree in 
engineering and an MBA.  In 1990, after holding managerial 
positions with several international engineering firms, he 
founded his own successful company, Kresta Laurel, that 
produces lifting devices and power generators.  Daniel has 
established a non-profit organization, Gateway Front 
Foundation, that benefits, mainly, the people of Ogun State. 
He is married to Yeye Olufunke Daniel and has four sons and 
one daughter.  Daniel has been active in politics since his 
undergraduate days at Lagos Polytechnic and University of 
Lagos.  But he decided to apply his business management 
talents to running a state government only shortly before the 
2003 elections.  In 2004 he was named Best Performing 
Governor in Nigeria for 2003. He carries the traditional 
title of Otunba Adeoti of Omu-Ijebu. End bio note. 
 
HINSON-JONES