12 Aug 2009 |
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Clinton nudges Nigeria on graft, offers help
ABUJA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged Nigeria on Wednesday to take a firmer line on corruption and offered U.S. help to implement badly needed electoral reforms in Africa's biggest energy producer. Mismanagement and graft over decades have imperiled Nigeria's development, deterred investment, undermined democracy and deepened conflicts such as the insurgency in the southern Niger Delta and bouts of religious violence in the north. "We strongly support and encourage the government of Nigeria's efforts to increase transparency, reduce corruption, provide support for democratic processes in preparation for the 2011 elections," Clinton said at a news conference with Nigeria's foreign minister. "We talked specifically how the United States might be able to encourage the electoral reforms," she said, adding that the two planned a "binational commission" to tackle a range of issues from Niger Delta violence to electoral reforms. She gave no details. Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe appeared sanguine over Clinton's mild criticism, which U.S. officials had said would be tougher in private with Washington's fifth biggest oil supplier. "We recognize that when we get criticisms, even from our own people, not all those criticisms are intended to annoy or provoke malevolence. Many of them are based on a genuine concern that Nigeria should do better," Maduekwe said. Corruption has been a theme of Clinton's seven-nation, 11-day trip to Africa, echoing U.S. President Barack Obama when he visited Ghana last month. MILITARY ASSISTANCE She was given an update on a 60-day amnesty period in the Niger Delta, an effort to end years of militant attacks on the oil industry which have prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two thirds of its capacity. Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said on Tuesday the crisis was costing Nigeria $1 billion a month in lost revenues. Maduekwe said Nigeria's president was very optimistic that peace would be restored by the end of the year, adding that oil production levels were already going up. He gave no figures. "It is improving -- just the mere perception that peace is coming back. Amnesty is working, the oil levels are gradually coming up again," he said. Clinton said Nigerian defense officials made "very specific" suggestions over how the U.S. military could assist in bringing peace and stability in the Delta. "We will be following up on those (suggestions). There is nothing that has been decided but we have a very good working relationship between our two militaries," she added. President Umaru Yar'Adua took office more than two years ago in Africa's most populous nation pledging respect for the rule of law but diplomats and analysts say the fight against corruption has faltered under his leadership. Diplomats in Nigeria, who share concerns about the country's governance, said they would be watching to see how much of a tough message Clinton was prepared to convey. But her criticism appeared mild, in line with a wish to push behind the scenes while at the same time improving ties. In the decade since the end of military rule, elections have been far from exemplary in a country that considers itself the biggest democracy in the black world. The April 2007 polls that brought Yar'Adua to power were so marred by ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation that observers said they were not credible. A reform bill before parliament is meant to avoid a repeat performance in 2011 polls. "Nigeria is at something of a political crossroads. Its last elections approximately two years ago were deeply flawed," said a senior U.S. official traveling with Clinton. Clinton's trip to Nigeria comes a month after Obama visited Ghana on his first official Africa trip, seen by some Nigerians as an indictment of their nation's record on governance. But Clinton sought to dispel such skepticism, saying Nigeria was a very important trading partner and close friend.
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Clinton takes good governance message to Nigeria By Shaun Tandon (AFP) ABUJA — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took her campaign for good governance Wednesday to Nigeria, hoping to deepen ties with the African power but also help fight corruption and religious strife. On a whirlwind trip through Africa, Clinton was holding a day of talks in Abuja, the capital of the continent's most populous nation, including a meeting with President Umaru Musa Yar?Adua. Clinton was also due to hold a roundtable discussion with religious leaders in the wake of recent violence, the latest part of US President Barack Obama's bid to reach out to the Islamic world. Clinton's top Africa advisor said that ties with Nigeria were crucial to the US relationship with the continent due to the country's vast size and its major oil industry, much of which feeds the US market. "Nigeria is undoubtedly the most important country in sub-Saharan Africa," Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for Africa, told reporters on Clinton's plane to Abuja from the Democratic Republic of Congo late Tuesday. Carson said that the United States had a "very good relationship" with Nigeria over recent years and hailed the country's increasingly active regional profile, including efforts to stabilise Sierra Leone and Liberia. "Despite our close relationship, Nigeria faces a number of major challenges," Carson said. He pointed to attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta -- which cost the developing country hundreds of thousands of barrels in crude a day -- and a flare-up in religious strife in a nation with sub-Saharan Africa's biggest Muslim population. Nigerian security forces late last month crushed an uprising by a self-styled Taliban fundamentalist group in several northern states, leaving more than 800 people dead, the majority of them sect members. The Obama administration has made outreach to the Islamic world a signature US policy, hoping to assuage some of the bitterness among many Muslims over former president George W. Bush's policies, particularly in the invasion of Iraq. Clinton was set to hold a roundtable discussion with religious leaders at the Yar'Adua Centre, named after Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, the late elder brother of the current president and advocate of democratic rule. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Clinton would listen to the religious leaders but that her main message would be on good governance and electoral reform. Yar'Adua won a 2007 election that poll monitors said was riddled with problems. Nonetheless, some observers saw it as at least a small step forward in a regional giant that has only experienced few peaceful transitions of power. "Nigeria is at something of a political crossroads. The last elections were deeply flawed," the senior US official said. He said that Clinton would encourage Nigeria to undertake electoral reforms to ensure future polls can move forward without so much controversy. Clinton will also hold a public forum with representatives of civil society on ways to fight Nigeria's notorious corruption. Clinton has made good governance a key issue on her seven-nation trip. Obama in an address in Ghana last month called on Africans to take charge of their futures by standing up against corruption.
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