US embassy cable - 02ABUJA1594

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001594 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
KAMPALA FOR AID - DAWN LIBERI; RIYADH FOR POL - R. HANKS 
 
 
E.O.12958: DECL: 5/23/12 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EFIN, EAID, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: OBASANJO SAYS BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP 
IS A ONE-WAY STREET 
 
 
REF: ABUJA 1091 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER. REASON 1.5 
(B) AND (D). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: During a late evening May 18 
conversation with Ambassador Jeter, an animated 
President Obasanjo claimed the bilateral relationship 
was too one-sided. While we dun him with multiple 
demands to reform at home and hew our line on foreign 
policy issues abroad (Zimbabwe and Cuba), we were deaf 
to his pleas for debt relief. The bilateral 
relationship would suffer unless we were more 
forthcoming on the debt issue, he asserted. Recently 
returned from the ECOWAS meeting in Yamoussoukro, 
Obasanjo stated that he and President Wade were 
selected to mediate a Liberian cease-fire. However, 
Obasanjo was not very sanguine about the assignment, 
stating President Taylor had previously rebuffed his 
attempted brokerage between the GOL and its political 
opposition. Although not wanting to speak in great 
detail about domestic politics, Obasanjo expressed 
confidence that elections would be nonviolent and that 
he would emerge on top. End Summary. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
YOU ARE INDEBTED TO RELIEVE MY DEBT 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
2. (C) A few minutes into a brief discussion with 
Ambassador Jeter about difficulties the Embassy was 
having with the Ministry of Women's Affairs regarding 
operation of the EDDI-funded Community Resource Center 
in Abuja, Obasanjo quickly picked up the telephone. 
Calling the Women's Affairs Minister, he ordered her 
to resolve the problem quickly. Purposefully within 
earshot of the Ambassador, Obasanjo stressed he had 
much bigger fish to fry with the USG and wanted this 
relatively minor irritant off the bilateral docket so 
that he could focus on the issue that interested him 
the most -- debt relief. 
 
 
3. (C) Putting down the telephone receiver and angling 
his body toward the Ambassador, Obasanjo plaintively 
remarked the USG "would not be his friend for long" 
unless he saw progress on debt relief. Becoming more 
agitated as he spoke, Obasanjo grumbled that he 
traveled the world for three years championing debt 
relief but had returned home empty-handed. Stopping 
himself mid-sentence from using a strong expletive, he 
lamented, "I have not received one f. penny, not one!" 
He stated that he had talked to President Bush and 
Prime Minister Blair but to no avail. "I don't 
understand it," he decried. Obasanjo then raised the 
failed debt/environment swap, claiming the USG did not 
even have the courtesy to formally notify him the 
proposal was aborted by the oil companies. He learned 
of the failure through the media but only after he had 
publicized the deal in Nigeria.  By skimming 10 
percent of the bilateral debt, he had viewed the swap 
as a good first step and a political victory. Instead, 
the episode became a significant embarrassment, he 
maintained. When Ambassador Jeter tried to make the 
linkage between reform and relief, Obasanjo flung 
himself back in his chair for effect and bellowed, 
"Come on, Ambassador!" 
 
 
4.  (C) While we act cavalierly on issues of grave 
concern to him, we had the temerity to demand he 
follow our lead on issues important to us, Obasanjo 
asserted. Citing the recent Cuba resolution before the 
UN Human Rights Commission, Obasanjo railed that the 
USG expected him to change long-standing GON policy on 
Cuba, a traditional friend, because the issue was 
important to the White House. Yet when he asked the 
USG to change its established policy on debt, he 
received a cold shoulder. Obasanjo emphasized he was 
as much a leader of a nation as President Bush. If we 
wanted him to continue carrying our water in 
international fora, we should reciprocate on issues of 
importance to Nigeria. 
 
 
---------- 
LET'S TALK 
---------- 
 
 
5. (C) When the Ambassador stated the need for 
frequent dialogue to more clearly define areas of 
convergent and divergent views, Obasanjo agreed but 
stressed that Zimbabwe was off-limits. Iterating a 
theme of their April meeting (reftel), Obasanjo told 
Ambassador Jeter that all of Africa was looking to 
Nigeria on Zimbabwe. He had to ensure that whatever 
decision he took would be seen as truly Nigeria's and 
not an imposition from the West. "So if you try to 
talk to me about Zimbabwe, I will cut you off," he 
pledged. Obasanjo added that the USG linkage of NEPAD 
and Zimbabwe was wrong-minded. He also blanched the 
USG would attempt to tell him what NEPAD's mandate 
should be when he was one of NEPAD's architects. 
(Comment: Obasanjo's statements imply a significant 
difference between his vision of the peer review 
mechanism and what we assume it will be.  End 
comment.) 
 
 
--------------- 
LIBERIA, AGAIN! 
--------------- 
 
 
6. (C) Obasanjo related that a significant portion of 
the Yamoussoukro NEPAD conference was devoted to 
Liberia. He stated that President Taylor was in 
serious trouble but had himself to blame; there was 
little sympathy among ECOWAS Heads of State for their 
colleague in Monrovia. Obasanjo did not relish being 
named, along with ECOWAS Chairman Wade, to mediate a 
cease-fire in Liberia. Obasanjo also claimed that Wade 
was piqued after Taylor had spat in his soup by 
insisting on continuation of the "Rabat Process" 
instead of the proposed intra-ECOWAS diplomacy under 
Wade's leadership. Giving the impression he did not 
intend to invest significant energy in this endeavor, 
Obasanjo remarked that Taylor had rejected his attempt 
to reconcile the GOL with its political opposition 
when such a process might have forestalled the LURD 
emergence. I did my best to bring Taylor to Abuja for 
talks, but he would not come."  Now Taylor's hubris 
had led to a much stronger challenge to his 
government's survival. 
 
 
7. (C) Obasanjo also denied rumors Nigeria had 
furnished weapons to Taylor. He pointed north to 
Tripoli as a possible source and said he would ask 
Quaddafi who has been surprisingly forthright when 
questioned about Liberia in the past. (Comment: 
Obasanjo seems to have warmed to the task since the 
meeting. On May 22, ECOWAS ExSec Chambas informed 
Ambassador that he had a two-hour meeting with 
Obasanjo to discuss an ECOWAS team of military 
advisors visit to Liberia to assess and investigate 
the deteriorating security situation there. In a May 
23 aside, NSA Aliyu Mohammed told the Ambassador the 
GON had convinced Taylor to come to Abuja for talks 
about his situation at home. End Comment.) 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
ELECTIONS AT HOME -- A PIECE OF CAKE/ A SLICE OF GOD 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
8. (C) Clearly not wanting to engage in a detailed 
discussion about internal politics, Obasanjo 
nonetheless became more relaxed when Ambassador Jeter 
asked about security preparations for the upcoming 
elections, particularly local government contests in 
August. Downplaying recent incidents of localized 
electoral violence, Obasanjo said security 
preparations were in train. Predicting no major 
trouble, he averred, "God and we" would make sure that 
electioneering did not run amok. Obasanjo expressed 
confidence that he would be reelected. On his vision 
for a second term, he stated that his first term was 
devoted to excising the "debris" clogging the system 
due to years of misrule. In the next term, he would 
stick to the same programs and policies but would be 
able to move faster because of the ground clearing 
done this term. 
 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 
9. (C) In many respects a continuation of the meeting 
reported reftel, this session did not break new 
ground. However, it brought into sharper focus 
Obasanjo's edginess regarding lack of progress on debt 
relief. There is no reason not to take him at his 
word.  Unless there is a better meeting of the minds 
on the debt question, Obasanjo and the GON will 
increasingly become more difficult partners. 
JETER