Mama Put,
I see that the story you quoted above has now taken another (strange) turn. MEND has kidnapped 5 members of Egbema One, the group which kidnapped 4 Americans working for a Chevron subsidiary, 3 weeks ago. MEND says that it does not believe in kidnapping for ransom and wants Egbema One to release the hostages or it will turn over the E1 members it kidnapped to the Joint Military Task Force
. Egbema One is also known as the Niger Delta Defence Force and has denied demanding a ransom for the hostages, saying that it had demanded that Chevron sign an agreement on economic development of their area. They claim that any further attempt to rescue the hostages will result in a bloodbath.
Meanwhile, today Umaru Yar'Adua will be sworn in as the new President of Nigeria in the first civil transition of power in the country's history. Yar'Adua is also different in that he is not a retired military man (though his late brother was a close friend of the outgoing president Obasanjo).
From his pronouncements so far, it does not seem likely that Yar'Adua has developed any more of a strategy for solving the problems in the Delta than his predecessor. His vice president was supposed to help in this respect because he was previously governor of Bayelsa State, which is where many of the militants operate from. So far the omens are not good, as his country home was bombed and he has already been targetted in an assassination attempt. Maybe neither of them have heard the latest militant joke, 'It is the government's never-ending claim that "plans are in the pipeline" to develop their region, that led them to start blowing up the pipes to look for these plans'.
The elections have been widely condemned by European and American governments because of widespread poll rigging and even neighbouring African governments have been lukewarm in their comments. This probably explains why only a couple of African heads of state are attending and the UK and USA have sent only junior envoys.
According to reuters, Yar'Adua's biggest challenge will be how he handles Obasanjo, who seems determined to prolong his rule by controlling the man seen by many as merely his puppet:
But perhaps the biggest test will be how he handles Obasanjo, who picked Yar'Adua from obscurity six months ago, made him president and now seems determined to show him who is boss.
In the dying days of his administration, Obasanjo has raised fuel prices by 15 percent, doubled value-added tax and sold off two oil refineries to his business allies -- all moves that have inflamed the opposition and civil society groups.
"I wish Yar'Adua could have had a honeymoon before facing the hard knocks of policy decisions, but he will be fighting many fires on the domestic front," said Bolaji Akinyemi, a former foreign minister.
Behind the scenes, Obasanjo has also taken some delicate decisions that would normally have been made by the new government, such as reshuffling army top brass and nominating National Assembly leaders.
Obasanjo automatically assumes chairmanship of the ruling party when he steps down and has said he expects the party to determine policy while the government implements it. Yar'Adua has said the party has a role to play but he derives his powers from the constitution.
Many Nigerians hope Yar'Adua will break free from his predecessor, whom critics accuse of hypocrisy in his war on corruption and cronyism.
So far today, Nigeria is quite calm and like everyone here I hope that the new leader will take urgent and decisive action to get the situation in the Niger Delta under control - but I'm definitely not holding my breath
