Nigeria's new President Umaru Yar'Adua used his inaugural
address Tuesday to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities
in Nigeria's restive southern oil region, and the main militant
group appeared to welcome his overture.
"We are considering this request," a spokesman for the Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mail. The
group, the largest militant organization in the oil-producing
delta, had earlier rejected all calls to lay down arms until their
demands were met.
The militants, saying they're fighting to force the federal
government to designate more oil resources to the impoverished
region where the crude is pumped, have launched a series of attacks
on the oil industry that have cut output by nearly a third in
Africa's oil giant.
Violence in the Niger Delta region poses one of the biggest
challenges facing Yar'Adua, who succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo in the
first transfer of the office between civilian leaders in Nigeria.
Yar'Adua is a member of the party still led by Obasanjo, who was
barred from running by constitutional term limits.
Obasanjo had dismissed the militants as mere criminals and made
no mention of them in his farewell speech late on Monday.
In contrast, Yar'Adua in his first speech as president said the
matter needed "urgent attention" and said he would "use every
resource available to resolve this crisis."
Yar'Adua, 56, took the oath of office before Chief Justice Idris
Kutigi, pledging to uphold Nigeria's unity and pursue its best
interests. While his inauguration marks a milestone in a country
struggling to consolidate democracy after decades of military rule,
he was elected in an April vote the opposition has denounced as
fraudulent and international observers have said was not
credible.
Yar'Adua addressed the voting controversy head on, acknowledging
in his speech that the elections were flawed. He said he would
reform Nigeria's electoral system.
"We acknowledge that our elections were not perfect and had
lapses and shortcomings. However, we have well established legal
avenues of redress and I urge anyone aggrieved to pursue them," he
said to applause.
"I also believe that out experiences represent an opportunity to
learn from our mistakes. Accordingly, I will set up a panel to
examine the entire electoral process with a view to effect reforms
and ensuring that we raise the quality and standards of our general
elections to meet international standards."
Earlier Tuesday, troops and police set up roadblocks and
patrolled streets in volatile districts of Nigeria's biggest city,
Lagos, saying opposition leaders would not be allowed to go ahead
with a planned protest at the inauguration.
Yar'Adua became the ruling party candidate after he was pushed
forward by Obasanjo. Obasanjo was barred from another term by
constitutional term limits following eight years in power after his
1999 election ended decades of near-constant military rule,
including a particularly brutal 15-year phase that began in
1984.
Yar'Adua said his assumption of power was an "historic
milestone" for his restive nation of 250 ethnic groups and 140
million people, almost equally split between northern-based Muslims
and southern Christians.
"We have at last managed an orderly transition from one elected
government to another," he said. All other attempts since 1960's
independence from Britain were undermined by coups or annulments of
electoral outcomes.
(China Daily via agencies May 30, 2007)
