[House Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
NIGERIA ON THE BRINK?
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JANUARY 27, 2015
__________
Serial No. 114-4
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
RON DeSANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin
DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
TOM EMMER, Minnesota
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina KAREN BASS, California
CURT CLAWSON, Florida DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee AMI BERA, California
TOM EMMER, Minnesota
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Robert P. Jackson, Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State. 7
J. Peter Pham, Ph.D., director, Africa Center, Atlantic Council.. 28
Mr. Jadegoke Adebonajo Badejo, principal partner, Bonajo Badejo &
Co............................................................. 44
Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe, manager, Peaceful Polls 2015 Project......... 61
Chris Fomunyoh, Ph.D., senior associate and regional director for
Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute......... 99
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Robert P. Jackson: Prepared statement.............. 12
J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.: Prepared statement......................... 33
Mr. Jadegoke Adebonajo Badejo: Prepared statement................ 47
Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe: Prepared statement........................... 64
Chris Fomunyoh, Ph.D.: Prepared statement........................ 101
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 112
Hearing minutes.................................................. 113
The Honorable David Cicilline, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Rhode Island:
Written responses from the Honorable Robert P. Jackson to
questions submitted for the record........................... 114
Prepared statement............................................. 116
Chris Fomunyoh, Ph.D.: Statement of the Joint NDI/IRI Pre-
election assessment mission to Nigeria......................... 124
NIGERIA ON THE BRINK?
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:09 p.m., in
room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H.
Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will come to order, and let me
welcome all of you to our subcommittee hearing today, the first
of this new year in a new Congress.
Both Ms. Bass and I were delayed, and I apologize for that.
We had a press conference on combating human trafficking. There
are 12 bills on the floor between yesterday and today. So we
were speaking on that. So, again, I apologize to all of you for
the lateness convening the hearing.
Nigeria, as you know, is Africa's most populous nation and
it is the continent's largest economy. Unfortunately, Nigeria
is beset by various challenges of threatened peace and
stability of this African giant. The terrorist group Boko Haram
continues its bloody reign of terror, now threatening to
establish a caliphate on the model of ISIS. Religious and
ethnic discord which predate Boko Haram's emergence continues
unabated. Lower oil prices have seriously damaged an economy
significantly dependent on oil revenues. Meanwhile, the
prospect of a violent repeat of the 2011 post-election scene
has ratcheted up tensions in Nigeria even further.
Today's hearing will examine the situation in Nigeria and
the United States' efforts to maintain positive relations with
the largest U.S. trading partner in Africa and a major ally in
international peacekeeping.
U.S.-Nigeria relations were understandably rocky during the
military rule of Sani Abacha in the 1990s. However, the advent
of democracy with the 1999 elections ushered in an improved
atmosphere of cooperation. Nigeria consistently ranks among the
top recipients of U.S. bilateral foreign assistance, and it is
the second largest beneficiary of U.S. investment in Africa.
In recent months, though our relations have deteriorated,
apparently some in the government of the President feel the
U.S. is meddling in their internal affairs, especially when it
comes to our noting of deprival of due process of rights of
citizens by the Nigerian military and security forces. Our view
is that friends don't let friends commit human rights abuses,
and I think a good relationship can withstand that kind of give
and take.
Our subcommittee held a hearing last July 10th to examine
the complaints that human rights vetting was a major obstacle
to U.S. counterterrorism. What we found was that the State
Department estimated that half of Nigerian forces would pass
muster through the vetting process, which we found is slowed by
too few staff working on these important issues. Still, the
Nigerian Government must be more cooperative itself. Some units
in larger divisions may have human rights issues, but if
replaced by units without such baggage, there would be created
an entirely acceptable division for training.
Late last year the Nigerian Government cancelled the
counterterrorism training of one of its battalions which now
places the entire training program on hold. We are making
arrangements for discussions in the near future with Nigerian
military officials and Members of Congress and the Obama
administration to try to overcome the stalemate and resume the
cooperation that is absolutely necessary to meet the challenge
posed by Boko Haram.
As we all know, this terrorist group has wreaked havoc on
the people of Nigeria, particularly in the northeast. It is
estimated that more than 5,500 people were killed in Boko Haram
attacks in last year alone, representing more than 60 percent
of the more than 9,000 deaths caused by this group in the past
5 years. As many as 2,000 people may have perished in the Boko
Haram attack on the town of Baga and nearby villages earlier
this month. More than 1 million Nigerians have been displaced
internally by the violence and tens of thousands of others are
now refugees in neighboring countries. Clearly Boko Haram
violence is escalating dramatically.
Boko Haram has become part of the global jihadist movement
and threatens not only Nigeria but also Cameroon, Chad, and
Niger. While the terrorist group may not be an official
affiliate of al-Qaeda or ISIS, they appear to be trying to
create an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria. Various press reports
estimate that the group has seized as much as 70 percent of
Borno State, with additional territory under its control in
neighboring Yobe and Adamawa States. In fact, Reuters
calculated by that by mid-January of this year, Boko Haram was
in control of more than 30,000 square kilometers, an area the
size of the State of Maryland.
For approximately 2 years I pressed the administration to
designate Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. I
argue that like cancer, early intervention can mitigate its
spread, severity, and duration.
I traveled to Nigeria twice and convened three hearings
during the last Congress on why an FTO designation might help,
only to be told by then-Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie
Carson that, ``. . . the phenomena of Boko Haram is one of
discrediting the Central Government in power for its failure to
deliver services to people.'' On the very day of our hearing to
consider a bill on FTO designation, the State Department, led
by Secretary of State Kerry, announced that Boko Haram was
being designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
I would ask, Mr. Jackson, if you could, during the course
of your testimony or answers, give us some insights as to what
has happened with that designation. Has it helped? Was it too
late? If you could touch on that, I know I and others would
appreciate it.
Meanwhile, Nigeria faces the prospects of post-election
violence after Presidential voting on February 14th. The race,
as we all know, pits President Jonathan against former military
Nigerian leader General Buhari in a rerun of the 2011
elections. This time, however, Buhari's All Progressives
Congress is a coalition of major opposition political parties,
and includes defectors from President Jonathan's People's
Democratic Party, such as the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Some PDP officials have referred to their opponents as
Nigeria's Muslim Brotherhood, while APC officials accuse the
Jonathan administration of representing only Christian
southerners. Party spokesmen on both sides have warned of
potential violence, and remember some 700 churches were torched
in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 elections, and our hope
is, especially with the Abuja Accord that was agreed to, that
we will not see a repeat of that loss of life and of property.
Let me just conclude that today's hearing is just the
beginning of our renewed efforts to help Nigeria address the
problems that threaten its stability. We must be honest with
Nigerians and ourselves about the difficulties we both face.
That is why we have asked our witnesses to give their honest
assessments of where we are in the various situations that
Nigeria is encountering and to suggest actions our Government
can and should take to be most helpful.
I would like to yield to my good friend and colleague, Ms.
Bass for any opening comments she might have.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Chairman Smith, and I want to thank
Chairman Royce over there, both of you for your leadership and
for calling today's hearing to give us an opportunity to
examine the critical issues of governance, security, and
stability in Nigeria in the midst of Boko Haram and in the
lead-up to the national elections in just a few weeks.
I would also like to thank our distinguished witnesses for
today, including Ambassador Robert Jackson from the State
Department, as well as several Nigerian experts and civil
society advocates. I look forward to hearing your perspectives,
not only on the challenges facing Nigeria, but also on how the
U.S., along with other regional partners, can provide support
at this critical juncture and how your agencies or
organizations are promoting concrete solutions.
The hearing title, ``Nigeria on the Brink?,'' begs the
question: On the brink of what? While the challenges facing
Nigeria have been well-publicized during the previous year and
might lead some to expect the worst, it is my hope that today's
hearing will be solution-oriented and not resigned to simply
impending doom in Nigeria.
In recent weeks, the terrorist group Boko Haram has
escalated its violent attacks in a pattern that has become all
too familiar over the past several years. The latest atrocity
was the massacre of a reported 2,000 men, women, and children
in the town of Baga in northeast Nigeria. A troubling tactic, a
tragic tactic of Boko Haram which has emerged of late, is the
use of children in so-called suicide bombing attacks, and,
really, the children are being used as bombs because it is
absolutely incorrect to consider children as suicide bombers.
In addition, I remain deeply disturbed that the nearly 300
girls that Boko Haram kidnapped from their schools in mid-2014,
as well as countless others who have not received the same
media coverage, are still being kept from their families. By
some estimates, more than 5,500 people were killed in 2014,
with over 1 million Nigerians internally displaced by violence,
and Nigerian refugee numbers in neighboring countries
continuing to rise.
This is why I am concerned about the government-to-
government relationship between the U.S. and Nigeria,
particularly the ways in which mistrust have hindered the kind
of affective cooperation necessary to end the scourge of Boko
Haram and to help set the stage for improved security,
particularly in the lead-up to elections.
During Secretary Kerry's visit to Nigeria this past
weekend, he reiterated the U.S. condemnation of Boko Haram's
attacks and stressed the need for credibility and transparency.
The Secretary also praised some of Nigeria's Independent
National Electoral Commission staff for taking concrete steps
to achieve just that end. In meetings with both President
Jonathan and his leading opponent, General Buhari, the
Secretary committed U.S. support for both security and election
assistance, and received commitments from each candidate to
administer issue-based campaigns free of violence. In the lead-
up to the February 14th elections, my hope is that those
commitments will be met by all sides for the best outcome of
Nigeria's citizens.
Lastly, the Secretary praised regional nations such as
Niger, who hosted a regional security ministerial last week, as
well as noting President Obama's international Summit on
Countering Violent Extremism planned to take place in
Washington next month.
While it is vital that these commitments to peace,
security, and credible and transparent elections be made, it is
now up to each of us to ensure effective coordination, improved
diplomatic relations, and the transfer of the expertise and
resources to realize these ends.
I am looking forward to working with my Congressional
colleagues, African regional bodies, and members of the
diplomatic corps to ensure that our continued focus is on
sustainable solutions for peace and security in Nigeria.
Thank you. I yield back my time.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
I would like yield to the full committee chairman, Ed
Royce, gentleman from California.
Mr. Royce. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding
this hearing, and I thank you and I thank Karen Bass as well
for your trips to Nigeria.
One of the realities here is this is a satellite image of
the town of Baga before and after the attack, and reportedly as
many as 2,000 people were slaughtered in this assault.
Now, I remember conversations that I had some years ago in
our trips to Nigeria. There was in northern Nigeria a governor
who told us, a Muslim governor in the north, that because Gulf
state money was coming in and establishing a new madrasa across
the street from the madrasa where he grew up, he said, ``You
know, it is 10 times the size. It has 100 times the budget, but
apparently in all of these agreements there is one thing that
comes with it: A Gulf state imam who is changing our culture,
changing our indigenous culture, and radicalizing our youth,''
and I said, ``What do you mean by radicalizing?'' He said, ``If
you went into that madrasa, you would find a bin Laden T-shirt
on some of those young men.'' And he said, ``You know, I have a
feeling that here in the north it is only going to be a matter
of time before they come for me, and then they will come for my
people, and then the slaughter will start.
And I think today about the warnings this governor from an
area near where Boko Haram operates gave us. I think of Deborah
who testified before our committee, one of the survivors from
the village, both of her parents were massacred. Now she is in
hiding. She can't go back to Nigeria, and it took a real push,
and, yes, Chairman Smith is right, it took a push to convince
the administration to put Boko Haram on this list, on this
terrorist list.
But, frankly, Boko Haram is the ISIS of Africa. If you look
at the political ideology, tell me the difference between what
Boko Haram believes and what ISIS believes, and this is not an
indigenous movement. To go back to the point the governor made,
this is something introduced into society where children were
radicalized and now we are to the point where children are
being used, you know, putting suicide vests on them and pushing
them into a marketplace.
This has to be confronted, and, yes, it is going to be a
tense political environment over there. Myself and Don Payne,
who used to serve on this subcommittee with us, and Colin
Powell, we cochaired an election observer them that went over
to Nigeria for a prior election. I know how tough this election
is going to be given the fact that Boko Haram is operational in
the north as they try to conduct this election, but I will tell
you right now, we have absolutely no alternative but to engage
with Nigeria with the assets that we have to go after Boko
Haram. There is no other possibility here to end this violence.
And the Nigerian Military, despite its faults, it is the
only feasible resource for defeating Boko Haram. We don't have
another recourse except to use that resource that is their
military, and we have a situation today where we have tied our
hands. We have tied our hands so that we cannot use special ops
and put on the ground with the type of expertise and connection
to satellite technology and tracking abilities that our special
operations forces have to go with the Nigerian Military and
track down, and we should have done it immediately when those
300 girls were captured.
We should have tracked them. We should have assisted with
our capabilities. No, our special ops forces don't have to be
involved in an attack, but they can certainly, with all they
know about how to free people from captivity, help plan an
attack, help strategize, help key this thing up. My friends, it
is long since time to lift the Leahy restrictions in the face
of what confronts not just Nigeria anymore but Chad and
Cameroon and other neighboring countries.
This is the region now that we see engulfed in this, and
those of us who have the capacity, the capability of coming in
and assisting, we should assist these countries in confronting
this challenge, and that is why I very much appreciate the fact
that the chairman of this subcommittee and Congresswoman Karen
Bass, the ranking member, have been engaged in this issue, and
I hope they will push for more U.S. engagement.
Frankly, our military is unmatched in its technical and
capacity building capabilities, and it is a travesty not to
have them fully engaged in supporting the Nigerians to combat
Boko Haram.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much Chairman Royce.
I would like to now yield to Mr. Cicilline.
Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you
and Ranking Member Bass for holding today's hearing on this
very critical issue.
It is clear that Nigeria is in a very precarious situation
as it faces its upcoming elections, increased threats of
violence and instability from Boko Haram, and continued and
serious human rights concerns.
Because Nigeria is an important trading partner of the
United States and an influential political power in Africa, its
issues are of concern to the entire world.
First, the continued terrorization and intimidation by Boko
Haram is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. The United
States must continue to help fight the threat of Boko Haram and
work to promote stability.
But in our relationship with Nigeria, we must also enforce
our expectations that the Nigerian Government is honest, fair,
and not corrupt. We will closely monitor and must closely
monitor the upcoming elections in the hopes that they will
accurately reflect the will of the Nigerian people.
And, finally, the United States must be more vigilant in
protecting the human rights of all individuals around the
world.
Nigeria recently enacted a discriminatory law against
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals, and
since then we continue to receive reports of escalated
violence, police and government oppression, and censorship. We
cannot continue to ignore these developments either.
I look forward to hearing from the witness regarding the
U.S.-Nigerian bilateral relationship.
And with that I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
Mr. Emmer.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. I look forward to hearing the
testimony. I want to thank the subcommittee chair and the
ranking member for having this hearing.
I am looking forward to being a member of this subcommittee
and doing some important work, and I echo the statements of the
full committee chair on the problem that is Boko Haram.
I look forward to your testimony today, sir, and hopefully
seeing the United States get engaged in this important issue.
Mr. Royce. Will the gentleman yield for just a moment in
his opening statement?
Mr. Emmer. Yes.
Mr. Royce. This subcommittee hearing complements the full
committee closed briefing that we have scheduled tomorrow with
the Intelligence Community, and I just wanted to share that
with the members on Nigeria and Boko Haram. So thank you.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Emmer, and welcome aboard.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Smith. I would like to now introduce our first witness,
the Honorable Robert P. Jackson. Ambassador Jackson is
currently the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the
Bureau of African Affairs. He previously served as Ambassador
to Cameroon, as well as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge at
the U.S. Embassies in Morocco and Senegal. He has also served
U.S. Embassies in Burundi, Zimbabwe, Portugal, and Canada.
At the State Department headquarters, he has worked in
commercial and consular sections and conducted officer
training. He also performed oversight work in the Office for
the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights after 9/11.
Ambassador Jackson has appeared before this subcommittee
many times, and we welcome him--and the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ROBERT P. JACKSON, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY
ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF STATE
Mr. Jackson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you for holding this subcommittee hearing.
Ranking Member Bass, other members of the subcommittee, I
want to thank all of you for the opportunity to discuss U.S.
policy and relations with Nigeria, one of our most important
African partners.
With Africa's largest population, biggest economy, vibrant
culture, vigorous democracy, and current service on both the
U.N. Security Council and the U.N. Human Rights Council,
Nigeria's success is important to us, to Africa, and to the
world.
This is especially true as Nigeria prepares to hold
complicated and closely contested elections against the
unwelcome backdrop of escalating bloodshed at the hands of the
violent Boko Haram extremists in the northeast, and the
pressures on the country's currency and fiscal balance stemming
from falling oil prices.
Last year I testified to your counterparts in the Senate
saying that, in part, a peaceful and stable Nigeria is
crucially important to the future of Africa, and we cannot stay
on the sidelines if it stumbles.
Today, more than ever, the United States is committed to
our strong relationship with Nigeria, and we are engaged with
Nigeria and its neighbors in the fight against Boko Haram. As
Secretary Kerry said in the Lagos 2 days ago, ``The United
States stands ready to work with Nigeria and its people,
helping Nigeria combat insecurity in the northeast, and
addressing its root causes, including expanding economic
opportunity for all Nigerians and dealing with the other
enduring challenges that will remain on our agenda.''
Before delving further into those challenges, I would first
like to discuss the general elections, now just 18 days away,
because even in the face of horrifying attacks, terrorist
organizations like Boko Haram must not distract Nigeria from
carrying out credible and peaceful elections that reflect the
will of the Nigerian people.
The United States has focused significant diplomatic and
programmatic effort on civic and political engagement
preventing electoral violence and improving electoral
administration. Our goal is to minimize violence, increase
transparency, and boost credibility so that whoever wins has
the legitimacy to lead Nigeria to address its serious
challenges.
Presidential and National Assembly elections February 14th
will be followed by gubernatorial and state assembly elections
on February 28th. Many of these elections will be closely
contested because the consolidated opposition party, the All
Progressives Congress, has chosen former military head of state
Major General Muhammadu Buhari to run against incumbent
President Goodluck Jonathan, who heads the People's Democratic
Party.
Nigeria's elections are among the earliest of many across
the continent in 2015, and can serve as an example to other
countries. Organizing elections for over 69 million voters at
more than 120,000 polling stations is no easy task. The
Secretary's trip to Nigeria just weeks ahead of the election to
meet with the candidates was intended to send a strong signal
that we appreciate the enormity of the challenge and are
invested in its peaceful outcome.
We are working closely with Nigeria's independent election
commission, INEC, on processes to ensure as many eligible
voters as possible are free to exercise their civic duty
safely. We are doing everything we can to support the efforts
of INEC and its respected chairman, Attahiru Jega, as they
distribute voter registration cards and electronic card
readers, develop a communications plan, and prepare plans for
dispute resolution and violence mitigation.
To increase the transparency of the electoral process and
our ability to assess its credibility, the United States
Government is funding and fielding complementary election
observation missions across the country. USAID has had a
program to strengthen Nigeria's capacity to observe its own
elections.
Over 3,000 locally recruited U.S. Government funded
election observers in all 774 local government areas in the 36
states and the Federal Capital Territory are already working
hard gathering data and monitoring for early warning signs of
electoral violence. We are also funding a 36-member
international electoral observer mission conducted in tandem by
the National Democratic Institute and the International
Republican Institute.
On top of this, Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will lead our diplomatic
election observation on February 14th, and election observation
missions based within the U.S. Mission in Nigeria will field
observation teams throughout the country during these general
elections.
Moreover, a U.S. Government security expert will soon make
a third trip to Nigeria joining two long-term U.S. security and
strategic communications advisors who are supporting INEC.
Following the 2011 elections, 800 people died during 3 days
of protests. Ambassador James Entwistle and his team have led
an aggressive campaign to persuade Nigerian candidates,
political party leaders, and opinion makers to pledge publicly
to condemn violence.
During his visit, Secretary Kerry reiterated to both
President Jonathan and General Buhari that the world is
watching Nigeria's elections and prevailed upon them to
encourage their followers to commit to nonviolence. He welcomed
the signing by both of the January 14th Abuja Accord, as it is
called, on nonviolence and their agreement to accept the
results of the election.
Allow me to turn to Boko Haram. A peaceful and smooth
transition is equally essential so that whoever is elected can
quickly turn his focus to confronting and defeating Boko Haram.
The threat is, unfortunately, not new, but attacks have
increased in intensity and impact, as well as expanding to
threaten Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Recent estimates are that
some 1 million Nigerians have been displaced internally, and
more than 200,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
We are appalled by the accelerated pace and brutality of Boko
Haram's attacks. This unchecked killing must stop.
We agree that Boko Haram has killed more than 5,000 people
in 2014, doubling in 1 year all of its killing since 2009. The
trend of attacks has continued unabated this month. The
satellite images from the destruction in Baga in early January
demonstrate the rampage, and have indeed gone viral.
An unwitting 10-year-old girl was blown in half when the
device around her waist detonated the edge of a market in
Maiduguri on January 10th, killing 19 other people. The next
day two other young female suicide bombers struck Potiskum,
killing at least six others. Just last week on January 20th,
Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed responsibility
for the attack on Baga, and warned, ``This was just the
beginning of the killings,'' and threatened to wage war on
neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
We are often asked why Nigeria has been unable to curb Boko
Haram's advances. The answer is a complex mix of reasons.
Public critics and Nigerian Military sources have cited
pervasive corruption that prevents the Nigerian Armed Forces
from properly equipping front line soldiers. Government
officials have responded to criticism by highlighting the
tremendously difficult task of fighting a well-armed insurgency
that hides within local communities and noting that their
forces have not been trained in counterterrorism.
Last week one of Nigeria's top security officials called
Nigerian forces cowardly. Most recently Nigeria's failure to
send a senior official to Niamey, Niger for a January 20th
ministerial on Boko Haram hindered the ability of all of the
affected countries to craft an effective regional approach to
the problem. The United States, however, was in Niamey, and we
will continue to support Nigeria and its neighbors as they
address the violence caused by Boko Haram.
At the same time, Nigeria must commit to a comprehensive
holistic strategy for countering Boko Haram that protects
civilians, respects human rights, and addresses the underlying
causes of the conflict by bringing both civilian and security
tools to the fight. We are supporting Nigeria and its neighbors
to counter Boko Haram.
U.S. assistance includes information sharing and technical
assistance. We have provided commercial satellite imagery and
are flying intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
aircraft over Nigeria and immediately sharing the results of
those missions with Nigerian authorities on an almost daily
basis.
We have also helped establish a program to provide care,
counseling, and education to the victims of Boko Haram, and are
providing humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected and
internally displaced populations in the northeast, as well as
to Nigerian refugees who fled to neighboring countries,
including Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
Boko Haram is not just a Nigerian problem. It is a regional
problem. Most recently Boko Haram kidnapped 80 people on
January 18th, 30 adults and 50 young girls and boys, in a
cross-border attack in Cameroon. Although the Cameroonian
forces were subsequently able to repel the attackers and free
24 of the hostages, Boko Haram's largely unchecked success in
seizing territory and expanding the reach of its attacks
underscores the need for a robust coordinated regional
approach, a fully realized multi-national task force to fight
Boko Haram.
Last week Chad sent more than 2,000 soldiers, 400 trucks,
and attack helicopters to reinforce Cameroon. At last week's
ministerial meeting in Niger, Assistant Secretary Thomas-
Greenfield called on Nigeria and its neighbors to make the
multinational task force into a force that can better fight
Boko Haram. At the African Union summit in Addis Ababa this
week, we will continue to encourage other partners to redouble
their efforts and press for meaningful African Union political
support for the task force and the Lake Chad Basin Commission
to cooperate to defeat Boko Haram.
As Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield told this
subcommittee in November 2013, Boko Haram's activities call our
attention not just to violence but also to poverty and
inequality in Nigeria. Achieving and sustaining peace in the
northeast of Nigeria will require the Nigerian Government to
address legitimate concerns about government corruption,
unfairness, accountability, and impunity that alienate the
population and provide grievances used to radicalize
disaffected youth.
Finally, let me say just a word about the economy. Nigeria
has the largest economy in Africa, and it is diversified.
Eighty-three percent of that economy is in non-extracted
industries. Agriculture, services, and manufacturing are
driving economic growth which was 6.1 percent in the third
quarter of last year and is expected to be 4.8 percent in 2015.
Although the country is a global petroleum powerhouse,
corruption is pervasive, and 60 percent of Nigeria's population
lives in poverty. The impact of a more than 50 percent drop in
oil prices since last summer has posed major fiscal and
monetary challenges and is contributing to the slowdown in
economic growth. The Central Bank has thus devalued the Naira
and raised interest rates. Over 70 percent of government
revenue comes from petroleum exports. So the government has
been forced to revise its budget, cut government spending, and
look for ways to increase revenues.
The administration that is elected next month may well face
greater challenges with fewer resources to govern. Improving
governance, implementing economic reforms, and committing to
transparency would help secure Nigeria's long-term stability
and the welfare of its people.
In closing, Nigeria's success is important to us and
critical to Africa. As Secretary Kerry declared in Lagos last
Sunday, our hope is that Nigeria will set a remarkable example
for the world in this election.
On the Foreign Terrorist Organization designations, Mr.
Chairman, we are not aware of any assets that have been
blocked, but we do feel that these designations have been
potentially useful in preventing Boko Haram from accessing U.S.
financial institutions.
And I do want to emphasize as far as the search for the
girls is concerned, we continue to provide intelligence. We
still have a multi-disciplinary team in Abuja advising the
Nigerians, meeting with them, and the FBI continues to assist
with investigations and we are assisting with countering IEDs.
We appreciate the committee's interest in these issues. I
hope that you and the other members will remain engaged, and I
invite you to lend your voices by making statements and talking
to social media in calling for peaceful and credible elections
next month.
Thank you, and I welcome your questions.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Jackson.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Jackson follows:]
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----------
Mr. Smith. And I will collapse all of my questions into one
question, if you wouldn't mind, just because of time. We have
votes coming up very shortly. We think 3:15 to 3:30.
Let me ask you if I could, on the Chibok girls, do we have
information about them? I have met Chibok girls, one in Abuja
when I was on a trip there. I met several who escaped, the
lucky ones. Are we any closer to reclaiming their freedom?
Secondly, if I could, on the FTO progress, if you could
tell us how many people are actually working it. Is it really
getting a high priority? We know that the weapons cache of Boko
Haram is growing, maybe even exponentially. Some of it they
steal, some of it they buy from robbing banks, but some of it
may be coming from places in the Middle East. If you could
touch on that.
We are all very pleased and happy that Secretary Kerry did
meet with President Jonathan. I read both the President's and
the Secretary's statements, and there was talk about the
multinational task force, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, and
about more and more cooperation.
Let me ask you this. Is it time for a U.S.-Nigeria task
force? I was struck when I was at the fusion center that
intelligence that we might provide that was actionable may not
have been followed up on. You know, you need a quick deployment
of troops if you find something that needs action, and it seems
to me that, and on the Leahy amendment, why not have a joint
working group to focus on vetting Nigerian security forces?
Some of the pushback has been a well-earned pride in the
Nigerian Military. They are tremendous peacekeepers. I saw them
when I was in Sarajevo. I saw them again in Darfur. They have
gone all over and have done yeoman's on peacekeeping, but,
again, it is a very special skill set required to combat a
terrorist insurgency like this with Boko Haram. Why not have a
joint working group on the vetting as well so they have buy-in.
Is that something you are thinking about?
And again on IDPs, more money I think needs to be provided.
Yes, Nigeria is a rich country, but it does have a problem, as
we all know, with those drop in oil prices.
And, finally, Abubakar Shekau has said, ``Nobody can stop
us and live in peace except if you accept Islam and live by
Sharia law.'' He has said, ``We will kill anyone who stands
against the will of Allah by opposing Sharia,'' and that they
are fighting a religious war against Christians, these are all
quotes, and that by Allah whoever practices democracy we will
kill.
Will the administration really brand them for what they
are, a radical Islamist movement? I met so many Muslims who
have lost loved ones in Nigeria, many more Christians, because
they are targeting Christians. They are a horrific brand of
Islam, a radical brand. I think we need to call it for what it
is, and, again, I know Buhari has signed, as well as President
Jonathan, the Abuja Accord, but let's not forget after 2011,
700 churches, 3,100 Christian-operated business and schools
were burned, over 3,400 Christian homes were destroyed.
How enforceable, how real, do you think he and his
followers are in living up to that accord so that thereis not
post-election violence? And that is critical, I think. Anybody
can sign a piece of paper in the run-up to election. Do you
have confidence that he will adhere to it?
I yield.
Mr. Jackson. So Mr. Chairman, thank you for those
questions.
On the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation, I am
going to have to get back to you on the numbers of people at
the Treasury Department and the Justice Department who are
working on this because I don't have those figures immediately
available.
Written Response Received from the Honorable Robert P. Jackson to
Question Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
An FTO designation, once complete, provides the legal basis for the
Departments of Justice and Treasury to ensure that U.S. citizens are
prohibited from providing material support to Boko Haram and that the
organization is blocked from using the U.S. formal financial system.
Numerous staff in many agencies across the U.S. Government work to
develop and implement designations. Countering Boko Haram is a foreign
policy priority and we are constantly working with a host of key allies
to counter the group's influence in Africa.
We have offered up to $7 million from our Rewards for Justice
Program to bring Boko Haram's current leader to justice. To the extent
that groups like Boko Haram are funneling the financing for their
barbarous acts through U.S. financial institutions, we are prepared to
freeze their assets. As you rightly point out Boko Haram's funding
streams are much less formal--derived primarily from the proceeds of
looting and kidnapping innocent civilians for ransom.
Mr. Jackson. As far as a joint task force, I think you
visited the center of a joint task force, and I want to note
that France is working with Nigeria's neighbors to establish a
coordination cell in N'Djamena that we believe will be very
useful in this fight, and it is already showing promise in
coordinating the activities of Cameroon and Chad as they work
together in this activity.
Mr. Smith. But, I mean, across all sectors.
Mr. Jackson. I understand.
Mr. Smith. The entire military complex, not just
intelligence. Strategy as well.
Mr. Jackson. Right. But our Justice Department is
represented in Lagos as part of the interdisciplinary team. The
FBI is there. We have people who can advise on hostage
negotiations and humanitarian assistance. I believe that the
team is robust and of the disciplines necessary to address
these issues.
As far as Leahy issues are concerned, I note that the 7th
Division, which has had primary responsibility for combating
Boko Haram, has a new commander. So we will be looking at how
we can work with Nigerian units. As you know, we vetted over
100 units and individuals last year who were found capable of
working with us and qualified to receive U.S. assistance and--
--
Mr. Smith. Mr. Jackson, they need thousands, and they are
very capable troops. They can be human rights vetted. The State
Department has said 50 percent or more tomorrow could be vetted
and found to be free of human rights abuses. They need that
training and they need it now. We are fighting the ISIS of
Africa. So bring that urgency back if you would.
Mr. Jackson. I will take that back, Mr. Chairman, and you
asked about branding Boko Haram. I would note that Daesh and
al-Qaeda in the lands of the Islamic Maghreb have disassociated
themselves from Boko Haram because they consider it such an
extreme organization.
Mr. Smith. Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. I will yield my time to Representative Wilson to
make her statement.
Ms. Wilson. Thank you, Chairman Smith and Ranking Member
Bass, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today to
discuss this very important issue.
Last April I was horrified when hundreds of girls were
kidnapped by Boko Haram because they attended school. These
precious girls reminded me of my own daughters and
granddaughter, and I couldn't sit idly by.
To this day, Boko Haram continues their reign of terror.
There have been more kidnappings. They are using young children
as human bombs. They continue murdering and terrorizing, and
they attack villages and cities throughout Nigeria and
bordering countries.
Last June I was part of a bipartisan codel that traveled to
Nigeria where I met with the victims of Boko Haram attacks and
with the families of the kidnapped girls. I saw firsthand the
immeasurable anguish that Boko Haram's heinous attacks have
caused. I met with some of the Chibok girls who were fortunate
to escape from Boko Haram. These girls thought they were going
to be killed and their parents thought they may never see their
daughters again.
I met with the organizers of the Bring Back Our Girls
campaign who made it their mission to call attention to the
atrocities committed by Boko Haram, to call for the return of
the kidnapped girls, and to hold Nigerian leaders accountable.
They did this despite being intimidated, beaten, and imprisoned
for their efforts. They asked us to carry on and spread their
work in the U.S. by tweeting ``Bring Back Our Girls,'' which I
have been doing every day since leaving Nigeria.
Nigeria has the resources to stop Boko Haram, I believe,
but there is a lack of political will to do so or do what is
necessary to rescue the schoolgirls.
I will be watching Nigeria's Presidential elections next
month. I pray these elections are fair and free from any
violence or coercion. Regardless of which candidate wins, we
must continue to put pressure on that winner to focus on Boko
Haram and to finally eradicate this terrorist group.
Last Congress we passed two resolutions that I sponsored
condemning Boko Haram. I thank the committee for their
commitment to work with me to accomplish the goal of
eradicating Boko Haram.
Today you will hear from Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe. His
organization, Jubilee Campaign USA, does amazing work on behalf
of the Chibok girls who escaped from Boko Haram, paying for
them to come to the United States to continue their education
in a safe environment. I look forward to hearing from him as
well as our other witness.
Thank you. We must do everything we can to bring back our
girls and stop Boko Haram.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Ms. Wilson.
Mr. Emmer.
Mr. Emmer. Mine is very short. What is being done about the
corruption and what can be done? It seems that you are talking
about pervasive corruption throughout the government and its
impacting the military's ability to stifle the activities of
Boko Haram. I am just interested to know what is being done and
what can be done?
Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Congressman.
For a number of years we have been working with Nigeria's
anti-corruption agencies, and we have seen some successful
investigations as a result of that.
A tool that the Secretary talked during his most recent
visit to Nigeria that we believe will be very useful is
designating people as ineligible for U.S. visas. There has been
a lot of attention paid to this in the Nigerian press over the
last 2 days, and that indicates to me that this is something we
need to explore in greater depth.
Mr. Emmer. And I would like to have more at the appropriate
time, but if you could go back, at the beginning of your
testimony, in fact I think in your written testimony, it is at
the end of page 1, beginning of page 2, where you talk about
the upcoming election that is only 18 days away, and
specifically I think your words were making sure that it is
credible and transparent, et cetera.
It is the violence that I think many of us are most
concerned with. You can have election experts, you can have
U.S. aid to have the local folks actively engaged, but when the
killing starts, how do you allow a true democratic process to
go forward, and are steps being taken on the ground to address
that potential violence?
Mr. Jackson. The primary reason for having the Secretary
visit Nigeria so close to this election was to emphasize that
we are concerned about the conduct of the election and cannot
accept violence. And we have been hammering home that message.
We have sent the security experts to work with the election
commission to identify the areas that we think are most prone
to violence.
But I want to underscore that in previous Nigerian
elections it hasn't been the elections themselves that have
been violent in recent years. It has been after the results
were announced, and this is something that we need to remain
focused on. This is why we have solicited pledges from the
candidates, why we value the Abuja Accord which was signed in
the presence of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and
we will absolutely sanction leaders who exhort their followers
to engage in violence.
Mr. Emmer. One more, Mr. Chair.
Just on that note, this is different. I understand that the
800 in the last election were during the protests that
followed, but Boko Haram has an incentive to disrupt the
election as it occurs, and I guess I am interested if you can
give me some specific examples, Mr. Jackson, of things that are
being done in anticipation of that to prevent, hopefully
prevent the violence on the day of the election?
Mr. Jackson. Congressman, what I can say is that we have
worked with the Nigerian election commission, the security
forces, to ensure that the polling proceeds as smoothly and as
safely as possible. Clearly in the three states under the state
of emergency the voting places will have additional security.
Whether that will be sufficient is subject to what Boko Haram
does over the period of the election, and we are watching this
very carefully. We will use our intelligence assets to try and
predict where violence might break out, but it is not an exact
science.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Mr. Jackson.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Actually, I will yield to Mr. Cicilline.
Mr. Cicilline. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
Thank you, Ambassador Jackson. Could you speak a little bit
about what efforts are being undertaken to work with state and
local officials in light of the kind of tense relationship with
the national government to both work on security issues as well
as counter-violence strategies.
And also would you speak a little bit about whether there
are local organizations or individuals that we are working with
to help counter some of the kind of violent ideology and the
radicalization.
And then finally if you would speak to the issue of human
rights following the passage of anti-LGBT laws in Uganda, the
United States engaged in a review that resulted in
implementation of several counties relating to gross human
rights violations, and I know that the review of Nigeria, if it
would occur, would be different, but why aren't we in fact
taking the same steps in Nigeria to at least open a review and
see what changes could be enacted to send a message to the
government there?
And what steps has our Embassy in particular taken to help
push back against some of the very serious homophobia and
transphobia and to protect LGBT people in Nigeria from serious
acts of violence?
Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Congressman.
First of all, on the violence, we have been working not
only with the election commission but with civil society. We
have had civil society training programs as part of our $51
million elections effort over a 4-year period. That, I think,
has been useful. We have also had a program financed through
our Civilian Stability Operations Bureau and we have worked
with imams and other religious leaders in order to encourage
them to speak out against the violence.
We have particularly tried to identify religious leaders
both Christian and Muslim, and animists in the north who we
believe have great influence with the people, and in the south
we have worked with some of the most prominent religious
leaders, especially with bishops to get out anti-violence
messages to their congregations, and that is ongoing.
We also undertook a rather unique anti-violence activity in
the delta which was previously a hotbed for violence, and that
was to create a film called ``Dawn in the Creeks: A Niger Delta
Legacy.'' This film is an ongoing television series as a result
of its success, and it advertises how Nigerian youth can find
opportunities for employment and a new life outside of oil
bunkering. It has been very successful, and we believe it is a
model for this kind of activity and something of which the
State Department is very proud.
Finally on the LGBT issue, which is a very serious one, we
note that Nigerian authorities have generally not enforced the
law since its passage. Initially there was some really serious
anti-LGBT activity, but that waned very quickly. We are aware
that the law's being challenged in the courts as it was in
Uganda, and we believe that pursuing the constitutionality of
the law or the lack thereof is a way to address this issue.
We meet with LGBT groups on a regular basis. When I was in
Nigeria in October, I met with LGBT activists to get their
sense, and I would be happy to talk with you privately about
some of the other things we are doing that I would prefer not
to discuss in this setting.
Mr. Cicilline. I appreciate it. Thank you.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Clawson.
Mr. Clawson. Two questions, and thank you for coming today.
Will you go back a little bit to what you said about youth
employment and give me a larger picture of this issue of
poverty being utilized to radicalize youth and what the
Nigerian Government is doing on a larger scale educationally
and in the private sector so that folks have something to look
forward to and hope as opposed to being radicalized?
And I guess the second question I have, since this is a
question of radical Islam, what are the other religious leaders
doing in the country to promote peace, to promote tolerance,
and especially peace coming up to these elections, and what
would you recommend that they do in this respect?
Thank you.
Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Congressman.
So with an extreme poverty rate of 60 percent of the
population, we believe that many Nigerians are disaffected and
prone to radicalization, and the rampant corruption, impunity
of the security forces and accountability for actions of all
government officials, be they security officials or other
government officials, pose real challenges and contribute, we
think, to Boko Haram's being able to manipulate a small number
of Nigerians to follow it.
As for what religious leaders are doing, whether Christian,
Muslim, or animist, in general they have played a very
important role in preaching messages of nonviolence for the
elections and for Nigeria's activities in general, and many of
them have spoken out very forcefully against Boko Haram, and I
expect they will continue to do so.
Mr. Clawson. Yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you. Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to acknowledge that last week I had a long telephone
conversation with Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala, and we talked
about what was going on in Nigeria, and there were a lot of
concerns expressed that she felt like things were being
characterized in too much of an extreme fashion here,
especially given the sensitivity of having an election coming
up in a couple of weeks, to characterize a hearing as ``Nigeria
on the Brink?'' She just felt it sends a bad signal.
She raised an issue that the United States is blocking
Nigeria from purchasing arms because of human rights
violations, and so I wanted to ask you about a couple of
questions. What specific criteria would the U.S. Government
need to see from the Nigerian Government to determine that they
are sufficiently working to remedy the human rights violations.
And then also what you feel is the sentiment of northern
Nigerian communities toward the Nigerian Army, and is the
distrust between them harming the efforts to root out Boko
Haram? That is one question. I have a few others.
Mr. Jackson. Did you want me to respond at this point?
Ms. Bass. I do.
Mr. Jackson. All right. Thank you.
So when we talk about ``Nigeria on the Brink?,'' I think
another way to look at that is Nigeria on the cusp, and much
depends on what it does with the elections. The conduct of the
elections and the government that emerges from those elections
has real opportunities as well as challenges, and as the
Secretary said, we hope they will seize those opportunities and
address the challenges.
The arms question is a very good one. While the decision to
not approve the sale of American-manufactured Cobra helicopters
that the Israeli Government wished to sell to Nigeria was
driven by a belief that the Nigerians did not have the capacity
to operate them, we have the policy and are in fact providing
lethal equipment, and we will look at each request on a case-
by-case basis.
But Congresswoman Bass, I really want to underscore, we
believe Nigeria has both the financial means and the technical
means to procure any weapons that it believes it needs for its
self-defense, and our decision to influence certain sales is
guided as much by what we believe the capacity to use those
weapons is as much as anything else. I want to emphasize that--
--
Ms. Bass. You don't think they know how to fly them?
Mr. Jackson. They do not currently have the capacity to fly
Cobra helicopters. It would take at least 6 months for them to
do the necessary training, and it would require that about 80
people be trained to maintain them.
However, the Chadians are successfully employing their
helicopters, which are armed, against Boko Haram, and it shows
that it can be done, and the Nigerians could potentially do it
with the right training and weapons.
The problems that the Armed Forces of Nigeria face are in
terms of morale, in terms of supply chains. We often hear from
soldiers who have entered Cameroon fleeing Boko Haram that they
haven't eaten for days, that they are not well-equipped, and
these are challenges for governance and leadership, and we
would like to see the military address these challenges, deal
with the internal corruption, and we believe that would have as
much impact on the fight against Boko Haram as any weapon
system possibly could.
Ms. Bass. Will you comment about the north?
Mr. Jackson. I will.
We have all seen pictures of alleged Nigerian security
force abuses. This is why we believe the Leahy vetting process
is so important for dealing with the Nigerian security forces,
but we have approved, as I said, more than 100 individuals and
units. And when we talked about that we were training an entire
battalion. We are talking about thousands of people, not just
hundreds of people.
When you look at the units, we are talking about having
vetted thousands of people, thousands of individuals. So there
are plenty of people who are eligible for U.S. security
assistance, and yet it was Nigeria who chose to prematurely end
the training of the 143rd in October before we felt they were
fully capable, but they had been deployed, and that was a
Nigerian sovereign decision.
Ms. Bass. So, I was asking you a question about
relationships between those folks that live in the north and
the military. I don't know if you want to----
Mr. Jackson. So, we believe that some people have had
excellent relations with the military. Other people feel
abandoned by the military, and I think both of those extremes
are very real in the three states under state of emergency.
Ms. Bass. So this is an entirely different subject, but,
you know, if the general topic here is ``Nigeria on the
Brink?,'' I wanted to ask you if you were aware of reports of
plans to privatize water in Lagos and across the country, and
given how important fulfilling basic human rights can be in
reducing the potential for violence, how would the negative
effects of water privatization? Are you aware of this, is the
U.S., and is there any relationship we have? Is there any
concern about this?
Mr. Jackson. Honestly, Congresswoman, I am going to have to
get back to you on the water privatization. We have been
following the electricity law and the new efforts to make
electricity more available in Nigeria, and Nigeria is a Power
Africa country, but I have personally not followed the water
issue.
Written Response Received from the Honorable Robert P. Jackson to
Question Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Karen Bass
Water is a hugely politicized issue in Nigeria. Politicians use
promises of free water to garner votes. There is some recognition that
private sector participation will lead to improved reliability and
quality of water. However, Cross Rivers is the only state with a
privatized water utility and the only state with 24 hours of water
available a day. Other states, such as Rivers, are considering such
reform, but resistance is strong. Five years ago, Lagos had a failed
experience privatizing its water sector. We have supported efforts to
increase privatization of water and will continue to do so.
With respect to privatization, a strong regulatory framework is
critical, as well as a transparent and competitive tender process.
Currently, the poor, unlike the wealthy in Nigeria, do not have
connections to subsidized water and must buy their water from local
vendors.
Nigeria is a Tier 1 country for our Sustainable Water for All
initiative and will see an increase in resources to promote water
privatization in Nigeria. Over the past five years, we have worked with
a modest budget in Bauchi, Ebonyi and Rivers state to: (1) revise state
water laws; (2) strengthen the operational capacity of state water
boards (billing, maintenance, and investment); (3) conduct public
outreach campaigns on the necessity of paying water bills, and; (4)
advise stakeholders and decision makers on various institutional models
for better managing the water sector.
Ms. Bass. Okay. Thank you.
I will yield back my time.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Pittenger.
Mr. Pittenger. Thank you for giving me this time.
Mr. Jackson, thank you for your service and dedication.
Since declaring Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization, has there been any evidence or progress in this
investigation of uncovering those who are providing aid and
abetting this terrorist group?
Mr. Jackson. To date, Congressman, we have not found any
U.S. individuals or financial institutions that are aiding Boko
Haram or allowing Boko Haram finances to flow through our
financial system.
Mr. Pittenger. Thank you.
Has the administration found any connection between the use
of the girls unwittingly suicide efforts that have been
kidnapped by Boko Haram, and do you believe that any Chibok
girls may have been used in this manner?
Mr. Jackson. There has been a lot of speculation about
this, but I don't think we have confirmed that any of the
children who participated in the suicide bombings, certainly
involuntarily, were from Chibok.
I would note that there are four Chibok girls who are now
resident in the United States, and we have certainly talked
with them about their experience and we make an effort to
debrief people who have been in Boko Haram activity.
Cameroon has done a great job of debriefing hostages, and
we encourage the Nigerians to follow suit.
Mr. Pittenger. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
If I could, just for clarification, Mr. Jackson. As you
know, there are fundamental differences in the United States
over the whole LGBT issue. I am a strong believer in
traditional marriage and do not construe homosexual rights as
human rights. Others have a different view, and I certainly
respect them. But I want to know, has the administration, and I
would ask for a clarification on this, has the administration's
view on LGBT affected in any way or in any way hindered U.S.
support to Nigeria to combat Boko Haram?
And, secondly, when it comes to humanitarian aid and money
for IDPs and money for health issues, has the administration
held back or in any way affected funding to the faith
community, whether it be Muslim or Christian, in the
dissemination of those funds to combat malaria or any other
problems faced by Nigerians?
Mr. Jackson. Mr. Chairman, to my knowledge there has been
no impact to the same sex marriage prohibition bill on any of
our activities, be it financial assistance, humanitarian
assistance, or what organizations we work with in Nigeria.
Mr. Smith. I appreciate that. Could you also, I know that
is your reasoned opinion, but get back to us if there is
anything that would contradict that?
Mr. Jackson. I will be happy to inquire, but I feel quite
clear, since I see all of our assistance numbers, but I would
have to check on whether we have decided not to work with any
specific organizations. But I will get back to you.
Written Response Received from the Honorable Robert P. Jackson to
Question Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
Christian and Muslim institutions and groups are key partners in
addressing health problems in Nigeria. For example, the President's
Malaria Initiative works very closely with the Nigerian Interfaith
Action Association (NIFAA)--a collaborative initiative of the Christian
Association of Nigeria and the Sultan of Sokoto (as head of Islamic
community in Nigeria)--to promote awareness in their communities on how
to fight malaria and other health risks. No funding has been withheld
or redirected as a result of the passage of the Same Sex Marriage
(Prohibition) Act.
Mr. Smith. Good.
And finally, again on the U.S.-Nigeria task force idea, if
you could follow up and get to us on that as well. This would
be a multidimensional approach to get complete and full buy-in
from the Nigerians. I think for whatever reason, there was a
cessation of the training of their military. That needs to be
resumed. We have got to find out what it was that encumbered
that and get back so that hopefully thousands of Leahy-vetted
Nigerian soldiers and officer corps can get the training they
need to vanquish Boko Haram.
Mr. Jackson. Mr. Chairman, I will get back to you. As the
Secretary noted, we believe that having peaceful and credible
elections is a condition for greater engagement, and we want to
get through that step first.
Written Response Received from the Honorable Robert P. Jackson to
Question Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
In addition to our daily interactions with the Nigerian government,
often at quite high levels, the United States engages regularly with
Nigeria via the U.S.-Nigeria Bi-National Commission (BNC). Launched in
2010 with four specific working groups, the commission now encompasses
five lines of effort: good governance and transparency; energy and
investment; agriculture and food security; and the Niger Delta and
Regional Security Working Group, which was subsequently split into two
components. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda
Thomas-Greenfield led the U.S. delegation to the meeting of the BNC's
Regional Security Working Group in September 2014.
Nonetheless, we were disappointed last November when the Nigerian
government cancelled the training by the U.S. government of a Nigerian
Army battalion. Citing differences over timelines and pre-requisites
such as equipment, the Nigerian government prematurely terminated the
third phase of a training of a Nigerian Army battalion (the 600-strong
143rd) designed to strengthen the Nigerian Army's capacity to counter
Boko Haram. The first two phases of training were conducted between
April and late August 2014, giving personnel basic soldiering skills.
The canceled third iteration of training was to develop a unit with
advanced infantry skills. The cancellation, while regrettable, does not
affect the ability of the U.S. government to continue other aspects of
our bilateral security relationship, as well as all other assistance
programs, with Nigeria. The U.S. government is committed to the long
tradition of partnership with Nigeria and will continue to engage
future requests for cooperation and training. We continue to seek other
opportunities to help Nigeria and its neighbors to counter Boko Haram.
As Secretary Kerry said in Lagos on January 25, however, ``We don't
believe that the level of support provided by the United States or the
international community is the limiting factor in the Nigerian
Government's ability to fight Boko Haram.''
Mr. Smith. Thank you so much, Mr. Jackson.
I would like to now, because we are under a little bit of a
time crunch, welcome our second panel, and I thank you, Mr.
Jackson, for your testimony.
Beginning with Dr. Peter Pham, who is the director of the
Africa Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. He is
the incumbent vice president of the Association for the Study
of the Middle East and Africa, an academic organization which
represents more than 1,000 scholars, and is editor in chief of
the organization's Journal of the Middle East and Africa.
Dr. Pham was the winner of the 2008 Nelson Mandela
International Prize for African Security and Development. He
has authored half a dozen book chapters concerning Somali
piracy, terrorism, and stabilizing fragile states, as well as
more than 80 articles in various journals. He has testified
before our subcommittee on several occasions on a number of
topics, and we welcome him back.
We will then hear from Mr. Badejo, who is a principal
partner of a law firm in Nigeria established in 1987 in which
he has acted as legal consultant and company secretary to many
blue chip companies and orthodox religious bodies in Nigeria.
Between 1981 and 1987 he worked with the firm Burke and
Company in Lagos where he was the head of chambers between 1985
and 1987. He was awarded the rank of senior advocate of Nigeria
by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee in 2010. This
title is conferred only to a very select group of very senior
attorneys in Nigeria.
We will then hear from Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe, who is the
manager of the Peaceful Polls 2015 Project, and an experienced
attorney specializing in international matters of focusing on
Nigeria.
Exiled to the United States after becoming a political
detainee during the brutal years of Nigeria's military
dictatorship, Mr. Ogebe has played a role in shaping U.S.
policy toward Nigeria in its quest for democracy. His is
experienced in managing, designing, and implementing complex
international programs and projects in Nigeria.
Then we will hear finally from Mr. Chris Fomunyoh, who is
senior associate and regional director for central and west
Africa at the National Democratic Institute. He has organized
and advised international election observation missions and
designed and supervised country-specific democracy programs and
civic organizations, political parties, and legislative bodies
throughout central and west Africa.
He recently designed and helped launch the African
Statesman Initiative, a program aimed at facilitating political
transitions in Africa by encouraging former democratic heads of
state. He is also the adjunct faculty at the African Center for
Strategic Studies and former adjunct professor of African
politics at Georgetown.
Dr. Pham.
STATEMENT OF J. PETER PHAM, PH.D., DIRECTOR, AFRICA CENTER,
ATLANTIC COUNCIL
Mr. Pham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass, distinguished members of
the subcommittee, thank you not only for the opportunity to
come before you today to discuss the present situation in the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, but also for the sustained
attention which the subcommittee has consistently dedicated to
west Africa as a whole and to Nigeria in particular, as well as
for its solicitude for the challenges facing that region by the
United States and our African and other partners.
I think I speak for many in the policy and advocacy
communities in expressing our gratitude for the leadership
which the chairman, the ranking member, and members of the
subcommittee and its staff have shown, including no fewer than
three hearings in the 113th Congress, including the one last
June on ``The Ongoing Struggle Against Boko Haram'' which you
accorded me the privilege of testifying at.
It should be acknowledged that the subcommittee was already
working On the present hearing well before the new cycle turned
to Nigeria once again in the aftermath of the Boko Haram
attacks on Baga 2 weeks ago. With your permission, I will
present a summary of my current assessment of Boko Haram and
the situation in Nigeria and ask that my prepared statement
will be entered into the record of this hearing.
Mr. Smith. Without objection, your statement and that of
all of our distinguished witnesses will be made a part of the
record.
Mr. Pham. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
At any time elections in Nigeria, Africa's most populus
country, the continent's largest economy, home to both its
largest Muslim community, as well as its largest Christian
community, will be a pivotal moment, fraught with geopolitical,
economic, and strategic implications. However, this is all the
more the case as Nigerians prepare to go to the polls in less
than 3 weeks in what many analysts view as perhaps the most
competitive Presidential race since the transition from
military to civilian rule in 1999.
While I know that some have questioned the title of this
hearing and its reference to a country on the brink, it is not
an exaggeration to say that what has come together is a perfect
storm of security threats, including, of course, the continuing
insurgent activity of Boko Haram in the extreme northeastern
part of Nigeria, its terrorist attacks beyond the region to
other parts of Nigeria as well as neighboring countries, the
humanitarian challenges, not least of which are the hundreds of
thousands if not millions who have been displaced because of
the conflict, and the economic pressures, top amongst which is
the impact of declining oil prices on the national budget and
thus resources available to the Federal Government to deal with
the aforementioned challenges.
Permit me therefore to begin by reviewing these challenges
as they currently stand before returning to the upcoming
elections and what the United States might be able to do to
help have a positive effect on the situation in Nigeria. Since
the subcommittee's hearing on the fight against the militants
last June, Boko Haram has unfortunately continued to be on a
roll and, in fact, appears to have even ramped up its momentum.
Depending on which Nigerian official or international
analyst one chooses to credit, this means the group effectively
exercises at least loose dominion over a total area that is
either larger than the State of Maryland, as you mentioned, or
perhaps even slightly smaller than the State of West Virginia.
Just this past weekend, an assault on the Borno State
capital of Maiduguri by Boko Haram was repulsed, although I am
not entirely convinced that the strategic objective of that
attack was so much to storm the city as to underscore a
message, given that the attack came the day after the Nigerian
President had campaigned there amid heavy security and sought
to reassure the citizens that the insurgency would be defeated.
On the other hand, the group's simultaneous attack on
Monguno, which received less attention, a town near Nigeria's
borders with Chad and Cameroon was very unfortunately
successful, resulting in the capture of a city with its
population of more than 110,000 people, as well as the large
military base nearby.
Nigerian Military spokesmen admitted that the garrison in
Monguno consisting of some 1,400 soldiers from the 243rd Army
Battalion and other units were overwhelmed. The seizure of
Monguno, which sits at the intersection of three major roads,
removes one of the key buffers protecting Maiduguri and the 2
million people who reside there or who have taken refuge there
from complete encirclement by Boko Haram forces.
Furthermore, Boko Haram has been using the territory it
holds or clears out as a base to launch a campaign of terrorist
attacks reaching other Nigerian states as well as neighboring
countries, some of which like Niger are already under
incredible pressure from militants linked both to al-Qaeda's
north African affiliate as well as spillover from the
continuing disintegration of Libya. Niger's President Mahamadou
Issoufou has even been quoted as saying that ``the Islamic
State is at our door.''
In its ongoing offensive, Boko Haram is not only using the
terrorist tactics it has honed over the last 5 years, but even
ratcheting up with new twists like the recent use of young
girls as young as 10 years old to carry bombs into crowded
settings. Even more worrisome, as a number of analysts have
pointed out, Boko Haram's recent messaging and activities point
to a troubling convergence tactically and ideologically with
the so-called Islamic State.
While the reasons for failure to contain, much less roll
back, Boko Haram's advance were addressed in my prior testimony
are, indeed, legion with plenty of blame to go around, I would
be remiss if I didn't call attention to the fact that the
address last week at Chatham House by Sambo Dasuki, National
Security Advisor to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, if it
indeed is representative of current consensus in Abuja and
consequent future conduct by the Federal authorities,
represents a significant and promising shift in strategic
thinking.
Not only has Boko Haram wreaked havoc in Nigeria's
northeast quadrant and parts of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, but
the group's attacks have also precipitated a veritable
humanitarian crisis spanning the region. The combined effects
of the insurgents' seizure of livestock and food supplies, as
well as the closure of markets, the abandonment of farms, some
for several years in a row, have resulted this month in the
warning from the Famine Early Warnings Systems Network of the
U.S. Agency for International Development that without massive
assistance, some 3 million people will not be able to meet
their basic food needs by the middle of this year.
In the context of discussing the humanitarian crisis caused
by Boko Haram, it is incumbent upon me to draw attention to a
frequently overlooked fact. While northern Nigeria has
historically been predominantly Muslin, the north is not
without a sizeable Christian population, just as some parts of
the south, especially the southwest of the country, have
significant Muslim communities. Consequently, both Muslims and
so Christians have been victims of Boko Haram's brutal
assaults.
However, the Christian community has suffered a
disproportionately high toll. According to the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Maiduguri, in just 2 months, August and September of
last year, 185 churches were destroyed by Boko Haram in Borno
and Adamawa States. When added to the 300 churches destroyed in
2013, and those destroyed in previous years, it adds up to an
unholy tally of more than 1,000 Christian houses of worship
destroyed by Boko Haram since the last time Nigerians went to
the polls.
With hydrocarbons still making up much of Nigeria's exports
and up to 80 percent of the government's revenues, the dramatic
fall in global oil prices cannot but have a major impact on the
Nigerian economy. The Naira is trading at record lows against
the U.S. dollar. As I was leaving the office to come here
today, one U.S. dollar brought about 190 Naira. The stock
market is down by almost one-third. Expectations for economic
growth in 2015 have been revised downward, and the Federal
budget has been recalibrated twice in recent months, and for
that I give credit to the Finance Minister for at least
recalibrating the budget, which is more than what some other
oil producing countries have done.
In addition to pressures exerted on the economy by the
global commodity prices, there has been the negative impact of
the ongoing insurgency on the economy of the northern part of
the country in general and the northeast in particular.
Diminished revenues clearly impact the resources available to
Nigeria to fight the insurgency and fund the sort of holistic
approach to development that can truly drain the fever swamps
that feed extremism.
All this sets the context for the upcoming general
elections, which Secretary John Kerry rightly described on
Sunday as one of the most important elections Nigeria has ever
held. There are a number of challenges to the vote however. In
deference to my good friend, Dr. Chris Fomunyoh, who just
returned from a joint International Republican Institute-
National Democratic Institute pre-election assessment and will
address the main technical and structural issues with the
election organization, I will limit myself to just a few points
of concern.
First, the specter of Boko Haram has increasingly impacted
the election and will continue to do so. With numerous local
government areas either under the insurgents' control or
otherwise rendered unsafe, even the Independent National
Electoral Commission has acknowledged that it will be
impossible to organize voting across the entire territory of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Whether satisfactory
arrangements can be made for displaced persons remains to be
seen.
In addition, millions of voters across states most impacted
by Boko Haram may still be deterred from voting by a fear of
suicide bombing or other attacks mounted by the terrorists.
Thus the political question that will be answered only after
the elections is how the winner claims the mandate of the
people when so many could potentially be unable to express
themselves.
Two, even aside from Boko Haram in the northeast, divisive
and inflammatory messages which some political figures and
their supporters have been delivering through traditional and
social media in several parts of Nigeria is worrisome, raising
as it does the risk of the sort of localized violence that has
marred elections in the past. Of course the impunity of those
responsible for the violence surrounding the previous polls,
including 2011, does little to discourage these people.
Third, election day itself presents extraordinary security
challenges commensurate with the temptations it undoubtedly
presents to the terrorists who ideologically reject democratic
politics and who strategically have every reason to tarnish the
poll.
Fourth, in the leadup to next month's vote, various fault
lines have emerged in greater relief, dividing Nigerian society
along various ethnic, regional, and religious lines.
Ironically, these are the sorts of fissures that first-past-
the-post democratic politics exacerbates, rather than
mitigates. In addition, the crisis in the north, adds a wild
card to the election insofar as Nigeria's Constitution requires
the Presidential candidate winning not only to win 50 percent
plus 1 vote of the total votes cast, but also that he win 25
percent of the votes in two-thirds of the states of the
federation.
Fifth, the intensely competitive Presidential race and
exceptional circumstances are secured under which it is being
run has given rise to concern that the winner and/or his
supporters may refuse to accept the outcome, even if the
election itself is credible.
It goes without saying, Mr. Chairman, that the bilateral
relationship between the United States and the Federal Republic
of Nigeria has gone through something of a rough patch recently
and at a time that could not be less opportune for any chasm to
open up between the two countries. While the United States
indeed has a role it can and should play in this pivotal moment
in Nigeria's history, we also need to be realistic about what
that role is, cognizant of some very real limitations.
That said, Secretary Kerry's visit to Nigeria over the
weekend and his meetings with the two leading contenders and
other officials helped underscore the importance that we
recognize in this election and our commitment to a strong
working relationship with Nigeria going forward. While much of
what we may be able to do and would like to do in cooperation
with Nigeria to combat Boko Haram may have to wait until the
dust settles after the election, there are things which can be
done now, and those we need to look at.
Mr. Chairman, it is hard to exaggerate the importance of
Nigeria's upcoming general elections, not only for the
immediate political future of Africa's giant, but also in light
of the rapid expansion of the threats posed by Boko Haram and
the inability for various reasons of the Nigerian forces so far
to contain it, much less defeat the militants.
The international community, Mr. Chairman, can only hope
that when the result that emerges from that election is,
indeed, the will of the people, and we should stand by the
Nigerian people as they queue up to cast the votes for their
future, indeed, all of ours.
Thank you, Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Thank you so much for your insights.
We are a little pressed because there may be some votes
coming soon, but thank you so much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pham follows:]
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Mr. Smith. Mr. Badejo.
STATEMENT OF MR. JADEGOKE ADEBONAJO BADEJO, PRINCIPAL PARTNER,
BONAJO BADEJO & CO.
Mr. Badejo. Chairman Smith, and ranking member of the
subcommittee, I thank you for this privilege to testify before
you on this important issue which threatens the continued
existence of my country, Nigeria.
I acknowledge with gratitude the tireless efforts of the
chairman and members on Africa and Nigeria in particular. I
know that your efforts will further cement the bond of
friendship between the United States of America and Africa and
also assist my country, Nigeria, tremendously in overcoming the
present challenges.
I describe myself as an official bystander. I have never
held any political office in Nigeria. I am not a card-carrying
member of any political party, so I have come here today to
tell you what I have seen on the ground in Nigeria where I just
arrived from yesterday, as one who is clearly interested in the
affairs of my country.
I also must state that I belong to the Lift Up Now
organization, and I am associated with the Faith Based
Community Organization in New Jersey, and I know that they
share the same views with me.
Travails of democracy in Nigeria. We must remember that
Nigeria consists of 250 ethnic groups. They have different
cultures, and they also have differences in religion and world
view. What the British did was to by fiat, forge these ethnic
groups into one single country. The British organized elections
before Nigeria became independent. These elections were more or
less credible because of the presence of British Government who
tried as much as possible to make politicians play by the
rules.
But since independence, immediately after independence,
what we had in Nigeria unfortunately were parties whose support
base were mainly rooted in their ethnic areas. So we had three
parties, major parties, and other smaller parties who are
constantly at war with themselves and trying all sorts of
methods to control the resources of the Federal Government at
the center, and that was the beginning of insecurity in
Nigeria.
And this insecurity which led to riots in the southwestern
part of Nigeria, which is now called the southwest region, led
eventually to the collapse of the First Republic. There was
military interregnum, and the Second Republic also faced
similar challenges in the sense that these parties remained in
their anklets, perpetually struggling for power in the center.
And this complexity explained or is at the root of what we have
as the Nigerian problem today, and it must be understood before
we can provide solutions to these challenges.
In the Second Republic we must remember also that, that
republic collapsed 3 months after the election, the second
election in that republic because of rigging, thuggery,
inability to conduct a credible election, and the other
security lapses that came with that election, so the military
took over again. And then we add another spell of military
interregnum.
And then we tried a Third Republic, and that Third Republic
also collapsed before it was actually born. Why? Because the
difficulty in accepting the results of the election of June 12,
1993, where the ruling oligarchy refused the result of that
election, and that was the end of the short-lived Third
Republic.
Now after the military interregnum again, we went into the
Fourth Republic, and we can observe that in the Fourth Republic
Nigeria has survived three elections, one in 2003, 2007, and
2011, and this is the fourth election in the process. And this
is the longest time that we have had an unbroken democratic
record in Nigeria.
And what are the factors that are responsible for seeing us
through up until today? The factors are one, the ruling
political elites have realized that they needed to come out
with parties that have a little bit of national spirit, and
they have realized also that the Nigerian Nation cannot afford
to have another military intervention. And so at the time of
every election since 1999, we have had rising tensions, just as
we are having now, and these tensions have dissolved
immediately after the election with the ruling political elite
taking some steps to douse the tension.
Now, what happened in 1999, 2003, and 2007 is that we had
situations where the geopolitical zone of the country that lost
the Federal election at the center will be dissatisfied, and
there will be pockets of post-election violence which Nigerian
Governments have met by either inviting the opposition to join
in the cabinet or inviting selected individuals within the
opposition to come into the cabinet to participate in
government. This process doused tension considerably. But the
build-up to the present election has witnessed something we
have never seen before in Nigeria and it is really, really
alarming.
Now, I will need to trace the history of what led us to
this present position so that we can understand. The government
that was put in place in 1999 was aided by President Olesegun
Obasanjo who is from the southwest. He had a Vice President
from the northeastern part. He ran the government for 8 years,
and he handed over to President Yar'Adua, who is from the
northwest, and the Vice President at that time is the current
President who is from the south-south geopolitical zone. And
you will discover that it means that without changing
government, the office of the Nigerian political elite
succeeded in rotating power from two regions to another two
regions, so you have the semblance of stability in the polity.
Unfortunately President Yar'Adua died, and we had a
President from the south, and then that was the beginning of
the escalation of the serious security challenges that we
faced. Now, the contest for power is a contest for power
between the northwest and the south-south, so we have the two
contestants for power in Nigeria now. One from the northwest
and another from the south-south. And there are a lot of people
in Nigeria today who are supporting these candidates based on
the region they come from, so you will find a lot of their
supporters, supporting them because they feel that they come
from the region where they come from.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Badejo, we have 15 minutes to be physically
on the floor for a series of votes.
If we could go to Mr. Ogebe and then to our next
distinguished witness, and then if there is another minute or
so, you could sum up.
Mr. Badejo. I just want to sum up, I will sum up now. If I
am permitted to sum up.
Mr. Smith. If you gentlemen can equally divide it for about
7 minutes each. And then we will come back to you for a 1-
minute sum up.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Badejo follows:]
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STATEMENT OF MR. EMMANUEL OGEBE, MANAGER, PEACEFUL POLLS 2015
PROJECT
Mr. Ogebe. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for inviting
me once more to speak.
And I just want to commend this panel. This is the first
time that I have addressed the panel where 75 percent of the
membership had recently been to Nigeria, so I commend you for
your courage in doing so at this trying time.
I think it is also fitting that today is the 70th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, that we are looking
at an issue that deals with the Auschwitz of our time. I just
returned from Nigeria recently where the Baga atrocity
occurred. And to put this statistically, in 2012 Boko Haram
killed approximately 2,000 people. In the first week of 2015,
they have already exceeded the number of people they killed in
2012. Last year it took them 6 months to achieve what they have
done this year in a matter of 7 days.
But I also want to draw attention to the fact that Boko
Haram has taken a back seat to ISIS. Even though the terrorism
rankings indicate that Boko Haram has led ISIS in the last 3
years in atrocities, and it is a puzzle to me to this date that
Boko Haram does not get the attention that ISIS has.
But then even when we talk about Paris, Paris occurred at
the very same time as Baga, and Paris got way more attention
than the people of Baga ever did, even though the destruction
of Baga was an extinction-level event. I want to say that black
lives do matter when it comes to global terrorism as well.
Let me also seize this opportunity to say there is a French
connection to what is happening in Nigeria. France has a huge,
I call it the France loophole, we have the FTO designation, but
France is one of the countries that pays Boko Haram huge ransom
money for kidnapped citizens, which is fueling the killings of
black people in Nigeria.
France needs to understand that global terrorism is not
isolated to one part of the world. When you pay money to
terrorists, they use it to kill other people and I hope that
this is a wake-up call to France. You can't give Boko Haram
money to kill Nigerians.
Boko Haram has killed people of over 15 countries. They
have killed Italians. They have killed Greeks. They have killed
Norwegians, many people, so indirectly France's money is going
to fueling that organization. Boko Haram does not have the oil
wells that ISIS has, so it relies on this ransom money to be
able to fund itself.
Now, today I want to, of course, speak about the elections
because that unfortunately is another reason that religious
minorities are killed in northern Nigeria. In a 3-year window
in 2011, in a 48-hour time period, several hundred churches
were destroyed. Hundreds of Christians were killed. People were
pulled out of taxies and killed because they were Christian,
not because they asked them who they voted for. Because they
were Christian, they assumed that they voted for a Christian.
My cousin was shot five times in 2011.
In 2012 we had the Boko Haram atrocities. In 1 day that
killed over 200 people, and so we see that elections compete
with Boko Haram for the killing of indigenous Christian
minorities in northern Nigeria. And that is why the elections
on February 14 this year will likely be a Valentine's Day
massacre for the poor Christians of northern Nigeria.
And so I have, I just in the last 2 weeks started a project
called Peaceful Polls 2015 because based on the atrocities I
saw in 2011, we said we need to do something to avert these
avoidable atrocities and tragedies. And one of the things we
did--I know Congressman Emmer was asking what practical things
had been done--my project, the Peaceful Polls Project, has
filed FOIA requests with the Government of Nigeria saying where
are the people that you prosecuted for all the atrocities last
time? If they are not in jail, guess what; they are coming back
again. And so in the next few weeks we are following up with
the various attorneys generals' offices to ensure that impunity
does not continue and that these people are put behind bars.
I will quickly go to what I consider the recommendations
that I would like to make, and let me say here, Congressman,
that I think it is illogical for the U.S. Military trainers to
say, well, the Nigerians don't have equipment, so we can't
train them. But on the other hand, you are refusing to sell
them equipment.
And so we have a suggestion where the Prime Minister of
Iraq is saying, you know, we want to buy weapons from the U.S.,
and we need loan deferments to buy the weapons. Nigeria is
saying we are going to pay cash for these weapons, and you are
saying no. That is not how the marketplace works. Give Nigeria
the weapons, give them the training. They have the human
resource to make this happen.
But, Mr. Congressman, let me say, sir, that with regard to
the Chibok girls, the world has blinked. The girls had 15
minutes of fame, and we walked away. It is now 9 months. I
spoke to a man who escaped from one of Boko Haram's
concentration camps last week, and he told me that as recently
as September the girls had not all been married off. That means
that we can still rescue them. That means that they will not
all possibly have babies at this point, which will make it
easier for us to rescue them; but we have 40 days to rescue
them and we need to work with that time window.
Finally, Mr. Congressman, let me say that you have done a
great job in calling for a victim fund in Nigeria, and a month
after you made that call, the President of Nigeria responded by
launching a fund. I think that means that you should come to
Nigeria more. But with that said, I do want so say there is
something we can do right here, right now in America, which is
to reintroduce the bill that Congresswoman Frederica Wilson
introduced last month.
The bill would allow forfeited Nigerian assets here to be
put into a victim assistance fund. As she mentioned, I was
responsible for bringing ten of the Chibok girls and putting
them back in school in America. We can do that and we can do a
lot more without using U.S. taxpayer funds. We can use funds
from Nigeria that are here already.
So, Mr. Congressman--Mr. Chairman, let me say we may not be
able to bring back our girls, but we can help those who
escaped, and we can do that by bringing back that bill. So
bring back our bill, H.R. 5778, which Honorable Congresswoman
Frederica Wilson introduced last session.
And I thank you very much.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Ogebe.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ogebe follows:]
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Mr. Smith. I would like to now introduce Dr. Fomunyoh.
STATEMENT OF CHRIS FOMUNYOH, PH.D., SENIOR ASSOCIATE AND
REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA, NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE
Mr. Fomunyoh. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Karen Bass, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the
National Democratic Institute, the NDI, I appreciate the
opportunity to discuss current political developments in
Nigeria in light of next month's general elections. This is a
summary of my original testimony, as my full testimony has been
submitted for the record.
Nigeria faces significant challenges that could undermine
the success of the 2015 polls. Two weeks ago, NDI and the
International Republican Institute, IRI, conducted a pre-
election assessment mission to Nigeria. I was part of that
delegation and just returned from Nigeria. I ask that the
delegation's statement be included in the record.
Mr. Smith. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Fomunyoh. The 2015 Elections: In the Eye of the Storm.
The 2015 elections will take place in a difficult political and
security environment for Nigeria. The country is deeply
polarized around regional, religious, and partisan lines. These
cleavages are exacerbated by citizen dissatisfaction over the
economy, the Boko Haram insurgency, poor delivery of public
services, and allegations of large-scale fraud.
Moreover, Nigeria has a history of election-related
violence. Boko Haram extremists pose a major threat to the
conduct of peaceful polls. Insecurity in the northeastern
States of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, which have approximately
4.5 million registered voters, could cause the disfranchisement
of a large number of voters. In addition, hundreds of thousands
of internally displaced persons, IDPs, are not likely to return
to their home constituencies before election day and may
therefore not be able to vote.
Nigeria Pulling Back From the Brink. Despite these
challenges and many more, Nigeria still has the ability to pull
itself back from the brink, in part because of a number of
measures undertaken by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).
These include: Biometric registration which entailed a
thorough audit of the voter registry and using voters'
biometric data to eliminate double entries, underage voters,
and the deceased. Close to 5 million names were expunged.
Machine-readable permanent voter cards, PVCs, and voter card
readers which will allow INEC to track number of accredited
voters per polling site and therefore hinder the inflation of
results noted during previous elections.
An Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security
charged with improving election security by facilitating
seamless coordination among governmental agencies. INEC has
also accredited 78 citizen observer coalitions and 19
international delegations to monitor the polls.
Nigeria's vibrant civil society also has undertaken a
number of initiatives to enhance the legitimacy of the polls.
These include: Voter education and get-out-the-vote campaigns
targeting youth, including a campaign launched by the well-
known Nigeria artist 2face Idibia in collaboration with the
Youngstars Foundation with technical assistance from NDI, and
various interfaith initiatives lead by Muslim and Christian
leaders aimed at promoting violence-free polls.
In addition, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), a
coalition of more than 400 civil society organizations is
gathering and analyzing nationwide data on acts of violence and
to identify early warning signs of violence. TMG will also use
parallel vote tabulation methodology that will draw on
statistical principles to provide realtime qualitative and
quantitative assessments of voting dates and verification of
the official election results. TMG has recruited and trained
over 3,000 observers for the PVT Quick Count.
Finally, on January 14, Presidential candidates, including
the two frontrunners, signed a public pledge for a peaceful
election, the Abuja Accord, committing themselves to run issue-
based campaigns, to refrain from violence and inflammatory
speech, and to speak out against any such violence.
The Way Forward. Under normal circumstances, conducting
national elections in Nigeria is no easy feat. And these are
not normal times. The stakes are extremely high. At this
crucial moment, friends of Nigeria should send a strong message
to its government and the Nigerian people underscoring their
support for violence-free and credible elections.
They should also appeal to INEC to guarantee proper
administration of the polls and to the Government of Nigeria to
provide security for voters. The Nigerian people are to be
commended for their efforts to increase citizen participation
and enhance prospects for peaceful elections, and must be
encouraged to do more in the remaining weeks and the post-
election period.
The international community should continue to provide
objective and nonpartisan assessments of the electoral process
with a forceful message that violence will have consequences
for the legitimacy of the election outcome. All concerned
parties should, therefore, put in place contingency plans to
safeguard the peace and further consolidate the democratic
gains that would emerge from a meaningful electoral process.
To conclude, as a highly respected Nigerian religious
leader told the NDI-IRI delegation in Abuja 2 weeks ago, ``We
Nigerians have perfected the art of dancing on the brink, but
it is an uncomfortable place to be.'' In my humble opinion,
Nigeria does not have to stay on the brink in perpetuity.
Should the 2015 polls be peaceful and credible, Nigeria
will have a lot going for it. The outcome of this election
would have significant implications for the consolidation of
democracy in Nigeria and elsewhere on the African continent.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee.
Mr. Smith. Dr. Fomunyoh, thank you so very much for your
testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fomunyoh follows:]
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Mr. Smith. Thank you to all of you for your expert,
incisive commentary. And if we could get back for a 1-minute,
we are almost out of time, if we could.
Mr. Badejo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Now, the
challenges confronting Nigeria can be solved both in the short
term and the long run. In the short term, I believe the United
States should engage Nigerian leaders in ensuring that they
maintain peace and sensitize them toward moving on in an
atmosphere of peace and security in the country.
Knowing fully well that the fundamental problems are caused
by the ethnic configuration of Nigeria, insecurity caused by
corruption and chronic inefficiency, so the United States
Government should note this and then assist Nigeria in coming
out of this problem.
On the long term I believe that whatever government comes
into place must be constructively engaged. There must be, if
the United States can, legislation that will assist Nigeria in
establishing enduring democracy.
One thing that the United States can do is to assist
Nigeria in having the center for democratic studies established
that will be funded, that will be well-positioned in terms of
staff to address the problems of Nigeria. There must be
political education of Nigerians. I believe that Nigeria will
survive, and all hands must be on deck to ensure that that
Nation gets its political kingdom.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your support in this.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, all four of you, for your written
testimonies which will help this committee, will help hopefully
the administration. As we go forward, your opinions are deeply
valued and cherished, and so I thank you.
We don't have time for questions because of this series of
votes, and I apologize.
The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:58 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the Record
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Material submitted for the record by Chris Fomunyoh, Ph.D., senior
associate and regional director for Central and West Africa, National
Democratic Institute
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