2007年VOA标准英语-Nigeria's President-Elect Visits Neighbors

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
07 May 2007

Nigeria's president-elect, Umaru Mussa Yar'Adua, has started formal visit to several African countries, but critics say he should focus his attention first on problems at home following his disputed election. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

 

President-Elect Yar'Adua, 23 Apr 2007

After meeting with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe Monday in northern Togo, Nigeria's president-elect brushed aside recurrent criticism he is getting about his election victory.

He said it is not the first time an election is controversial in Nigeria, and that it happens across Africa. The U.S. State Department has said the election he won in late April was marked by serious flaws.

International observers have said it was not credible¹, and did not respect the will of the people.

Earlier Monday, Mr. Yar'Adua was in Benin, where he met President Yayi Boni, who spoke² of the high value of regional cooperation.

He said Benin and Togo depend on Nigeria for their electricity, and that it was important to work together to create what he called a sphere of prosperity.

Nigerian human rights activist³ Nasir Abbas says it is no time for the president-elect to go visiting foreign countries when so much needs to be done in Nigeria to reassure⁴ the disillusioned⁵ poor.

"What he should do right now is try as hard as possible to consolidate⁶ the issue of democracy, for one, and, two, to make sure that all the necessary mechanisms⁷ are there to address the deplorable conditions of Nigerians," said Nasir Abbas.

Jennifer Cooke, an analyst⁸ with the U.S-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, agrees, but says Mr. Yar'Adua may have other motivations as well.

"It does seem a little bit early," said Jennifer Cooke. "He has got a lot of contentious⁹ issues to settle at home first. I imagine he is very anxious to cement his legitimacy¹⁰ in international circles, and may hope that this kind of trip will help build his international credentials¹¹ and credibility at home. But my thought is, his first priority should be to be working to confront some of the big difficulties he is going to have at home in the near future."

Outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the election was, in his words, not perfect, but that it generally reflected the will of Nigerians. His earlier attempts to seek a third elected term were blocked by parliament.

The opposition¹² has said it will fight the results in court and protest the scheduled handover May 29.

The little-known president-elect, formerly¹³ a governor in northern Nigeria, will continue his foreign visits this week with scheduled trips to Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria and Libya.

1 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

5 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

6 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

7 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

10 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

11 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。