Olusegun Obasanjo
18 November 2008
opinion
Let me begin this article by congratulating President-Elect Senator Barack Obama for his well-deserved victory in the just concluded US Presidential Election of 2008. Senator Obama's victory brought with it a new, refreshing and exciting taste in our mouths. Apart from doing himself and his family proud, he has also done his nation proud by crossing a Rubicon that was considered impassable almost inconceivable at least in the then immediate future. Senator Obama has not only made history, he is on course to change history.
The feeling of change that Senator Obama engendered through his campaign for the White House represents a significant theme of change we have all aspired and fought for in different areas, regions, cultures and historical times. The desire for change has never been the question nor has it ever been in question. It is the extent, the range, the tone, the quantity, the quantum and the sustenance of change that has always been the question.
So, what change does the young Senator from Illinois, Chicago propose to his countrymen and women what vision is he seeking to bring about? I do not consider myself a political pundit as such, but it is not too difficult to see that developments in the US and recent developments in the world at large have presented a graphic case for a change. The US needs change, Africa needs change, the developed world needs change, and the developing world needs change, we all need change. The American people have voted for a change that they hope their leader can bring about for them and their society through the aspirations and the administration of President-Elect Barack Obama. The expectations in the US and indeed in the rest of the world are high and understandably so after the eight years of President George W. Bush.
Rooted in the achievements of Senator Obama is a far more significant theme for people aspiring to lead their communities, particularly for young Africans in Africa. It is the aspirations, the determination, the energy, the strategic thinking, planning and execution that Senator Obama and his campaign team have brought into what is being regarded as a movement. Entire generations have been roused and invited to bring about a change that they and the rest of the world desire.
Senator Obama's unprecedented success is based on a number of factors which are best captured in two-folds-'Change and Hope.' His campaign was predicated on change-the change we need and the change we believe in. The US like the rest of the world needs change, and this formed an anchor on which the Obama Hope cursor hangs. Obama's election has injected a fresh air of hope, peace, constructive and inspiring leadership into the stale and fouled atmosphere of American international relations, economy, world economy and international financial market. In some ways his election has been described by some analysts as a referendum on George Bush's eight years of unnecessary and totally avoidable wars and the meltdown economy.
What are the ingredients that are responsible for Senator Obama's unprecedented success and what changes should we expect?
Let me relate my first and only encounter with Senator Barrack Obama.
In September 2007, during the Black Caucus Convention in Washington DC, I met and chatted with both Senator Hilary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama separately, albeit briefly. One cannot but be impressed by Senator Obama's disposition, he was intelligent, quick-witted and smart in his reactions and answers to my few questions. He was also courteous and cultured. He exuded confidence and friendship even though it was our first meeting. I was left in no doubt that if he could become the President of the US, the world may be better for it. At that point I naturally wondered if he could, most especially with the expected discrimination his name and colour might provoke. Nonetheless, I also recalled that when he first contested for political office in Illinois, though his funny name raised questions for him but it did not make him lose the election, he won.
His background was as interesting as his life so far. He was the outcome of a bi-racial relationship, love and marriage between a young African man from Kenya, who voluntarily went to the US in search of the Golden Fleece and he found love in a liberated white young woman.
By birth, he was a citizen of two continents and, by upbringing and education, he became better exposed and a true citizen of the world-a background and situation that shaped his outlook for public service and which made him "a nice guy who should not have desired to go into a dirty and nasty thing like politics" as he wrote in his book, "The Audacity of Hope". Certain issues never go away from his head; his experience and surroundings-the problem of race, societal division, war, poverty and relations between the sexes. Obama remained in close bond to his mother and grandmother who made him not to feel the adverse impact of his absentee father. The greatest loss he seemed to have felt in life was the loss of his mother and maybe the second was the recent death of his grandmother.
On one hand, he was a product of Ivy League higher educational institutions, the quintessential breeding ground for future leaders in public life globally. He had earlier made history by becoming the first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review. Truly, it takes a village to raise a child and a proper one at that.
On the other hand, Senator Obama's nature, wit, intellect and intelligence had set him aside and increasing his marketability for wide appeal across the various divides. He is a man of faith and his faith never deserts him.
Obama's movement which began in the US and which had seen the Senator through to victory in the election has swept all over the world. He out-campaigned, out-strategised, out-funded, and out-debated his Republican rival, Senator John McCain. The crowd drawn by Obama during his visit to Europe was nothing short of a movement and it was simply electrifying. I must express my admiration for the managers and advisers of Senator Obama during the campaign. They were cautious, meticulous, and painstaking; they left nothing to chance. They checked and crosschecked everything and every milieu. A friend of mine and his wife were invited for an Obama event, few hours before the event took place, the organisers phoned my friend to inform him about his background and their findings that he is a lobbyist and that they would appreciate his refusal to attend the event but his wife could still come. My friend accepted it well and concluded "that is the extent to which they go to avoid embarrassment for their candidate."
The ability of the Obama campaign team to understand the strategic imperative of conscientising and mobilising young people particularly of African American and Latino extraction is a further tribute to the ingenuity of the strategists. Throughout the campaign, Senator Obama was preferred by foreigners everywhere to his rival John McCain and the Republican Party except in Europe, Georgia; Obama's movement was spearheaded by the fastest growing generation of US electorates (millennia generation) of ages 18-29 years. They carry no baggage of fear, doubt and prejudices of their parents and those before them. They are better educated, more exposed and they know the world better than their forebears. In the same vein, the ability of the campaign managers to facilitate the quick healing of the wounds of the presidential primaries should be a lesson for most political managers across the world, particularly in Africa. Getting Hilary and Bill Clinton to campaign for Senator Obama is a tribute to political maturity and adroitness on both sides. As I look at the whole development, I cannot but marvel at providence in Obama' journey to the highest political height in the world. The economic crisis with financial meltdown was fortuitous, auspicious and certainly providential. Indeed success in life is substantially preparation and perspiration with a complement of good luck. Obama, sweated for his victory but providence was on hand to give history a gentle push in the right direction. Although the world at large could not cast vote in the US election, globally people know what they expect of America and who among the contestants could deliver what the world expects. America should not completely ignore the interest of the world.
Again, I see this as a growing movement rather than just a political party. Maybe, what Obama's managers and advisers should address their mind to is how to channel this movement for the good of a world that is crying for change to make the world fairer and more peaceful, equitable, just, cooperative, friendly and brotherly and responsive to the yearnings of the poor, the oppressed and the vulnerable.
The world needs a global movement to work hand-in-hand with the world leaders to raise awareness and to work in tandem with the public and the private sectors to make the world a better and more genial place for every human being on earth. America as the most powerful nation of the world must accept the responsibility of leadership in making the world a better place for humanity.
(To be continued)
Retired General Obasanjo is Nigeria's former president.
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obansajo former prime minister of Nigeria wrote that article.Obama could care les about Africa or Africans,Can a MUTT be cultured .Obama has several half brothers and sisters all from different mothers.He repaid his government student loan only three years ago,his father died drunk.He /had strong ties to a group called the weatherman a group that caused a lot of trouble in America during the war for Viet Nam.He willfail as a leader and will not correct the economic crises in America.People vote based on money issues in America.He used a high tech method to deceive the American public and is now trying to get both parties to help straigthen out the mess he is facing and cant fix .when the pellow hit the mellow and he cant deliver having both parties working in his administration is a good damage control mechanism.as far as Old Ugly Obasanjo is concerned he help to mess up Africa and now has something to say about American Politics Old African Misguided former leaders like him who quit office with half of the national tresuary tucked safely away in a swiss bank account in his name should keep their mouths shut.Now he claimed to have spoken to Clinton wife and Obama both those people know that African leaders are slime bags I would imagine that both were trying to avoid his slimy (Obansajo) presence.After obasanjo that stupid idiot wasted 244 million USA dollars on a defunct space satellite he should keep his ugly face shut no one consider him as being anything significant.Talk about american politics after you have fixed nigeria Obama today they cry HALLALUAH tomorrow Impeach Him