Nigeria's new President Umaru Yar'Adua used his inaugural address Tuesday to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Nigeria's restive southern oil region, and the main militant group appeared to welcome his overture.

"We are considering this request," a spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mail. The group, the largest militant organization in the oil-producing delta, had earlier rejected all calls to lay down arms until their demands were met.

The militants, saying they're fighting to force the federal government to designate more oil resources to the impoverished region where the crude is pumped, have launched a series of attacks on the oil industry that have cut output by nearly a third in Africa's oil giant.

Violence in the Niger Delta region poses one of the biggest challenges facing Yar'Adua, who succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo in the first transfer of the office between civilian leaders in Nigeria. Yar'Adua is a member of the party still led by Obasanjo, who was barred from running by constitutional term limits.

Obasanjo had dismissed the militants as mere criminals and made no mention of them in his farewell speech late on Monday.

In contrast, Yar'Adua in his first speech as president said the matter needed "urgent attention" and said he would "use every resource available to resolve this crisis."

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 his 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.

Yar'Adua addressed the voting controversy head on, acknowledging in his speech that the elections were flawed. He said he would reform Nigeria's electoral system.

"We acknowledge that our elections were not perfect and had lapses and shortcomings. However, we have well established legal avenues of redress and I urge anyone aggrieved to pursue them," he said to applause.

"I also believe that out experiences represent an opportunity to learn from our mistakes. Accordingly, I will set up a panel to examine the entire electoral process with a view to effect reforms and ensuring that we raise the quality and standards of our general elections to meet international standards."

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 at the inauguration.

Yar'Adua became the ruling party candidate after he was pushed forward by Obasanjo. Obasanjo was barred from another term by constitutional term limits following eight years in power after his 1999 election ended decades of near-constant military rule, including a particularly brutal 15-year phase that began in 1984.

Yar'Adua said his assumption of power was an "historic milestone" for his restive nation of 250 ethnic groups and 140 million people, almost equally split between northern-based Muslims and southern Christians.

"We have at last managed an orderly transition from one elected government to another," he said. All other attempts since 1960's independence from Britain were undermined by coups or annulments of electoral outcomes.

(China Daily via agencies May 30, 2007)