Nigeria's new President is hoping to bring peace to the Delta region

The incoming President of Nigeria has used his inaugural address to call for an immediate cessation of violence in the country’s turbulent Delta region, but despite his words being welcomed, militants believe little progress will be made.

President Umaru Yar’Adua said that hostilities in the Niger Delta needed “urgent attention” and he vowed to “use every resource available to resolve the crisis.”

In response to Yar’Adua’s comments, Jono Gbomo, a spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), told Insight on Conflict that despite the new President’s positive attitude the group did not expect things to change.

Gbomo said, “[Yar’Adua’s] approach to resolving the problems of the Delta could make all the difference [but] unfortunately he lacks the support to effect a meaningful change and I believe the situation will deteriorate rather than improve.”

“We will not cease with our attacks until we have achieved our goals for the people of the Niger Delta, or secured a firm agreement from the Nigerian government.”

Gbomo’s pessimistic outlook is reflected by Nnamdi Obasi, International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the region. Obasi believes that the democratic process in Nigeria has been derailed by poor governance.

He said, “Yar’Adua has to understand that no number of overtures will satisfy the opposition unless and until his administration seriously confronts all the institutional failures that must be redressed if Nigeria is to escape collapse and widespread violence.”

Read the latest ICG report on Nigeria: ‘Failed Elections, Failing State?’ here.

Read more on the history of the conflict in the Niger Delta here.