US embassy cable - 04ABUJA2065

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 002065 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
DAKAR PLEASE PASS TO FAA ED JONES; DOT PLEASE PASS TO SUSAN 
MCDERMOTT, ORNELIA WILSON HUNTER, AND KEVIN SAMPLE; FAA 
PLEASE PASS TO FOREST RAWLS III; BRUSSELS PLEASE PASS TO TSA 
GERALD K. MOORE; HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER PLEASE PASS TO TSA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NI, EAIR, EAID, ECON, ETRD, PTER, CACS 
SUBJECT: GON AVIATION OFFICIALS DISCUSS AIRPORT SECURITY, 
VIRGIN NIGERIA AIRWAYS 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  On December 8, Embassy Econ Officer, 
Consular Officer, and Consulate Economic Specialist traveled 
to Lagos Muhammed Murtala International Airport (MMIA) for 
talks with officials of the Federal Airports Authority of 
Nigeria.  The two sides discussed Nigeria's continued 
efforts to attain FAA Category I certification, improvements 
at MMIA to accommodate Virgin Nigeria Airways, and a 
December 4 confrontation at MMIA's domestic terminal after 
which U.S. rapper 50 Cent, fearing for his safety, cut short 
his Nigerian tour and returned to the United States.  The 
Embassy/Consulate Officers also met with the military 
commandant of MMIA and encountered no security measures 
while winding their way to his office.  End summary. 
 
2.   (U) On December 8, Embassy Econ Officer, Consular 
Officer, and Consulate Economic Specialist traveled to the 
Lagos headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of 
Nigeria (FAAN), near Muhammed Murtala International Airport 
(MMIA), for talks with FAAN officials.  The visitors met 
with Desmond Ugwuegbulem, FAAN director of airport 
operations; Mrs. A.A. Faworaja, FAAN general manager for 
airport security; and MMIA General Manager Obi Anadu, as 
well as two mid-level security officers.  The main focus of 
the talks was the GON's continuing effort to attain from the 
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Category I 
certification of Nigeria's civil-aviation sector. 
 
3.   (U) Ugwuegbulem said the FAAN considers Nigeria's 
efforts to achieve Category I status to be a fundamental 
priority.  To this end, he said, the FAAN has tightened 
access to MMIA by different companies' small vehicles and 
instead will contract with a services company to provide 
passenger services, power units, equipment, and airport 
tractors.  He also emphasized that the FAAN is determined to 
improve overall neatness at MMIA as well as the reliability 
and operability of its equipment.  One of these 
improvements, Ugwuegbulem said, will be the introduction of 
"follow-me" vans used in parking and transit operations, 
including in parking aircraft in the correct space.  The 
FAAN official said these vans will be introduced first at 
MMIA, and then at Abuja International Airport. 
 
4.  (U) Ugwuegbulem said that on March 2, 2005, MMIA's newly 
repaired runway 19 is scheduled to reopen to air traffic and 
that the completion of this runway project is necessary for 
MMIA to receive Category I certification.  Related to this, 
Ugwuegbulem said, is MMIA's plan to increase the 
standardization of its equipment and to buy additional 
Rapidscan baggage X-ray equipment.  He also noted the FAAN 
is installing closed-circuit television to cover MMIA's 
terminal A, to be followed by the airport's terminal B. 
Ugwuegbulem explained that this renovation of MMIA is being 
undertaken in part to accommodate flights of the planned 
Virgin Nigeria Airways, which intends to operate domestic 
flights from MMIA's international terminal.  The FAAN 
official noted there will be a physical separation of 
international and domestic flight operations at MMIA's 
international terminal.  According to Ugwuegbulem, MMIA's 
ground facilities intended for Virgin Nigeria Airways should 
be ready for operation by March 2005, and the GON hopes to 
have qualified for Category I certification by September 
2005.  He additionally said plans are under way to improve 
the airport's perimeter fencing, and that MMIA soon will 
have an uninterruptible power supply system for airfield 
lighting which would be separate from the airport's other 
sources of power -- generators and the National Electric 
Power Authority. 
 
5.  (U) In discussing funding for the FAAN, Ugwuegbulem said 
a budget has been sent to the Ministry of Aviation, and that 
the National Assembly should approve funds for the agency by 
the end of December 2004.  Then, the official said, the FAAN 
will prepare a timeline for achieving Category I 
certification and will request the necessary international 
assistance.  Ugwuegbulem also stated the GON increasingly 
will purchase its own equipment and fund its own training, 
and he asserted the National Assembly is increasingly aware 
of the need to fund civil aviation operations. 
 
6.  (U) The Economic Officer then asked about an incident on 
December 4, in which the entourage of touring U.S. rapper 50 
Cent, a.k.a. Curtis Jackson, became involved in a 
confrontation at MMIA's domestic terminal.  A Nigerian 
musician sparked this dispute, and his supporters, who 
likely were present as passengers, surrounded 50 Cent in his 
vehicle next to the rapper's intended aircraft.   Fearing 
for his safety, 50 Cent cut short his Nigerian tour and 
after of a tense delay of at least several hours, proceeded 
to MMIA's international terminal and then to the United 
States. 
 
7.  (SBU) Although 50 Cent claimed through his recording 
label, which contacted the U.S. Consulate in Lagos for 
assistance, that three vanloads of Lagos "area boys" 
(criminal hooligans) arrived on the tarmac to surround his 
plane, both Ugwuegbulem and Faworaja said vans carrying the 
Nigerian musician's supporters could not have bypassed 
airport security measures, and that 50 Cent's opponents 
instead likely were passengers waiting to board a second, 
nearly simultaneous flight to Port Harcourt -- 50 Cent's 
intended destination.  Ugwuegbulem asserted that 50 Cent 
should have had at least two policemen with him, while 
Faworaja said the affair was primarily the fault of the 
airline supplying the chartered aircraft.  Ugwuegbulem 
explained that FAAN personnel mediated at the scene of the 
confrontation and defused the situation, then escorted 50 
Cent away from the domestic terminal.  (Begin comment: 
While no one was reported seriously injured in the "50 Cent 
affair," the Nigerian press reported that the confrontation 
and resulting standoff lasted five hours.  The FAAN, as 
noted, mediated at the scene and defused the situation, but 
airline and airport officials first allowed matters to 
mushroom quickly, then needed at least several hours to 
regain control.  Media reports on this incident, including 
in the international press, did nothing to improve Nigeria's 
reputation for lawlessness or deficient security and law 
enforcement.  End comment.) 
 
8.  (SBU) Discussion then turned to Virgin Nigeria Airlines' 
seeking approval for U.S. landing rights.  Ugwuegbulem 
opined that the GON was not "very happy" with the Virgin 
Nigeria deal, because the U.S. Government might consider the 
airline a UK entity.  The FAAN official also said he didn't 
believe the GON was linking Continental Airlines' request to 
begin direct flights to Nigeria with Virgin Nigeria's quest 
for U.S. landing rights.  (Begin comment:  Continental 
Airlines announced on December 9 that Nigeria had approved 
direct Continental flights between New York and Lagos, which 
Continental expects will begin in the second quarter of 
2005.  End comment.)  At this point, Mrs. Faworaja said 
there is very strong public pressure in Nigeria for the GON 
to approve direct flights to the United States.  According 
to Ugwuegbulem, this is because of the recurring visa 
unpleasantness Nigerian passengers encounter in Europe, and 
especially in the United Kingdom, where Nigerians cannot 
receive a UK transit visa in fewer than three days.  This 
causes many Nigerians either to be stranded in British 
airports or to have to return to Nigeria without having 
reached their destination.  Largely because of this 
situation, Ugwuegbulem said, the GON is "barely managing to 
accommodate" the Virgin Nigeria Airways deal, which is 
caught in the middle of a dispute over U.S. airlines' access 
to European Union routes.  (Begin comment:  A U.S. 
Department of Transportation official informed the Economic 
Counselor on December 8 that the United States will not 
approve Virgin Nigeria Airways' application for U.S. landing 
rights.  End comment.) 
 
9.   (SBU) Following these talks with the FAAN officials, 
the Embassy/Consulate officers traveled to MMIA to meet with 
Nigerian Air Force Group Captain M. Tizhe, the military 
airport commandant.  According to both Tizhe and the FAAN, 
Tizhe is in effect the co-commander of MMIA but would assume 
control of the facility, as well as of MMIA's domestic 
terminal, in case of a civil disturbance.  Tizhe was very 
cordial to the Embassy/Consulate officers, but said his need 
to follow his military chain of command limited what he 
could discuss.  Tizhe instead directed the visitors to 
contact his superiors in Abuja -- specifically, the chief of 
Defense Intelligence -- if they wished further information 
about Tizhe's responsibilities.  Tizhe did say he was a 
member of Nigeria's Airport Security Committee, which is 
composed of representatives of the relevant federal 
entities, is headed by the airport manager as the FAAN's 
representative, and meets once a month or as needed.  (Begin 
comment:  The MMIA terminal has three main floors.  Tizhe's 
office was located on the third, smaller floor of 
administrative and security offices located above the top 
terminal floor.  The Embassy/Consulate officers neither 
encountered security measures nor passed through security 
checkpoints while entering MMIA's departure terminal, from 
which they ascended to its third floor to Tizhe's office. 
The Embassy/Consulate officers also wandered this labyrinth 
of hallways freely in search of Tizhe's office, which was 
located nearly opposite that of the MMIA police commander. 
This surprising lack of security at Nigeria's major 
international airport demonstrated the GON still faces 
challenges in its quest to receive Category I certification. 
End comment.) 
 
FUREY