[ 2011-05-29 ]

Nigerian leader sworn in with nation divided
ABUJA (AFP) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
was sworn in on Sunday following an election seen
as the fairest in two decades, but he faces a
divided nation after deadly post-poll riots.

Jonathan was inaugurated amid tight security at a
colourful ceremony with full military honours,
including a fly-past in the capital of Abuja.

In an oath administered by chief justice Aloysius
Katsina-Alu, the fedora-wearing Jonathan swore
that he will be "faithful and bear true
allegiance" to Nigeria and "discharge my duties to
the best of my abilities."

The 53-year-old southern Christian comfortably
beat his main opponent, an ex-military ruler from
the mainly Muslim north, in the April 16 vote that
was followed by three days of rioting leaving more
than 800 people dead.

The rioting and massacres spread across the north
of Africa's most populous nation, with victims
hacked, burnt or shot to death. Mobs torched
churches and mosques, attacked shops and beat
people after pulling them from cars.

Security surrounded the inauguration venue, the
city's Eagle Square, with roads blocked for
several kilometres. Twin bombs went off outside
the same square during last October's independence
celebrations.

A total of 10,000 police, military and state
security services personnel were deployed, backed
by two helicopters.

As an additional security measure, all mobile
phone services were suspended in Abuja following a
government directive, according to a message sent
to clients.

Jonathan, Nigeria's first president from the
oil-producing Niger Delta region, sought to put
the violence behind him at the elaborate ceremony
attended by about two dozen heads of states,
mainly from Africa.

Among those present were newly elected Ivorian
leader Alassane Ouattara, Yoweri Museveni of
Uganda, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Former colonial power Britain was represented by
Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham.

Suspicion remains in the north of Nigeria, where
many accuse Jonathan's ruling People's Democratic
Party of vote rigging and reject observers'
reports calling the election a step forward for
the continent's largest oil producer, despite some
flaws.

"Jonathan does not have legitimacy," said Abubakar
Siddique Mohammed, who runs a thinktank in the
northern city of Zaria, where a home belonging to
the family of Vice President Namadi Sambo was
torched during the riots.

He personally witnessed numerous cases of ballot
fraud, Mohammed alleged, calling the election
observers liars.

"(Jonathan) cannot lead by pretending that people
are not aggrieved," he said.

Long before the election, Jonathan faced hostility
in the north -- poorer and less educated than the
oil-producing south.

Many in the region accuse him of snatching power
away from them as his nomination overturned an
internal ruling party arrangement that saw it
rotate its candidate between the north and south
every two terms.

He took over in May 2010 after the death of his
predecessor Umaru Yar'Adua, a northern Muslim who
did not finish his first term.

For that reason, many argued that a northerner
should be nominated by the party that has won
every presidential election since the country
returned to civilian rule in 1999.

Many northerners had put their hopes on Jonathan's
main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.

Source - AFP

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