I AM beginning to lose enthusiasm about seeing United States President, Barack Obama, in Nigerian on state visit.
The romance factor has all but worn off. If Obama comes tomorrow, he will still have a lot of people eager to watch him on television. After all, he is still Barack Obama, the first Black person to be elected to the highest political office in the world. Some people call him “our son” because he has African ancestry.
I am somewhat bored by the snobbish attitude that Obama and his officials have maintained towards Nigeria since he was first elected in 2008. This is totally at variance with the eagerness with which our own President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, welcomes every opportunity to visit the White House. Since he emerged as our president GEJ has been to the White House at least twice.
Obama has come to Africa on two occasions. The first was shortly after he was inaugurated in 2009. He was on his way to L’Aquila in Italy but stopped in Accra and Cape Coast, Ghana. It was on that occasion that he made his well-received call on African countries to emphasise more on strong institutions rather than strong men.
[caption id="attachment_401908" align="alignnone" width="412"]
POWER: President Barack Obama of United States of America (right), Mr. Tony Elumelu (middle) and others discuss Africa's power sector transformation during a tour of the Ubungo Power Plant near Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, Monday.[/caption]Later in August 2012, his Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, on a 12-nation tour, stopped for four hours in Abuja. She met President Jonathan, had a brief town hall meeting and headed straight to the airport out of Nigeria.
On the recent occasion of President Obama’s three-nation tour, he chose Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa. Again, security fears were the official reasons adduced for his avoiding Nigeria.
Fine! Security challenge is a credible excuse. Since terrorists succeeded in bombing the Police headquarters, army cantonment and United Nations office complex, all in Abuja; and in 2012 forced the President to observe independence activities within the secured grounds of Aso Rock Villa, you cannot blame any foreign leader who feels unsure about coming here.
Come to think of it: If Obama eventually comes here, what do we expect of him? What did he take to the four African countries he visited? He went there to lecture them on democracy and good governance. In South Africa, he performed one of his pet activities of engaging the youth, inspiring them and psyching them up towards their future role as leaders.
There was not much in terms of fresh economic packages. Man shall not live by bread alone, it is true. But we in Africa still need a lot of bread. Nobody likes to listen to lectures on an empty, rumbling stomach. Obama’s predecessors, Bill Clinton and George HW Bush came here armed with bread in their right hand and a lecture script in their left. Clinton in August 2000 came here to announce the granting of duty-free access to US markets of certain classes of made-in-Africa goods. It was a package contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act, AGOA.
And when Bush came in July 2003, he brought a situation report which confirmed that under the Republican government, economic ties with Africa had grown. Under this salutary situation, the push for democracy and human rights by the American government was easier to sell.
When President Obama eventually comes here, there are things I want from him. In addition to his usual motivational lecture, I want him to come here like the Canadians. Canadian businessmen and women have seen the unfolding new Nigeria, particularly on the economic front. The Chinese and Indians saw it long ago. We want Obama here with a horde of American businessmen/women and industrialists ready to invest in the power, infrastructure, agriculture and technology sectors.
We will also appreciate America’s continued interest in building our democracy. After all, we copied our presidential system from them. It will be nice to quickly get over the teething problems associated with this expensive system. We will also be delighted to see America helping us to overcome terrorism to enable Nigerians face with a united front the task of nation-building. We want to get into the second centenary of our existence with the old demons that shackled our people exorcised.
When Obama comes here, we will not want him to give us a lecture on human rights. That subject has been well provided for in our Constitution. All we need is to have leaders who are ready to defend the Constitution and implement its provisions on fundamental human rights. We do not want Obama to come here and campaign for the Western interpretation of human rights to us.
Our own human rights are pro- law-abiding citizens, not pro-criminals. Our laws recognise that a person, who willfully kills his fellow citizen, when convicted through to the Supreme Court, will pay with his life. In other words, we believe in the Death Penalty. The law must fight for victims of savage termination of life, even though our laws also permit for the prerogative of mercy when applicable.
Secondly, we in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, whether Christians, Muslims or traditionalists, consider homosexuality and bestiality as taboo. The West, on the other hand, has uprooted the Christian foundations of their societies and adopted atheistic definition of “freedom” or human rights. They have taken the definition beyond sane boundaries. This is why the US Supreme Court recently ruled that marriage is no longer defined as a union between a man and a woman. With this new definition, men can marry men, women can marry women. In fact, American soldiers are free to have sex with animals and, perhaps, marry them!
Count us out of that!
Without a spiritual base, the West is in steep decline, and they cannot take us with them. Nigeria and Africa are rising. We will take what we want from the West and drop the rest in the trash bin, just like the Asians have done.
So, when Obama comes here, let him draw the line.
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