Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told a United States congressman in August 2007 that he had discussed the issue of succession with President Robert Mugabe but Mugabe had told him what he had told him five years earlier, that no successor was ready to take over.
Obasanjo was briefing congressman Donald Payne on the difficult decisions he encountered in arranging his own succession, and how other leaders, like Mugabe and Guinea’s Lansana Conte, had not heeded his entreaties to do likewise.
Conte had bluntly told him: “This is not Nigeria”.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 07LAGOS609, A LOOK BACK: OBASANJO REVIEWS HIS PRESIDENCY WITH
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PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHOS #0609/01 2481039
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051039Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9387
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 9167
RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH AFB UK
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LAGOS 000609
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/W
STATE FOR INR/AA
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART
DOE FOR CAROLYN GAY
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2017
SUBJECT: A LOOK BACK: OBASANJO REVIEWS HIS PRESIDENCY WITH
CONGRESSMAN PAYNE
REF: ABUJA 1876
Classified By: Acting Consul General Donald McConnell for reasons 1.4 (
B) and (D)
¶1. (C) Summary: In an August 21 meeting with HIRC Africa
Subcommittee Chair Donald Payne, former President Olusegun
Obasanjo said he would attend former President Clinton’s
Global Institute from September 26-28, dates which coincide
with the second week of plenary sessions of the U.N. General
Assembly. Obasanjo Obasanjo told the Congressman about the
difficult decisions he encountered in arranging his own
succession, and how other leaders, namely Zimbabwe’s Robert
Mugabe and Guinea’s Lansana Conte, have thus far not heeded
his entreaties to do likewise. While not discussing
Nigeria’s own deeply flawed election, Obasanjo expressed his
support for elections as a way for a government to obtain
legitimacy. Obasanjo considered the situation in southern
Sudan graver even than Darfur, and said any attempt to deploy
Nigerian peacekeepers in Somalia would depend0 on funding.
Turning to the Niger Delta, Obasanjo clung to his insistence
the crisis was solely a product of criminality. End summary.
——————————
A Visit to Obasanjo’s Ota Farm
——————————
¶2. (U) On August 21 Congressman Donald Payne visited former
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Ota farm with the Acting Consul
General, Congressional Research Service Professional Staff
Member Ted Dagne, and Poloff. With former President Obasanjo
were Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S. George Obiozor and
Personal Assistant Adeola Ojekunle. The farm is about an
hour and a half drive away from Lagos, and while the estate
is sizable Obasanjo’s home did not appear ostentatious.
Obasanjo, delighted to see a familiar face, greeted
Congressman Payne warmly and was effusive and hospitable
throughout the meeting. Obasanjo reminisced about important
decisions made during his presidency and reviewed some of
Africa’s trouble spots. During his review, Obasanjo
rhetorically asked the Congressman if he believed “we did the
right thing”, adding that “people like me are too directly
involved to be objective”.
———————————–
Obasanjo’s Activities Since Leaving
———————————–
¶3. (C) Obasanjo told Congressmann Payne that since leaving
Aso Rock he had occupied himself with various activities.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had appointed him
Chairman of its Board of Trustees, so occasionally he travels
to Abuja to attend the party caucus. Obasanjo had recently
visited Ghana to meet his “good friend John Kufuor”, flown to
the U.S. for a brief summer sojourn, and made a short trip to
Tanzania for undisclosed reasons. President Umaru Yar’Adua
has called him occasionally, Obasanjo added, telling Payne
that two or three weeks after the May 29 inauguration
Yar’Adua wanted to visit Ota but “I told him it was too
early”. However, Obasanjo insisted despite his special
access he has not interfered in presidential affairs,
claiming he “never has occasion to initiate anything”.
——————————————— ——-
Obasanjo Talks About Succession in Nigeria and Ghana
——————————————— ——-
¶4. (C) When Congressman Payne broached the subject of
Obasanjo becoming a senior statesman for the African Union,
Obasanjo sidestepped the issue and proceeded to discuss his
own succession. “My brother in Ghana (Kufuor) now has the
same problem I had here”, Obasanjo reflected. “Here we had
twelve governors”, Obasanjo stated as he glanced briefly at
Obiozor for confirmation, and “six or seven non-governors who
all wanted to be President”. “It was partly by an act of God
we pulled the succession off”, Obasanjo commented, adding the
key to choosing a successor was timing. In Obasanjo’s
opinion, selecting a successor too early would allow other
contenders to conspire, but being tardy was also a mistake.
(Note: Obasanjo kept his selection of Yar’Adua a secret until
about two weeks before the PDP national convention. End
LAGOS 00000609 002 OF 004
note) Kufuor said Ghana had a similar situation as all his
ministers wanted to contest for the presidency, and according
to Obasanjo, Kufuor asked him for advice on how to choose a
successor. “While Kufuor had narrowed the succession to two
candidates, he would not tell me whom he had chosen”,
Obasanjo chuckled.
——————————————–
Elections in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Togo
——————————————–
¶5. (C) Despite the widespread controversy over Nigeria’s own
April elections, Obasanjo stressed the importance of
elections to legitimize leaders. It was important the
elections in Sierra Leone succeeded, Obasanjo noted, and
while the elections in Liberia were “not perfect” they did
represent progress. Congressman Payne thanked Obasanjo for
taking in former Liberian leader Charles Taylor when no one
else was willing. In Togo, Obasanjo said he instructed
President Faure Eyadema to hold an election to replace his
father despite his initial reluctance and requests by Libyan
and Egyptian envoys not to intervene. When Payne queried why
Libya and Egypt had been so interested in Togo, Obasanjo
noted succinctly it was because both countries’ leaders also
wanted their sons to succeed them. After Obasanjo’s view
prevailed, Eyadema later thanked him; because of Obasanjo’s
insistence Eyadema could now proudly proclaim to be an
“elected president”, Obasanjo said with a hearty laugh.
———————————
Succession in Zimbabwe and Guinea
———————————
¶6. (C) However Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe had
frustrated him when he broached the issue of succession,
Obasanjo said Mugabe gave him the same argument he had given
five years ago, that no successor is ready to take over.
Obasanjo related that when he approached Guinea President
Lansana Conte, regarding his successor saying Conte should
beware of the might of his enemies, Conte retorted “Whose
might? This is not Nigeria”, Obasanjo laughed. Fortunately,
Obasanjo said he asked former military ruler Ibrahim
Babangida to intervene with Conte, and Babangida “did a good
job”.
——————————————-
Assessment of Cote d’Ivoire, DROC and Sudan
——————————————-
¶7. (C) Payne again suggested these leaders would listen to
Obasanjo’s guidance on the succession issue, but this time
Obasanjo brushed aside the suggestion, saying he could only
“talk to those who want to listen”. Obasanjo was hopeful
about recent events in Cote d’Ivoire. As to the Democratic
Republic of Congo, he noted the collapse of the nation’s
infrastructure. He once told DROC President Joseph Kabila
how in 1960 he traveled across the DROC by train and Kabila
remarked that such a feat would be impossible today, Obasanjo
told the Congressman.
¶8. (C) The Darfur crisis was a consequence of the problems
in southern Sudan, Obasanjo said, adding that he believed
south Sudan would split off following the plebiscite.
Obasanjo predicted Darfur would get worse after secession,
noting despite all the attention to Darfur the graver
situation was in the south Sudan.
——————————————— —
Nigerian Peacekeepers in Somalia Possible, If…
——————————————— —
¶9. (C) Obasanjo asked Congressman Payne his assessment of
Somalia. Congressman Payne said he had appealed to former
Somalia Foreign Minister Ismail Mahmoud Hurre to include the
moderate wing of the Islamic courts into the government.
Ismail agreed with the caveat he would exclude extremists,
and Ismail would determine who was acceptable. Somalia’s
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has been equally
reluctant to accept the Islamists, Payne noted. Obasanjo
asked if it was possible to put pressure on Somalia through
Ethiopia, but the Congressman replied given the bitter
LAGOS 00000609 003 OF 004
history between the two countries he thought it preferable to
attempt to obtain a consensus among a group of countries to
pressure Ismail. Payne noted removing Ethiopian soldiers was
a priority, and asked Obasanjo about the idea of introducing
Nigerian peacekeepers to Somalia. While Obasanjo did not
dismiss the notion, he reflected the problem was finding
financial support for the troops, as the African Union could
not support them.
——————————————— —-
Face-saving Compromise Needed to Resolve Disputes
——————————————— —-
¶10. (C) Obasanjo thought in Western Sahara they could arrive
at a face-saving compromise, but did not discuss specifics.
Obasanjo suggested a similar approach in the Middle East and
criticized U.S. diplomacy, saying “not talking to certain
parties may be politically understandable but is not
sustainable”. Obasanjo did not support Ethiopian President
Meles’s stance in the border dispute with Eritrea, comparing
the dispute with a similar situation Nigeria had with
Cameroon over the Bakassi peninsula, a dispute which was
eventually resolved in favor of Cameroon.
————————————-
Niger Delta an “Issue of Criminality”
————————————-
¶11. (C) Obasanjo launched into a long discourse on one of his
major policy failures, the Niger Delta crisis. Appearing
irritated for the first time, Obasanjo contended to the
Congressman the Niger Delta crisis was purely the result of
criminality and there was no genuine political or social
agitation involved. The question, Obasanjo posed, was how to
treat criminality, since the militants had become so used to
large quantities of easy money. Obasanjo told the
Congressman that he asked a militant why he was involved in
kidnapping and other criminal activities. When the militant
replied he could make up to 500,000 USD in one day, Obasanjo
retorted that “on a very good day you could make that, but
some other day you are dead”.
¶12. (C) Obasanjo mused about work programs as a possible
palliative for the Delta, but noted that when an unnamed
Governor purchased militants’ weapons, the militants were
able to purchase two new weapons for every one they sold,
Obasanjo noted. Unfortunately, the armed forces,
particularly the navy, were unable to do little as they were
compromised, Obasanjo noted.
¶13. (U) Obasanjo mentioned he would travel to the United
States on September 26-28 to attend former President
Clinton’s Global Institute. Payne invited Obasanjo to attend
a September 28 session with his Africa brain trust. In
closing, Obasanjo thanked the Congressman for his support,
regretting that he somehow failed to cultivate the same
number of friends in Congress as he had in the Executive
branch.
——-
Comment
——-
¶14. (C) What Obasanjo says remains important, though given
his reputation for dissembling it remains to be seen where
his true sentiments lie on some of the topics broached.
Clearly he prides himself on his role in engineering
Nigeria’s widely criticized April election, and believes not
only that it provided his successor with a claim to
legitimacy, but that other African nations should follow
Nigeria’s lead. Obasanjo’s refusal to acknowledge the
legitimate concerns of the Niger Delta, which exacerbated the
crisis, contrasts with Yar’Adua’s current attempts to engage
the militants. While Obasanjo has seemingly declined to take
on the role of elder statesman in Africa, it is clear he
intends to remain actively engaged, as his announcement that
he will be in the United States on the same dates as the U.N.
General Assembly shows.
¶15. (U) Congressman Payne cleared this cable.
LAGOS 00000609 004 OF 004
MCCONNELL
(24 VIEWS)
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