US embassy cable - 03ABUJA507

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000507 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DAKAR FOR FAA; BRUSSELS FOR FAA AND TSA 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10 March 2013 
TAGS: PREL, MASS, EAIR, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA - WORLD AIRWAYS, CATEGORY ONE AND SECTION 
557 
 
Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter. Reason:  1.5(b). 
 
 
1.  (C) President Obasanjo convoked Ambassador to his 
residence Sunday evening, March. DCM accompanied.  After 
the President had finished his agenda (captioned septel, 
notal), the Ambassador briefed him on Section 557 and 
raised two civil aviation concerns. 
 
 
2.  (C) Ambassador Jeter had briefed MoD Danjuma March 7 on 
the Congressionally mandated suspension of FY-03 Nigeria 
IMET and FMF programs and wondered if Danjuma had reported 
to the President.  Obasanjo said Danjuma had poked his head 
into the office on Friday to say he was back from sick 
leave; they did not, however, hold a discussion.  The 
Ambassador explained that there was a new development on 
Benue, a Congressionally mandated provision.  Section 557 
precluded expenditure of new (FY-03) money on IMET but 
would not impact pipeline FMF projects, including the C-130 
program, Buoy tenders, and the simulation center. Obasanjo 
sighed and said: "You have your troubles with legislators 
too."  Ambassador explained that the legislator concerned 
took human rights issues very seriously, and although $8.7 
million remained in ongoing programs, this cost to Nigeria 
could be ratched up if the Benue issue were not resolved. 
 
 
3. (C) The Ambassador then raised World Airways' 
application to operate air service to Nigeria, noting that 
World was a fully-qualified carrier certified by the U.S. 
Department of Transportation and that there should be no 
issue.  Obasanjo agreed and asked what the problem was. 
The Ambassador replied that there appeared to be a conflict 
between the Minister of Aviation and the travel agency 
marketing the tickets, RiteTime.  Obasanjo then said the 
solution was for World to find a different marketer. 
COMMENT:  The Embassy is not privy to the details of 
World's $22 million contract with RiteTime, but we believe 
that Obasanjo's solution may not be viable. RiteTime, not 
World Airways, is the deal-maker in this venture and is 
assuming the majority of the risk involved, including the 
payment of a $250,000 advance to World Airways. Based on 
our conversations with World Airways officials last week, 
without RiteTime, World Airways will not fly to Nigeria. 
END COMMENT. 
 
 
4. (C) The Ambassador advised President Obasanjo that there 
was one more bit of information that he need to pass along: 
(Obasanjo joked saying that the Ambassador initially 
indicated that there were only two issues that he wanted to 
raise).  The effort to gain Category I certification for 
Nigeria was at risk because the independence of NCAA 
(Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority) from the Ministry of 
Aviation was not assured.  The draft legislation stipulated 
that the Minister "may" give NCAA independence; the 
operative verb needed to be "shall."  Obasanjo said "may" 
would become "shall" if he could make the change.  COMMENT: 
The legislation in question has not yet passed the National 
Assembly, so the President can probably have it changed. 
The problem is that Minister Chikwe does not want to give 
NCAA independence, because lack of jurisdiction over NCAA 
will significantly weaken her authority. We hope Obasanjo 
will hold the line.  END COMMENT. 
JETER