Goodluck Jonathan Addresses Nigeria

As my colleague Adam Nossiter reports, on Tuesday Nigeria’s National Assembly made Vice President Goodluck Jonathan the country’s acting president, in the absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who left the country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia in November.

Mr. Jonathan addressed the Nigerian people after assuming office. The BBC posted video of some of his address on its Web site. The Nigerian Compass published a complete transcript of Mr. Jonathan’s address and reported that he also met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, the State Department’s top Africa envoy, on Tuesday.

In his speech, Mr. Jonathan said:

The circumstances in which I find myself assuming office today as acting President of our country are uncommon, sober and reflective. More than ever therefore, I urge all Nigerians as a people of faith in God, to pray fervently for the full recovery of our dear President and his early return.

The events of the recent past have put to the test, our collective resolve as a democratic nation. I am delighted to note that our nation has demonstrated resilience and unity of purpose. Today affords us time to reconnect with ourselves and overcome any suspicions, hurts and doubts, which had occurred. In all these, there are no winners and no losers, because by the grace of God we have once again succeeded in moving our country forward.

In January, Mr. Yar’Adua failed to reassure Nigerians when he gave this halting telephone interview to a BBC radio reporter, in which he refused to say when he would return to the country:

On Tuesday Wole Soyinka, Nigeria’s Nobel Prize-winning writer, told CNN that the ruling People’s Democratic Party had acted slowly to resolve the crisis cause by the president’s absence because, “certain elements within the ruling party love this hiatus, they love the headlessness of government because they can proceed to loot and create their own little empires while the president is away.”