203. Telegram 8309 From the Embassy in Nigeria to the Department of State, October 15, 1973, 1017Z
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 01
51
ACTION AF-18
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 AID-20 IO-14 PM-07 NSC-10 SPC-03 SS-20
RSC-01 PRS-01 CIAE-00 INR-10 NSAE-00 DODE-00 USIA-15
NEA-10 EB-11 SCEM-02 SCI-06 DRC-01 /150 W
--------------------- 106312
R 151017Z OCT 73
FM AMEMBASSY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1428
C O N F I D E N T I A L
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: PFOR,
SUBJECT: GOWON VISIT AND USG-FMG RELATIONS
REF:
SUMMARY: GENERAL GOWON APPEARS RELAXED ABOUT FAILURE MEET
PRESIDENT, THOUGH HE IS PIQUED THAT OTHERS, PRIMARILY MOBUTU,
SUCCEEDED WHERE THE OAU CHAIRMAN FAILED. SUSPICIOUS HAWKS IN AND
OUT OF GOVERNMENT MAKING CAPITAL. ESSENTIAL INTERESTS REMAIN
INTACT, BUT NATIONALISM AND XENOPHOBIA ACCENTUATED AT OUR
EXPENSE.
1. ON OCTOBER 13 DURING CALL ON GENERAL GOWON TO DISCUSS ME
CRISIS (
REACTIONS TO
ACCOUNTS OF HIS FAILURE SEE PRESIDENT WERE SO INCENDIARY AND
UNJUSTLY INFERENTIAL, BUT I WAS GLAD THAT HE AND I KNEW THE
PRECISE DIFFICULTIES IN ARRANGING A MEETING.
2. THE GENERAL THOUGHT THAT I SHOULD NOT BE TOO CONCERNED ABOUT
NIGERIAN PRESS STORIES, FOR HE IS NOT. HOWEVER, HE NOTED
THAT NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS WERE EXTENSIVELY QUOTING FROM AMERICAN
OBSERVATIONS, WHICH HE HAD TO ASSUME WERE MORE ACCURATE
BECAUSE OF THEIR SOURCES. STILL, AS A HEAD OF STATE HE
REALIZES THAT ANOTHER HEAD MAY WELL HAVE TO REQUEST CHANGES IN
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02
APPOINTMENTS. HE WISHES VERY MUCH THAT HE COULD HAVE ARRANGED TO MEET
PRESIDENT NIXON ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4. "HOWEVER, MY AFRICAN
BROTHERS WOULD NEVER HAVE UNDERSTOOD IF I AS OAU CHAIRMAN HAD MET
THE PRESIDENT BEFORE ADDRESSING THE UNGA." INCIDENTALLY, HE WENT
ON, THE VOA HAS CARRIED EXTENSIVE REPORTS ON PRESIDENTS
HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY AND MOBUTU'S CALLS ON THE PRESIDENT. DID I
KNOW HOW THEIR MEETINGS WERE ARRANGED?
3. I EXPLAINED THAT THE IVORIAN LEADER WAS ON A STATE VISIT WHICH
HAD BEEN ARRANGED WEEKS IF NOT MONTHS IN ADVANCE BECAUSE SUCH
VISITS CALL FOR MUCH PREPARATION. IN THE CASE OF MOBUTU, HE
SIMPLY WAS PREPARED TO STAY LONGER THAN GOWON, HAD THEREFORE
A MORE FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE, AND THE CALL WAS MADE ON WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 10, AFTER THE GENERAL HAD RETURNED TO
UNDERSTOOD THE LONG-ARRANGED HOUPHOUET VISIT BUT WAS NOT SO
CERTAIN OF MY EXPLANATION ABOUT MOBUTU. "MOBUTU AND I ARRIVED
IN
MONDAY HE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS GOING TO
SEE THE PRESIDENT." I REPLIED THAT PERHAPS MOBUTU DID GO TO
HE WENT; BUT THE FACT IS THAT HE DID NOT CALL ON THE PRESIDENT
UNTIL OCTOBER 10, AFTER GOWON HAD RETURNED TO
DROPPED THE POINT BUT INGENUOUSLY GAVE EVERY INDICATION THAT HE
WAS STUNG BY MOBUTU, OF ALL PEOPLE, HAVING SUCCEEDED WHERE THE OAU
CHAIRMAN HAD FAILED.
4. WE CLOSED THIS PART OF THE CONVERSATION BY MY OBSERVING THAT
I HOPED HE WOULD BE ABLE TO RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES TO
CONTINUE THE PROFITABLE MEETINGS HE SAID HE HAD HAD IN
PERHAPS THE NEXT TIME HE COULD STAY TEN DAYS OR SO AND VISIT
VARIOUS PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. WITH AN UNFATHOMABLE GLEAM AND
SMILE, HE MERELY REPLIED "YES" AND SUGGESTED THAT WE MOVE ON
TO TALK ABOUT A MORE IMPORTANT SUBJECT, THE MIDDLE EAST.
5. COMMENT: THIS EXCHANGE AND THE WHOLE EPISODE AS FUELED
BY IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISTS ARE ILLUSTRATIVE OF SEVERAL POINTS
IN NIGERIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS: (1) GOWON'S ARTLESS AND UNCHECKED
COMMENTS ABOUT MOBUTU, AS WELL AS HIS BEGINNING AND THEN
REFRAINING FROM FURTHER COMMENTS ABOUT HOUPHOUET THE DIALOGIST,
AS HE REGARDS HIM, DOCUMENT THE
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03
GENERAL STRIVE SO HARD TO SAVE HIM FROM HIMSELF BY NOT GIVING
RESIDENT FOREIGNERS MUCH ACCESS TO DODAN BARRACKS. WE MAY LEARN
TOO MUCH FROM A MAN WHO SPEAKS OUT OF SIMPLE CONVICTION AND WHO
SACRIFICES SOPHISTICATION AS HE PURSUES RIGHT-WRONG FORMULAS.
(2) BY INDIRECTION GOWON GOT OFF HIS CHEST ABOUT ALL THAT
BOTHERS HIM (HOUPHOUET AND ESPECIALLY MOBUTU); HE IS NOW
REASONABLY SATISFIED. BUT HAWKS IN AND OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT,
HAVING STIMULATED STORIES IN
REFINE THEIR THEORIES OF
WHILE AT LEAST FUTURE OFFICIAL AMERICAN VISITORS MAY ENCOUNTER
SCHEDULING PROBLEMS AT DODAN BARRACKS AND BE ASKED TO SEE THEIR
OPPOSITE NUMBERS IN STRICT ADHERENCE TO FMG PROTOCOL, WHICH
CONTINUES TO BE RIGID AND FORMIDABLE. (4) ON SUBSTANTIVE
ISSUES (THE ME, PETROLEUM, INVESTMENT, UN VOTES) WE WILL FARE
NO BETTER AND NO WORSE THAN OTHER NATIONS AS THE FMG "PROTECTS"
ITS SOVEREIGNTY AND
GRANTED," BUT OFFICIALS WILL SEE IN THE ABORTED MEETING ONE MORE
EXAMPLE THAT BUTTRESSES THE CORRECTNESS OF THEIR HARD LINE.
6. IN SUMMARY, WHILE GOWON APPEARS RELAXED AND ESSENTIAL INTERESTS
REMAIN INTACT, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT OUR PRESENCE HAS BEEN HURT;
THE AIR IS POISONED BY ACCOUNTS OF ALL OUR ALLEGED SINS (
FOR BEST EXAMPLE); COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS CAN BECOME AT LEAST
TEMPORARILY CLOGGED; AND THE EXTREME NATIONALISTS, USING A
TRUMPET OF XENOPHOBIA, WILL PRIVATELY AND PUBLICLY BLARE
"I TOLD YOU SO."
REINHARDT
CONFIDENTIAL
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.