Cablegate: Nigeria: 9-11 Disaster Support

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS ABUJA 000521

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER US NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: 9-11 DISASTER SUPPORT

1. Post recently received the letter at para 3 (which
included a donation of 15,000 Naira, or USD140), which is
indicative of the messages of solidarity we have received
from ordinary Nigerians in support of the families affected
by 9-11. We thought it important to inform the Department
how ordinary Nigerians have responded to the attacks on the
United States.

2. On February 7, CG Lagos hosted a dinner for Nigerian
donors to victims of 9/11; most, but not all donations came
from Southern Nigerians. The two largest donations of N1
million (USD 8,770) each were received from a Pharmaceutical
firm and a Managing Director of a bank. Many other donations
came from ordinary Nigerians. While the size of many of these
donations would be considered small by American standards,
for most Nigerians, they represent a significant gesture
(annual per capita GDP is N31,426 or USD285). Perhaps our
most generous donor was 10-year old Dumebi Browne, who
explained to a rapt audience at the CG dinner that he had
donated N 1,000 to the 9/11 fund because "that was all he had
in his piggy bank."

3.

Begin text:

To the American People c/o The Ambassador

Dear Sir:

My family and I watched on television with unspeakable horror
the multiple terrorist attacks on symbols of your nation. We
can only imagine for all eternity what manner of people these
are, what kind of womb brought people like these into the
world.

It is easy at times like this to question the existence of
God but this is the time to emphasize the inscription on your
nation's currency which says for all eternity, "In God We
Trust." In God we should trust for the souls of those lost.
In God we should trust for all those who have lost husbands,
wives, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and
colleagues, for at times like this no words can fill the void
in our hearts.

We are too far away to donate blood or help physically.
Please accept this check for the sum of N15,000 for the
American people for use in any way they deem fit to help
those in need.

This is not an attack on the American people but on all
members of the human race who believe in the sanctity of the
human life. For all of us, the unthinkable has happened, but
we all know that America will come out of this stronger. The
New York skyline has changed but we know for sure that
someday the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center will rise
again.

God Bless the American People

/sgd/
Okechukwu and Udo Nwobu

Jeter

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