US embassy cable - 02ABUJA2885

UNCLAS ABUJA 002885 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SECDEF PASS TO CDRUSAETAC WINCHESTER VA 
SECDEF PASS TO HQUSACE WASHDC 
SECDEF FOR DC//USDP-DSCA-ERASA// AND DC//UDP/ISA// 
SECSTATE FOR AFR/PM// 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MASS, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: NATIONAL INLAND WATERWAYS PROPOSAL FOR 
SUPPORT FROM ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS 
 
 
REF: A. NIWA MAY 28 LETTER TO AMBASSADOR JETER 
     B. HOPPER/OVERFIELD JUNE 19 EMAIL 
 
 
1. The U.S. Mission to Nigeria cannot support at this time 
the proposed project presented by the National Inland 
Waterways Authority (NIWA) (Ref A).  This decision is based 
on several considerations.   First, it is impossible to tell 
from NIWA's proposal exactly what they wish the Army Corps of 
Engineers to do. There is presently no funding and virtually 
no prospects for significant funding for any major 
undertaking.  ODC, USAID, and other Western donor agencies do 
not have funding to pay for a major project nor has the 
National Inland Waterway Authority demonstrated that they 
have the funds necessary for even a preliminary study.  Given 
the current fiscal constraints in Nigeria, where many 
thousands of civil servants wait months for their salaries, 
it is highly unlikely that GON funds, even if promised, would 
be made available in the near term. 
 
 
2.  The Mission would be pleased to revisit this decision if 
the NIWA proposal were better defined and resources 
identified.  Even at that point, the Mission would be hard 
pressed to support major undertakings, especially outside the 
metropolitan areas of Abuja and Lagos.  Mission 
administrative offices are understaffed and in cramped 
temporary quarters in which they will remain for the 
foreseeable future, probably until the new Chancery is 
completed in 2004. The security situation outside the major 
cities is sometimes volatile with sudden, unanticipated, 
communal violence a possibility in some areas of the country. 
 
 
 
 
3. An additional concern is the need for assurances that 
environmental and economic impact studies, as required by 
authorities in both Nigeria and the United States, are 
undertaken before a major project, such as dredging of the 
Niger River, begins.  Moreover, there are political forces in 
Nigeria, including local communities that would be 
significantly impacted by the proposed activity.  Nascent 
environmental groups would also become involved eventually, 
especially in the aggrieved and volatile Niger Delta. 
JETER