2007年VOA标准英语-Nigeria's New President Calls for Reconciliatio

By Nico Colombant
Abuja
29 May 2007

Nigeria's new president Umaru Yar'Adua has called for reconciliation¹ and electoral reform, following controversial elections in Africa's leading oil producer. Mr. Yar'Adua was sworn in Tuesday in Eagle Square, Abuja. VOA's Nico Colombant was there and filed this report.

Musicians greeted about a dozen heads of state, including South African President Thabo Mbeki, and rebel leader, Ivory Coast Prime Minister Guillaume Soro.

After a short military parade, Mr. Yar'Adua was sworn-in, ahead of schedule.

Mr. Yar'Adua is the first university-educated president of Nigeria, and the first, in Africa's most populous² nation, to succeed another president in an orderly manner. At his swearing in, he called himself a servant leader.

Mr. Yar'Adua also called for dialogue to replace violence.

"I appeal to all aggrieved³ communities to immediately suspend all violent activities and respect the law," he said. "Let us allow a constructive⁴ dialogue to take place. We are all in this together and we will find our way to achieve peace and justice."

The two terms of his predecessor⁵ Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military leader, were marked by sectarian violence and ended with repeated kidnappings of foreign workers in the oil-rich Niger Delta⁶.

President Yar'Adua also called for losers in the recent elections, at state and federal levels, to dispute results through the court system if they have grievances⁷.

He promised that after the court challenges are over, he will tackle electoral reform.

"I will set up a panel to examine the entire electoral process with a view to effective reforms and to ensure that we raise our general elections to meet international standards," said Mr. Yar'Adua. "I will make this a national priority at the conclusion of the legal processes."

An opposition⁸ campaign director, Sule Hamma, says that falls short of what the opposition wants, which is the cancellation⁹ of the elections.

"I do not think he is qualified¹⁰ to call for that because he came by an illegitimate process himself, and if he really means it, if he is really a man of honor and he says what he means, and he means what he says, then he should resign and accept that the elections have not met minimum standards of democratic elections," said Hamma.

Nigerians dressed for the occasion in Abuja, 29 May 2007

International and national observers said the elections were not credible¹¹ and were deeply flawed, marked by violence, underage voting, missing voting materials in many parts of the country and a lack of transparency in the release of results.

Opposition and union leaders have vowed¹² protests in the post-election period, but these have failed to materialize. In the main city Lagos Tuesday, police set up roadblocks to prevent any large-scale demonstration¹³.

Union leaders have also expressed anger at the recent increase in the price of gasoline and the outgoing administration's sell-off of several refineries¹⁴ and other state companies to businessmen close to the ruling party.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, but humanitarian¹⁵ agencies say less than half its people have access to running water and just one fourth have access to electricity.

1 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 aggrieved   

adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈，她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

5 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

6 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

7 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

10 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

11 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？

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

14 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。