Abuja, Nigeria – Nigeria’s new president, Umaru Yar’Adua, was sworn in Tuesday, pledging to be a humble “servant-leader” and to reform the electoral process to prevent future fraud, after the elections he won last month were widely condemned by international and local observers.
In his inaugural address, Yar’Adua said he would fight poverty and corruption and settle the crisis in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where kidnappings of foreign oil workers have intensified in recent months, casting a shadow over the country’s most important industry.
“I offer myself as a servant-leader. I will be a listener and a doer and serve with humility. I will set a worthy personal example as your leader,” said Yar’Adua, who has a reputation for piety and is seen as having a clean record as governor of Katsina state in the north.
With Nigeria regularly ranked among the most corrupt countries by Transparency International, a worldwide independent group that analyzes corruption and accountability in governments, Yar’Adua said all elected officials “must change our style and attitude.” He called on Nigerians to give up their low expectations of themselves and their leaders, and work to restore decency, honesty, transparency and accountability.
“Let us stop justifying every shortcoming with that unacceptable phrase ‘the Nigerian factor,’ as if to be a Nigerian is to settle for less,” he said.
The event, which included motorcycle stunt riders and calisthenics with hoops, was an attempt to recapture the sense of optimism and hope that accompanied Nigeria’s transition from military to civilian rule eight years ago.
The first transition from one civilian leader to another has disappointed those hoping to see an improvement in the country’s flawed democracy. But despite the widespread anger here over the elections, the country escaped the violence and rioting that have followed some elections in the past.
Nigerian unions held a two-day strike beginning Monday to protest election rigging, and several opposition candidates have launched legal action to overturn individual election contests that they claim were rigged.
Many African heads of state were present for Tuesday’s inauguration, but Western leaders snubbed the event, marking concern over the conduct of elections.
Also absent was outgoing Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who would normally have been present for the handover of power to his successor but, as one of the aggrieved presidential candidates, boycotted the event.
“I shall not dignify such a hollow ritual with my presence,” said Abubakar, who is out of the country, in a full-page advertisement in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday. “Democracy is in the throes of death, and evil forces have laid siege to our country.”
Public protests have been low-key and a mood of apathy has settled over the electorate, according to analysts.
Some, including Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, have called for a transitional government to lead the country into new elections, a call rejected by the government as unconstitutional.
