Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is welcomed to the Oval Office
by President Obama last
year. President Obama's decision to avoid the
country again is regarded
by many Nigerians as a justified criticism of
the way Nigeria continues
to be governed.
Shame on Nigeria ... Obama is Right to Shun Us! (The Daily
Independent, Nigeria)
"Isn't it a shame that the first African-American in the
White House is to visit the continent a second time without stopping in Nigeria?
Does it not affect leaders in this country that most of the problems Obama highlighted
during his first trip are still with us, if they aren't worse? How long will we
continue to deceive ourselves? We are now a laughing stock among the comity of
nations."
An Obama fan in Ghana awaits the U.S. president's motorcade in 2009. With Obama visiting the continent again later this month, his itinerary is getting a lot of scrutiny, particularly the decision to avoid Nigeria - again.
The
most influential and powerful man in the world, President Barack Obama of the
United States, is to visit Africa yet again - but without Nigeria on his
itinerary. No reason has been given officially. But scratching beneath the
surface, one readily understands that as the nation with greatest concentration
of Blacks, Nigeria hasn't shown the promise needed to maximize its potential.
The
country and its leadership have been a big disappointment to those who were
hoping that by now, given its human and natural resources, it would be a
leading economic and political power on the continent, and by extension, in the
world. However, that hasn't been the case. For more than five decades, Nigeria
been held down by forces that have retarded its growth and development. Its institutions
still don't function properly. Corruption has become a demon that defies all
measures to control it and is about to destroy the very fabric of the state. The
elite, many of whom are rapacious, are more opportunistic than pragmatic. The
people have been largely docile, mounting too little pressure on their politicians
to do the right thing. The power sector, which has triggered such economic
development in other countries, is in a similar state. And even worse, companies
have been forced to close shop and relocate to other nations on the sub-region.
This
stubborn scenario has been in place since the nation achieved independence, and
explains why Nigeria has found it difficult to make meaningful progress. For a
country that held such promise in 1960, it is inexplicable that it has been
left so far behind by contemporaries like Indonesia, India, Brazil, Malaysia, not
to mention South Korea - and even Pakistan. Needless to say, even smaller
countries like Ghana, Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda, Senegal, and Angola have left
Nigeria in the dust in terms of good governance, world standard infrastructure,
the empowerment of the populace and allowing institutions to work unfettered by
bureaucracy.
It
is in this context that we should look at the visit of President Obama later
this summer. This time, Uncle Sam will be visiting South Africa, Tanzania and
Senegal - countries that have shown a readiness to hew the path of the rule of
law, credible and transparent elections, and orderly transitions of power, and
be placed where democracy is the norm rather than the exception. And through
this visit, like his last one, Obama will be sending a strong message to other
African countries: put your houses in order and embrace the winds of change blowing
across the world.
Unlike
other occupants of the White House, who ostensibly, out of a sense of priority,
see Africa as less important in the grand scheme of things, President Obama has
made a deliberate attempt to change that paradigm, for example, when he
included a stop-over to sub-Saharan Africa at the end of his trip to the G8
summit in Italy in 2009. Instead of a total of seven visits from the five
previous occupants of the Oval Office, the Obama Administration suggests that trips
to Africa may be more frequent, like presidential visits to Europe. And in
Ghana, Obama visited the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle, where many enslaved
Africans died and others were loaded onto slave ships.
During
his trip to Ghana, in what many saw as a veiled reference to Nigeria, Obama
spoke of the need for African leaders to develop democratic institutions rather
than create personality cults. This, he said, is how to build a society that
allows citizens to realize their potential. Obama used the symbolism of Ghana's
Parliament [watch below] to question the character of ordinary African politicians
who are more interested in filling their pockets than working for the public
good. He used the opportunity to tell African leaders to stop blaming the West
for their problems and instead demonstrate leadership to help elevate the
standards of living of their peoples. Yet he didn't fail to discuss Ghana's success
story and its democratic credentials, which he said should be encouraged and
emulated by other African states. The leader of the free world praised Ghana
and its leaders for showing that democracy can bring about good governance,
which in turn would percolate throughout other sectors of society.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
President Barack Obama addresses Ghana's Parliament in
This
visit was widely reported by Nigerian media, but not surprisingly, our
politicians took little interest in what Obama was saying. Of course, the
speech was largely directed at Nigeria, a country that in so many respects has
failed, and which, due to its size and importance, the world has been trying to
assist. The international community wants to prevent Nigeria from creating more
problems for the continent and world. Just after the 2011 general elections, it
was reported that if we put our house in order in terms of rule of law and
constitutionalism, President Obama might even visit Nigeria next time around. The
events of recent months seem to have suggested to Washington that we are still
playing the same old song.
Shunning
Nigeria is an implicit show of disapproval about what has been going on in the
country. It is a strong message that nothing has changed since his last Africa visit.
Hence, there is a need for Abuja
to do more to convince the world that it is ready to be a respected member of
the community of nations. As leader of the world's leading economic power, President
Obama's visit bring the potential for enormous benefits. Indeed, such an event opens
the door to great opportunity in terms of foreign investment and trade
agreements. Just ask Myanmar (Burma) leaders what they've gained since Obama
visited to the country, which not long ago was referred to as a pariah state. Myanmar
leader TheinSein even
visited the White House two weeks ago. That shows the enormous advantages a
country derives from a mere stopover by the U.S. president. And that is what
Nigeria will miss when Obama once again comes around.
In
addition to South Africa, which, despite its challenges, has managed to sustain
economic growth and improve race relations, Tanzania's economy has been growing
at a rate of over five percent for the past five years. There, too, the
democratic process has consistently reflected a stable and promising country. As
for Senegal, the third country on Obama's itinerary, the inglorious defeat and
exit of former President Abdoulaye Wade shows that the country has developed a
robust democratic tradition. Wade wanted to change the constitution to contest
a third term. These, in my view, are what may have influenced the choice of
countries for Obama's visit. Simply put, the voyage is geared toward adding U.S.
moral influence, encouraging them, sending them a sign that they are not alone when
challenges arise, and more importantly, to inform countries like Nigeria that
democracy is a journey rather than a destination.
Isn't
it a shame that the first African-American in the White House is to visit the
continent a second time without stopping in Nigeria? Does it not affect leaders
in this country that most of the problems Obama highlighted during his first
trip are still with us, if they aren't worse? How long will we continue to
deceive ourselves? We are now a laughing stock among the comity of nations, and
our president couldn't even deliver an address when it was his turn at the golden
jubilee of the African Union last week? [The
rumor is that President Goodluck Jonathan engaged
in a late night drinking binge on the eve of the event.] As the continent and world
await Obama’s visit, these are questions that should give our so-called leaders
pause.
