SINCE winning an alleged 62 percent of the vote in Nigeria's election Feb. 27, President-elect Olusegun Obasanjo has said all the right things.

These include a promise of "an open and fair and transparent government"; a mandate to "rebuild this nation"; and a plea that "together, we will strive to bequeath to the next generation a truly democratic system of governance."

The words were needed. General Obasanjo's own Yoruba people in the southwest, including the great commercial city of Lagos, favored his opponent. His overture to all people is important because his opponent, Olu Falae, cried fraud and encouraged nonviolent protest against a stolen election. Demonstrations have begun.

The pledge to democracy is credible, in that General Obasanjo did restore elected civilian rule when he succeeded as military strongman two decades ago. It is also vitally necessary because he was the candidate of the rich generals who bankrolled his efficient machine in this election.

These pledges are also necessary because General Obasanjo is undoubtedly going to take office on May 29, despite observer Jimmy Carter's stated unwillingness to certify the election as fair. Other observers thought ballot boxes were stuffed and counts rigged equally by both parties.

With some 100 million people and untold oil wealth, Nigeria is a wealthy country suffering from its own corruption and crime, and from low world oil prices that have wrecked all calculations.

To attract foreign investment and restore Nigerians' national pride, General Obasanjo will need to spread the pain fairly, combat crime and corruption and free imprisoned journalists and critics of the previous military regime.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on all Nigerians to "work with the new government to lead Nigeria into an era of democracy and prosperity." So should Nigeria's foreign friends and critics.

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