U.S. WORKING TO MEND TIES WITH NIGERIANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000200010149-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 22, 2007
• Sequence Number: 149
• Publication Date: August 3, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/03/22 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000200010149-8
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ARTICLE APP .
'
ON 'AGE__.
a-:~'?. - Spedal toT ,N York Tfine~`
NEW YORK TIMES
3 AUGUST 1910
BPI-
t 0 Men d Ti6 TIT /,~- tc h
i I V, " Q-
-tf- "ILL 4CC:Vum we Tacr_rnat several
neighboring countries- are heavily'de-
pendent on South Afri ca economically."
"But on the subject of sanctions the Ni-
gerians are holier than the Pope," he
went on, adding, in reference to the coun-
tries. bordering South Africa, "They can
be -they are not as involved as front-line
J AGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 2'-It is visiting
tlrrie in Nigeria and a large number of the
arrivals are . American. businessmen,
'brought to black Africa's most populous,
prosperous and powerful country.by the
rapidly growing commercial opportuni-
-,tieshere. E- ,
There is also a steady parade of high-
:level -.Carter Administration officials,
whohave come in an effort to improve the
somewhat mottled relations with Ni-
=geiia, which, after Saudi Arabia, is the
biggest supplier of cn.tde oil.to the United
States. In the last few weeks Vice Presi--.
dent Mondale has been here, as was Rich
ard' M. , ,'Moose; 'Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs. An earlier vlsi-
?tot'was Adm. Stanfield Turner irec or
;pf Central Intelligencehw~o was o hat
.American diplomats described pnvateT
.as afact-finding tour , -
.The officialshave come here for many
ot't,'~e same-reasons as the businessmen
in the hope that'Nigeria will increase
trade with the United States and help re-
duce what might this year be the largest
American trade deficit with any country,
up?to $13 billion. .' , - ,
:vice President 1Mondale signed an
'agreement that provides for increased
'agricultural and technical exchanges.
The Carter Administration hopes this will
lead to deeper inroads into the Nigerian
.consumer market by American business:
-:L '1-Nigerians Uneasy Over U.S. Policy
%'The recent visits have also been in-
tended to mend the political relations be-
tween-Washington and the new civilian
administration-of.-President Shehu Sha=
garl, according to Western diplomats and
other analysts here and in Washington:
=According . to such'- officials as . Mr.
I4oose and others, the Nigerians are con-
cerned about the.-American role in at-.
tempts to resolve the twin crises of south-
ern':.Africa = the- question of independ-'
'ence for South-West Africa, or Namibia,
from..South -Africa, and the- question. of
majority rule in. SouthAfrica itself. Nige-
rian officials believe that the Carter Ad-
ministration has been slow to exert influ-
ence on the South Africans.
"Politically the Nigerians keep need-
ling us -that we should withdraw Ameri-
can investment from South Africa, that
we'should push for a full economic block-
'ade,'.'. a well-placed -American official
cornmented. "Our argument is that ecdl
comic blockades have never been shown
-.t.6-be effective. Our argument has also
states are." ..-
Reagan's Prospects Assessed
Nigerian* officials say privately they
are worried by the prospects of a victory
by Ronald Reagan in the-United States
election in November. Already influential
foreign-policy makers here are assessing
what a Reagan victory might mean to Ni-
gerian-American relations. These rela-
tions could 'conceivably suffer, in ? the
view of Western diplomats, if Mr,. Reagan
should be elected and did not act force-
fully with regard to South-West Africa.
Some Nigerian officials are apparently
distressed at comments attributed to
Reagan advisers such as Joseph Churba,
who said in Johannesburg in June that he
would urge Mr. Reagan, if elected, to end
the United States embargo on.sales of
arms to South Africa, to set up a Navy.
presence at the Simonstown base, near
Cape Town and to help the South African
armed forces strengthen themselves in
matters relating to the security of the sea
route around the Cape of Good Hope,
especially in regard to helicopters.
A spokesman for Mr. Reagan, subse-
quently.disowred the comments,. saying
that Mr-.Churba, who is president of the
Center for International Security, a. re-
search organization in Washington,. was
not speaking the candidate.
Assurances Given byMondale
:Vice President Mondale spent:a lot of
time assuring Alex I. Ekwueme;'Vice
President of Nigeria, and other officials
that ? American. -policy toward:' black
Africa. would not -change significantly if
President Carter was defeated. Mr. Mon-
dale also sought to 'convey to the Nige-
rians that the United States had "limited
leverage"- with _ the South Africans but
that the Carter Administration: would
keep pressing for greater concessions on
South-West Africa and on the question of
racial equality in South Africa.
Still, as ae high American official put
it;. if the Nigerians are convinced that
American resolve over South-West Africa
and South Africa is slackening, "then
they won't-have any compunctions about
using the oil weapon.":
..Some Western diplomats here still are
surprised that a cutback or. cutoff, in oil
4
Nigeria, was .ro?used by the former mili-
tary Government during 1975 and 1978,
the low point in Nigeria?-American rela-
tions.
Tnat situation was largely brought
about, according to senior Carter Adrriiri-
istration officials, by the efforts of presi-
dent Gerald R. Ford and his Secretary of
State, Henry A. Kissinger, to get the Ni-
gerians to backs Unita, the pro-Western
guerrilla group in Angola. The United
States had mounted a diplomatic cam-
pain to prevent the Organization of AM-
can Unity from recognizing the Popular
Liberation Movement, the Marxist group
that defeated Unita in the Angolan civil
war.
Lieut. Gen. Olesegun Obasanjo, who
was then the military head of state in Ni-
geria, reacted adversely and even asked'
that Secretary Kissinger not visit here, as
he wished to. Western diplo:natshere say
one reason the Nigerians may have de-
cided against a reduction of oil shipments
was that there was a surfait of crude-oil
on the market at the time, and since 45
percent of Nigerian oil is purchased by
the United States, th:: Obasanjo adminis-
tration may not have wanted to lose
needed revenue. -
During Mr. Mondale's visit the Nige-
rians expressed concern over possible re..
newal of, American aid to the Unita
group, which has again appealed to the
West for money and arms. "We assured'
the Nigerians that we have absolutely no
intention of -becoming involved with
Unita," a senior American official said.
"We have absolutely no intention of
changingourJngolapolicy." -
U.S. Seeks C:'bans' Withdrawal .
The. Nigerians have also reportedly
pressed the Carter Administration about
when it intends to recognize the Popular
Liberation Movement Government of
President Eduardo dos?Santos in Angola.
Washington has said that it will not grant
recognition until Cuban troops in Angola
are withdrawn. Tne Nigerians feel that
the-Cubans will be withdrawn when the
South-West African issue is settled.
The Nigerians have strongly supported
the United States on the American hos-
tages in Iran and on the Soviet interven-
tion in Afghanistan. But they expressed
chagrin at what is regarded here as the
clumsy manner in which President Car-
ter dispatched Mohammed Ali, the
heavyweight boxer, to ask the NigeriansI
to boycott the Moscow Olympics. As itl
turned out, Nigeria sent its team:., ?;