US embassy cable - 02ABUJA521

UNCLAS ABUJA 000521 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, US, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: 9-11 DISASTER SUPPORT 
 
1. Post recently received the letter at para 3 (which 
included a donation of 15,000 Naira, or USD140), which is 
indicative of the messages of solidarity we have received 
from ordinary Nigerians in support of the families affected 
by 9-11.  We thought it important to inform the Department 
how ordinary Nigerians have responded to the attacks on the 
United States. 
 
 
2.  On February 7, CG Lagos hosted a dinner for Nigerian 
donors to victims of 9/11; most, but not all donations came 
from Southern Nigerians.  The two largest donations of N1 
million (USD 8,770) each were received from a Pharmaceutical 
firm and a Managing Director of a bank.  Many other donations 
came from ordinary Nigerians. While the size of many of these 
donations would be considered small by American standards, 
for most Nigerians, they represent a significant gesture 
(annual per capita GDP is N31,426 or USD285).  Perhaps our 
most generous donor was 10-year old Dumebi Browne, who 
explained to a rapt audience at the CG dinner that he had 
donated N 1,000 to the 9/11 fund because "that was all he had 
in his piggy bank." 
 
 
3. 
 
 
Begin text: 
 
 
To the American People c/o The Ambassador 
 
 
Dear Sir: 
 
 
My family and I watched on television with unspeakable horror 
the multiple terrorist attacks on symbols of your nation.  We 
can only imagine for all eternity what manner of people these 
are, what kind of womb brought people like these into the 
world. 
 
 
It is easy at times like this to question the existence of 
God but this is the time to emphasize the inscription on your 
nation's currency which says for all eternity, "In God We 
Trust."  In God we should trust for the souls of those lost. 
In God we should trust for all those who have lost husbands, 
wives, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and 
colleagues, for at times like this no words can fill the void 
in our hearts. 
 
 
We are too far away to donate blood or help physically. 
Please accept this check for the sum of N15,000 for the 
American people for use in any way they deem fit to help 
those in need. 
 
 
This is not an attack on the American people but on all 
members of the human race who believe in the sanctity of the 
human life.  For all of us, the unthinkable has happened, but 
we all know that America will come out of this stronger.  The 
New York skyline has changed but we know for sure that 
someday the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center will rise 
again. 
 
 
God Bless the American People 
 
 
/sgd/ 
Okechukwu and Udo Nwobu 
 
 
 
Jeter