US embassy cable - 04LAGOS2138

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 002138 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, INR, DS, EB, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2009 
TAGS: PREL, NI, PGOV, EPET, KDEM 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: SOLE IJAW GOVERNOR DOWNPLAYS GON TALKS 
WITH DELTA MILITANTS, CALLS FOR "SINCERE" NATIONAL 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: LAGOS 2134 
 
Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne per 1.4 b and d 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  In an October 14 meeting with the Consul 
General and Pol/Econ chief, Bayelsa State Governor 
Alamieyeseigha, Nigeria's only Ijaw governor, downplayed the 
import of talks between the GON and Ijaw Delta militant 
leaders Dokubo Asari and Ateke Tom.  Clearly seeing Asari as 
an usurper who could encroach on his position in the Ijaw 
leadership condominium, Alamieyeseigha dismissed Asari as a 
"CNN creation."  He maintained that a national conference was 
required to address fundamental problems plaguing the Delta 
region and Nigeria as a whole.  However, Alamieyeseigha held 
out little hope that the GON would convene earnestly such a 
conference.  End Summary. 
 
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Ijaw Grievances Are Real, But Asari Is A Fraud 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
2. (C) Bayelsa State governor D. S. P. Alamieyeseigha is the 
lone Ijaw governor in the Niger Delta region.  Ijaws claim to 
be Nigeria's fourth largest ethnic group and to comprise a 
majority of inhabitants of the oil-rich Delta region.  Asked 
about recent talks between militant leader Dokubo Asari and 
the GON, Alamieyeseigha responded that Asari was a "CNN 
creation" who had been given a world stage by a single 
journalist, i.e. CNN's Jeff Koinange, whose reputation in 
Nigeria could use some varnish.  "Asari is a nothing who at 
the last minute decided to use the Ijaw cause," the governor 
averred, in an implicit reference to Asari's recent past as 
political hireling of Rivers State Governor Peter Odili.  The 
governor heaped blame on Odili for "arming those boys" during 
the 2003 elections and sharply criticized Odili for "not 
exercising the leadership" to disarm Asari and others once 
the elections were over.  Alamieyeseigha dismissed the notion 
that Asari now might be too much for Odili to handle, noting 
that he (Alamieyeseigha) had summoned Asari for talks and had 
no difficulty in getting Asari to come and see him. "If Odili 
wanted to stop this, he could," Alamieyeseigha concluded. 
 
3.  (C) Alamieyeseigha predicted that "nothing much" would 
emerge from the GON-Asari talks.  The GON does not have the 
political will to bring meaningful change to the Delta or for 
the Ijaws.  Meanwhile, no matter how much noise Asari makes, 
he has not been cloaked with the raiment of Ijaw leadership. 
He is not authorized to cut a deal on behalf of the group. 
 
4. (SBU) The governor told us the problems of the Ijaw and 
Delta are well-known.  Oil is the Nigerian lifeline. Yet the 
Delta which bears the brunt of oil-related environmental 
degradation has no control over oil resources and has not 
benefited from the tremendous revenues that revert to the 
GON.  Speaking more like an Ijaw activist than the chief 
magistrate of a multi-ethnic state, the governor maintained 
that Ijaws were insufficiently integrated into the central 
government power-structure and decision-making apparatus. 
While Ijaws represent the fourth largest ethnic group, they 
have always been woefully underrepresented in national 
offices, ministerial appointments and as recipients of the 
concomitant patronage that flows from occupying these 
offices.  Buttressing his points, he remarked that there is 
no electricity in Bayelsa state. He further claimed that no 
Ijaw had been in a visible position of power at the federal 
level since 1979 when Joseph Wayas held the senate 
presidency. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
National Conference Needed, But GON Not Sincere 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
5. (C)  To achieve long-term stability, Alamieyeseigha 
maintained that Nigeria needs political restructuring -- more 
federalism, less central government.  The Delta peoples 
require greater decision-making participation and increased 
resource control.  Delta residents, he said, should be 
strategic partners with the oil companies and with the 
federal government.  On the national level, Alamieyeseigha 
said the federal government should engage in increased and 
better consultation with the states.  There should also be 
greater minority political participation. 
 
6. (C) Alamieyeseigha said in his view a national conference 
would be the best vehicle for advancing these issues and 
addressing fundamental problems plaguing Nigeria as a whole, 
and the Delta region in particular.  The desired outcome 
would be a downsized federal government, increased 
independence at the state level, and greater resource control 
for Delta peoples.  He stressed the indivisibility of Nigeria 
and said change should come through dialogue, not arms. 
 
7. (C) Alamieyeseigha had scant confidence the GON would 
convene such a conference.  He said that President Obasanjo 
was not seriously contemplating a conference.  Moreover, he 
felt that Obasanjo did not really believe in dialogue or in 
listening to opposing viewpoints.  For Obasanjo, dialogue as 
a mere stalling tactic -- engage the opponent in talks so 
that you might weaken his activism.  He noted that "Delta 
stakeholders" had been meeting with the President for years, 
with no tangible results.  Alamieyeseigha concluded that even 
if the GON convened a national conference, it would freight 
it with endless committees and reports, resulting in few 
substantive changes. 
 
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Comment 
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8. (C)  Although an elected governor, Alamieyeseigha spoke 
almost exclusively from his Ijaw heart.  What he sees as Ijaw 
political and economic deprivation clearly rankles him. 
However, while Alamieyeseigha wants greater resource control 
for Ijaws, he is not prepared to countenance upstart Ijaw 
militants who seek to supplant his leadership role as the 
most important Ijaw office holder.  While he castigated 
Asari, Asari is ironically the governor's ally.  Asari's 
antics have embarrassed and undermined the national office 
aspirations of Rivers State Governor Odili.  Alamieyeseigha 
wants the South-South to produce the 2007 PDP 
vice-presidential candidate, but Odili is not who he has in 
mind.  Given the importance of the Ijaw, he thinks the person 
to be elevated to that position should be Nigeria's lone Ijaw 
governor -- himself. 
BROWNE