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ABUJA, Nigeria — A reclusive former governor hand-picked by departing President Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as Nigeria's new leader Tuesday in the first transfer of power from one elected government to another in Africa's most populous country.

Umaru Yar'Adua, 56, took the oath of office before Chief Justice Idris Kutigi, pledging to uphold Nigeria's unity and pursue its best interests.

While Yar'Adua's inauguration marks a milestone in a country struggling to consolidate democracy after decades of military rule, he was elected in an April vote the opposition has denounced as fraudulent and international observers have said was not credible.

Earlier Tuesday, troops and police set up roadblocks and patrolled streets in volatile districts of Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, saying opposition leaders would not be allowed to go ahead with a planned protest of the inauguration.

Police said a coalition of labor and civic groups did not obtain an official permit for the protests planned in Lagos.

Lanre Ehonwa of the Civil Liberties Organization, one of the civic groups supporting the protests, said the constitutional provision permitting public processions superseded a colonial law requiring police permits for rallies.

"We are going ahead with our protest rallies," Ehonwa said.

Yar'Adua, the 56-year-old scion of a storied political family, was chosen to lead the party ticket in April by Obasanjo, who was barred from another term by constitutional term limits after eight years in power.

On Tuesday, "a new generation of leaders will take over the great responsibility of running this great and diverse nation," Obasanjo said in a nationally televised farewell address Monday night. Obasanjo, though, remains a powerful figure in his party.

"Democracy is not a destination, it's a journey," said Obasanjo, whose 1999 election ended decades of near-constant military rule, including a particularly brutal 15-year phase that began in 1984. "We are well on our way to a greater destination."

Obasanjo said his restive nation of 250 ethnic groups and 140 million people, almost equally split between northern-based Muslims and southern Christians, had grown more united under his tenure.

While the end of repressive rule unleashed long-simmering conflict that has left 15,000 dead in political violence, Nigerians "are no longer divided along ethnic, tribal, religious lines or north-south divide," Obasanjo said.

"We have become simply Nigerians interested in the development and progress of our country. This is a great gain. Let us respect this spirit of oneness and unity in all that we do from now on."

Under civilian rule, Nigerians say they have gained freedoms and their country has shaken its reputation as an international pariah run by generals bent on looting the public coffers. Obasanjo has cleared the country's books of billions of dollars of debt wracked up by the military rulers and helped end at least two of West Africa's civil wars by sending troops to intervene.

But many Nigerians say graft has continued to flourish under Obasanjo and services such as electricity and water supply have degraded. The vast majority of the country's people live below the poverty line, while a largely corrupt political and business elite linked to Obasanjo has grown.

Armed struggle in the southern oil region of Africa's biggest crude producer by militants seeking more petroleum funds for the region has increased markedly in the past 18 months — handing Yar'Adua one of his most-nettlesome problems.

Obasanjo, a former military ruler who handed over power to a civilian regime in 1979, gave himself high marks as a civilian ruler, then wished his people farewell.

Nigeria has never seen power transferred from one civilian leader to another. All other attempts have been undermined by coups d'etat or annulments.

As the head of the ruling party, Obasanjo is expected to continue playing a top role in the country, as he has since he was a government commander during the country's 1967-1970 civil war.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4843225.html

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