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| Nigerians comment on Obama Ghana visit
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Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) -
As US President Barack Obama prepares to embark on a tw
o-day visit to Ghana starting Friday, Nigerians are divided on why the first Afr
i
can-American to occupy the White House chose Ghana instead of Nigeria for his fi
r
st official visit to Africa.
Many here believe Nigeria, the most populous black nation and a preeminent one a
t that, should be a natural first choice for such a historic visit, and wondered
why Ghana, with a population less than one-fifth of Nigeria's, should be preferr
e
d to Nigeria.
However, foreign policy experts in Nigeria have blamed Obama's refusal to make N
igeria his first port of call on the ''political elites'' who have made it diffi
c
ult for democratic principles devoid of rancour to thrive in the country, in spi
t
e of its influence at regional and International levels.
“It is not because you are a giant that you are visited and not necessary becaus
e we are undemocratic,'' said Wole Are-Olaitan, a Professor of Political Science
at the South-west Olabisi Onabanjo University at Ago Iwoye.
''Obama was in Egypt, Egypt doesn’t run a very good democracy, yet he was there
to meet Muslim leaders. What it means is that American foreign policy is also di
c
tated by its own interest at a given time,'' Are-Olaitan told PANA. ''For Nigeri
a
, there is nothing big Nigeria is contributing beyond oil.''
But the Chairman of Nigeria's Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Prof. Jubril
Aminu, disagrees, saying President Obama must have been misled by some US State
D
epartment officials.
Reflecting the views of many in government, Prof. Aminu said a visit to Africa w
ithout Nigeria would amount to nothing.
“When (former US President) Bill Clinton visited Nigeria in 1999, he said many A
frican leaders had told him that unless he visited Nigeria, he had not really vi
s
ited Africa,” the former Nigerian Ambassador to the US said, to justify his stan
d
.
However, Prof. Are-Olaitan insisted that such considerations have no place in de
termining which African country would be visited by the US leader.
He said the Obama administration was out to spread good governance, rule of law
and democratic principles which are the centre-piece of American foreign policy.
While stressing the need for Nigeria's political elites to imbibe democratic ten
ets and stop playing lip services to good governance, he said if Obama could shu
n
his native home in Kenya (his father's home country) due to the political ranco
u
r there, there was no way the US President could come to Nigeria.
“The agenda they have for Africa is about good governance, so for that one Niger
ia is not about good governance. Not even Kenya, which is his home base...If you
have conducted an election that the state Department and the international commu
n
ity said was faulty, why should he (Obama) be coming here?” the University teach
e
r asked.
In his comments, Kabir Mato, Head of Department of Political Science, University
of Abuja, the Nigerian capital city, noted that the political elite should lear
n
a lesson from the visit.
He said it should also be seen as a wake-up call for the Nigerian government to
embrace acceptable international code of conduct.
“I am sure the visit is a clear statement to the ruling class of the need to, an
d as much as possible, have a reflection on how we manage our electoral system.
I
am not surprised, Nigerians are not surprised about the visit (to Ghana). We ne
e
d to conform with the international standards that are required,” Mato said.
Also commenting on the visit, the Nigerian opposition said while it would have p
referred that Obama visits Nigeria first, it understands why the US President ch
o
se Ghana.
''As the US President has made clear in an interview ahead of his visit, credibl
e elections, good governance, abhorrence of corruption and transparent leadershi
p
were key considerations in determining where Air Force One will ferry him (the
A
merican leader) on his maiden official voyage to Africa.
``Unlike Nigeria, Kenya or most African countries, Ghana easily meets those crit
eria hence President John Ata Mills will play host to President Obama on Friday
a
nd Saturday, while other African leaders will watch the visit on television. We
c
ongratulate Ghana and heartily welcome the American leader,’’ said the main oppo
s
ition Action Congress (AC).
The party noted: ``Ghana’s last general elections were of particular source of p
ride to the country, as it was able to overcome major inter-party disagreements
w
ithout recourse to violence unlike in Nigeria, where the ruling party, in its de
s
peration for power, messed up a governorship re-run in one of the country’s smal
l
est states and, with it, a clear chance to redeem the country’s image that was l
e
ft in ruins by the 2007 general elections debacle.’’
When Obama lands in Accra on Friday night from Italy, where he had gone to atten
d the G8 meeting, he will become the third straight American president to visit
G
hana, after Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
White House officials said the choice of Ghana was because the West African nati
on is an ''admirable example of strong, democratic governance, vibrant civil soc
i
ety" .
The blue and white Boeing 747 plane, tagged Air Force One, bearing President Oba
ma and his entourage is scheduled to touch down in Accra at 2100GMT, but most of
the programmes on the US President's itinerary will be held on Saturday.
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| Lagos - 10/07/2009 |
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