ABUJA, Nigeria – Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in Thursday as the president of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, just hours after the death of the oil-rich country's elected leader whose long illness had sparked a leadership crisis.

Jonathan put on a sash bearing the green, yellow and white colors of Nigeria just after 9 a.m. (0800 GMT), signifying he had formally taken over for President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Yar'Adua, who long had suffered from kidney ailments and was recently hospitalized in Saudi Arabia because of heart inflammation, died at 9 p.m. Wednesday after apparently succumbing to his ill health.

Yar'Adua's death came almost three months after Jonathan had assumed control of Nigeria as acting president and less than a year away from the next presidential elections in a country once plagued by military coups.

Jonathan now will serve as president through next year's vote, likely to be held by April 2011. He also will be able to select a vice president to serve underneath him, subject to Senate approval.

In a brief address, Jonathan promised that his administration would focus on good governance during its short tenure, focusing especially on electoral reform and the fight against corruption.

"One of the true tests will be that all votes count and are counted in our upcoming presidential election," Jonathan said.

An unwritten power-sharing agreement within Nigeria's ruling party calls for the presidency to alternate between Nigeria's Christians and Muslims. Yar'Adua, a Muslim, was still in his first four-year term though.

Jonathan also said Thursday that peace in the Niger Delta, home to the country's oil industry, remains a priority. Attacks by militants there last year crippled oil production. Yar'Adua had tried to peacefully end the insurgency but those efforts frayed due to his increasing illness.

Jonathan said Yar'Adua left a "profound legacy" for him to follow.

"He was not just a boss, but a good friend and a brother," Jonathan said.

Jonathan, a quiet marine biologist fond of bowler hats, wore the traditional black clothes of the Niger Delta region to his inauguration. He remained seated during Muslim prayers offered on Yar'Adua's behalf, but stood for a Christian invocation.

Yar'Adua is to be buried before sundown Thursday in his home state of Katsina.

He had gone to a Saudi Arabian hospital on Nov. 24 to receive treatment for what officials described as a severe case of pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart. He failed to formally transfer his powers to Jonathan, sparking a constitutional crisis in Nigeria, home to 150 million people.

Jonathan assumed the presidency Feb. 9 after a vote by the National Assembly while Yar'Adua was still in Saudi Arabia.

Lawmakers left open the possibility for Yar'Adua to regain power if he returned to the country in good health. He returned on Feb. 24 but never reappeared in public and did not assume power again.

___

Associated Press Writer Jon Gambrell contributed from Lagos, Nigeria



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_president

i just pray we are not about to go to war

THE SWEARING IN




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5ZjVjo0Mg

odiaero:

i just pray we are not about to go to war

we don't live in the stone age mate

odiaero:

i do advice anyone in abuja to move out till things settle down, u can just travel to the nebouring village

Guy you harsh ooo, for wetin nah ? the only tension to expect now is about who becomes the VP, The northerners are doing mehem to each other over  the Job. but that's their beef any way,

odiaero:

guy see as u are shaking, e be like say na one fence demacate your house and also rock, we make u dey fear like dis come say i too harsh

I no dey fear ooo, your advice was actually made to induce panic , beside , our house no dey close to aso rock, so me i dey kamkpe. nothing dey happen.

banom:

I no dey fear ooo, your advice was actually made to induce panic , beside , our house no dey close to aso rock, so me i dey kamkpe. nothing dey happen.

no, actually, if it is me, that is what i will actually do cos u never can tell wht will happen next, 4 this is nigeria where everybody is hustling to be in power

odiaero:

no, actually, if it is me, that is what i will actually do cos u never can tell wht will happen next, 4 this is nigeria where everybody is hustling to be in power

Honestly, i dont think there will be any need for relocating, millitary coups that took place in lagos in the past did not cause any lagosian to relocate,

banom:

Honestly, i dont think there will be any need for relocating, millitary coups that took place in lagos in the past did not cause any lagosian to relocate,

that is ur opinion, mine na run

I will say I live in the time of Obasanjo, the master manipulator
I will say I live in the time of Turai, who held on to the dead even long after the dead had died
I will say I live in the time of Goodluck Jonathan who with patience ascend to the highest office in the land
Welcome to new era

My advice 2 all goal seeking oriented Nigerians is, add to or change their names to Goodluck then wait for the impact

My advice 2 all goal seeking oriented Nigerians is, add to or change their names to Goodluck then wait for the impact

becomerich in the house

becomerich, can u plz explain that map, or somebody help him plz

odiaero:

i do advice anyone in abuja to move out till things settle down, u can just travel to the nebouring village

What does this have to do with anything?

long live the president

candylips:

long live the president

ye my brother

now bankole,oshiomole n d other foolish northern governors will shut up.
okay now let's go there johnny

nethacker:

now bankole,oshiomole n d other foolish northern governors will shut up.
okay now let's go there johnny

  u dey fine trouble o

odiaero:

am just suggesting

odiaero:

abeg re-shape that your face sharp sharp

If not, wetin go happen?

I'm not in the mood for arguments today, thats why I just used the emoticons.

tanimz:

If not, wetin go happen?

I'm not in the mood for arguments today, thats why I just used the emoticons.

he be like say nairaland don use arguments wound u wellu well

^^Politics section na, different opinions et al. You suppose know na

tanimz:

^^Politics section na, different opinions et al. You suppose know na

don worri dem still de busy de watch him funneral, very soon arguments go start