224. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, October 8, 19572
SUBJECT
- Visit to Department by Nigerian Federal Minister Ribadu
PARTICIPANTS
- Alhaji The Honorable Mohammadu Ribadu, Nigerian Federal Minister of Lands, Mines, and Power
- Mr. Reginald Barrett, Nigerian Liaison Officer
- Mr. A. C. F. Armstrong, Permanent Secretary to the Minister
- Mr. W. P. Gaskell, Nigerian Chief Inspector of Mines
- Mr. M. L. Parker, Private Secretary to the Minister
- AF—Mr. Joseph Palmer 2nd, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs
- AFS—Mr. C. Vaughan Ferguson, Jr., Director, Office of Southern Africa Affairs
- AFS—Mr. David E. Longanecker, Officer-in-Charge, Economic Affairs
- AFS—Robert W. Ross, Liberian/Nigerian Desk Officer
After an exchange of courtesies, Mr. Palmer welcomed the Minister and his party and indicated the Department’s appreciation for the opportunity to visit with them and to get better acquainted with such a distinguished representative of our friends in Nigeria. He said that the United States is deeply interested in events in Nigeria, and believes the smooth transition from dependent to independent status is being made with an admirable display of good will and mutual understanding on the part of the people and governments of the U.K. and Nigeria. Mr. Palmer hoped that the Minister’s brief visit to this country after his participation in the Commonwealth Minerals Conference in Canada would be successful [Page 604] and asked that the Minister feel free to call upon the Department if it could be of assistance during his visit.
Minister Ribadu thanked Mr. Palmer for his courteous welcome and said that it was a great pleasure for him to be here on this his first visit to Washington. The Minister said that he wished to mention, briefly, points which were on his mind on the occasion of this talk with officers of the Department. He said that the Nigerians were continuing their progress toward independence and that they fully realized their limitations insofar as they apply to development of the country. It is the intention of Nigeria to achieve for its people a higher standard of living and a stable government working for peace and good relations with their friends abroad. He said that they are quite conscious of the need for capital to be used in the development of their resources and that the quantities needed are not available from their own sources. Under the circumstances, the Minister said, they must look to their friends, the U.K. and the U.S., for help. He said that any help which the U.S. could give would be received most gratefully, and he expressed appreciation for the support which had been given his country by Americans in the years past. The Minister said that it appeared that aid had often been given by the U.S. to countries where there was a Communistic menace. He said that there was no Communism in Nigeria and that it was their wish to develop a prosperous, stable country resistant to Communism and he believed this could be done. Despite the absence of such dangers in Nigeria he hoped that the U.S. would be willing to lend them financial assistance, both from private and official sources.
Mr. Palmer said that U.S. assistance to many countries throughout the world is not necessarily related to the existence of a Communist threat in the area involved. We are desirous of helping where we can for reasons of sympathy with the problems of the underdeveloped economies. He said it would not be possible at this time, of course, to give any indications as to the assistance which this country might be able to render to Nigeria but that he could be sure that any Nigerian request for help from America would be carefully considered. He expressed pleasure with the evident acceptance by the Government of Nigeria that it would be to their advantage to take the steps necessary to commence their independent life free of the dangerous influences of Communism.
The Honorable Ribadu and Mr. Gaskell then presented to the Department’s officers a matter which was of considerable concern to the Nigerians. They said that while they realized the U.S. Government was not entirely to blame, serious problems had come to Nigeria as the result of termination earlier this year of the stockpile purchases by the U.S. of Nigerian columbite. It was explained that [Page 605] during the period in which the U.S. Government was paying a very high bonus for columbium ore Nigerian mining companies had invested significant amounts of money in capital equipment on the strength of the surge of columbite purchases by this country. At the same time, a large number of Nigerians had moved from their traditional economic pattern into employment in the columbite mines of the Plateau. Now that the heavy American columbite purchases had ceased, Nigerian mines had equipment on hand for which they have no need, and substantial numbers of Nigerians found themselves without employment. With the full realization that there was no likelihood of reinstitution of stockpiling purchases by the U.S. the Nigerians were interested in the Department’s support of their efforts to apprize potential American consumers of columbium ores that a ready supply of this mineral is available. Mr. Gaskell said that during their stay in Canada they had gained the clear impression that many American companies which might have been interested in doing research leading to increased consumption of columbite believed that columbite is in short supply. During the period of heavy U.S. Government purchases, the chief inspector of mines said, there had been a suspension of research into expanded usage of columbium ores because the ore was in short supply. This lag in research plus the present mis-information about the availability of columbite had evidently inhibited what might have been a normal expansion in the American demand for the mineral. The Department was asked to do anything it could to assist in clarifying the picture as it applies to the availability of columbium ores. The Department officers indicated that this problem was clearly one of great concern to Nigeria and that the Department would follow through on the matter to ascertain what might be done. It was suggested that in the Minister’s conferences with officers of the Bureau of Mines and the Department of Commerce here in Washington they might be able to gain some useful information, as these two agencies have more detailed knowledge of the factors involved in the problem. While the Department is most interested in the implications of the problem for Nigeria, the Minister was told, the specific remedies which might be available to the Nigerians would be more suitably suggested by those who have special knowledge of this subject.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 033.45H11/10–857. Limited. Official Use. Drafted by Ross.↩