Friday, May 30, 2003
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More than a dozen fellow African leaders watched as Mr. Obasanjo, in traditional white robes, raised his hand before an invitation-only crowd under high security in Nigeria's capital. ``I, Olusegun Obasanjo, do solemnly swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,'' Mr. Obasanjo pledged, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd. ``So help me God.'' Nigeria, an oil-rich nation of 120 million people, has never managed a successful civilian-run presidential election. Military coups blocked all previous attempts, sometimes weeks after the vote. Mr. Obasanjo's 1999 election to a first term, in a military-run vote, ended 15 years of often brutal, corrupt military rule. He easily won re-election on April 19, in a vote that opposition candidates charged was marred by fraud. International observers expressed concern, but none questioned the victory of Mr. Obasanjo, a southern Christian, over top rival Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim. Both men were themselves former junta leaders. Marking Nigeria's prominence in Africa, fellow African presidents turned out in force for the ceremony, held in an open-air arena. The Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, flanked by Zimbabwean security guards running alongside his car, was among those spotted rolling into the arena. Inauguration organisers said the leaders of South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Cameroon, Mali, Gambia and Sao Tome and Principe. Leaders settled into a curtained pavilion of bullet-proof glass, before a crowd of Nigerian ex-military rulers, tribal chiefs, political party leaders and other VIPs. The ceremony was filled with hours of pageantry, run on time — an unusual enough event that observers marvelled at it. — AP
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