US embassy cable - 05LAGOS1416

UNCLAS LAGOS 001416 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR DAS JBRODMAN AND CGAYE 
TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS AND SRENANDER 
DOC FOR KBURRESS 
STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION MARAD 
STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ 
STATE PASS EX-IM FOR JRICHTER AND KVRANICH 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND JEDWARDS 
STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT AND BTERNET 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EPET, KDEM, PGOV, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN LABOR CONGRESS ABBREVIATES RALLY PLANS 
 
REF: A) LAGOS 1398 B) LAGOS 1397 C) LAGOS 1377 D) 
 
     LAGOS 1376 E) LAGOS 1350 F) ABUJA 1153 
 
1.  The NLC held a press conference September 12 to discuss 
the protest rally planned for Lagos September 14.  They are 
now calling for a more modest demonstration than reported in 
ref A.  The schedule of demonstrations has also been 
abbreviated, with the next venue being Benin City on 
September 15 and the last Abuja on September 30.  NLC sources 
said they notified the police, but because of the new July 
protest law (reported in ref E), they did not have to ask for 
official permission to hold the protest.  So far, the police 
claim they will abide by the law and will not interfere. 
 
2.  The rally will begin between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. at the 
National Stadium in Surulere.  Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka 
will be the keynote speaker, and other noted activists, 
including Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, will follow.  Media reported 
that Chief Frederick Fasehun, putative chairman of the Oodua 
Peoples Congress (OPC), a militant Yoruba group known for 
inciting violence, would participate.  Fasehun is the leader 
of the wing of the OPC that, at least publicly, renounces 
violence.  However, despite Fasehun's public statement, NLC 
officials said they refused the OPC's request to take part in 
the rally.  Allowing the OPC and its checkered reputation a 
place in the protest would provide law enforcement a 
convenient excuse to blame organizers should any disturbance 
occur. 
 
3.  After the speeches, participants will march to the Ikeja 
district of Lagos and from there to Alausa, site of the 
governor's office.  NLC President Adams Oshiomhole along with 
others will deliver a letter protesting fuel prices, salary 
levels, various acts of government corruption, and the GON's 
failure to fix broken oil refineries.  NLC expects the rally 
to end by 2:00 p.m. and that there will be several thousand 
participants. 
 
4.  The GON has not yet contacted the NLC for further talks, 
but the Ministry of Labor will meet with other government 
officials and representatives of the Michael Imoudou 
Institute for Labor Studies (MIILS) on Wednesday, September 
14 to discuss the GON's next steps.  While they have not met 
directly with union leaders again, the GON has publicly asked 
that the rallies be cancelled.  As of September 9, the Trade 
Union Congress (TUC) received its recognition of status as a 
central labor organization and peer of the NLC, and so any 
future meeting between GON and union representatives will 
probably include both TUC and the NLC. 
BROWNE