John Allen
18 May 2009
staff blog
The question of why Barack Obama has chosen Ghana rather than Kenya, his father's homeland, or Nigeria, Africa's giant, for his first trip to Africa as President of the United States, is exercising newspapers from Nairobi to New York.
Nairobi's Daily Nation said Monday that "in skipping Kenya, the first African American president is signalling that he puts political values over ancestral allegiances."
Although the Nation quoted Kenyan foreign minister Moses Wetang'ula as denying that Obama had snubbed the country, it also referred to recent U.S. criticism of the country's struggling coalition government.
"Mr Johnnie Carson, President Obama's top Africa official, recently made a stop in Nairobi where he delivered a stern warning to President [Mwai] Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to get the reform process on track or face unspecified sanctions," the Nation reported.
In Lagos, This Day carried a harshly-worded opinion piece from 'Jibola Asolo, a Nigerian lawyer based in Britain, saying that the failure of the first black U.S. president to stop over in the world's most populous black country "should really serve as a moment of reflection for us as a nation. It should shame us as a people."
But, wrote Asolo, Obama's decision should not be a surprise.
"The reality is: on the world stage Nigeria is not ready to play ball. We, as a nation, are still stuck on stupid while other countries are buckling down and taking the issue of good governance seriously. This considered, the President of America would be hard-pressed to grace our land with his presence in light of the joke that is Project Nigeria."
In the U.S., the New York Times reinforced the African commentary.
In a report based on unnamed White House sources, it said that "A year after Kenya exploded in political violence, it remains a tense and unsettled place. Ghana, by contrast, is an outpost of democracy and civil society in a volatile region."
The Times quoted a senior official as saying that ideally Obama would have preferred a longer trip to Africa. But time constraints meant that such a trip would have to wait until later in his tenure.
"So his advisers agreed to tack the quick Ghana stop onto the end of his Russia-G-8 trip to at least get a marker down before too much time passed," said the paper.
And, in a reflection of how difficult it is to get yourself onto the agenda of an American president, the Times quoted the official as saying Ghana offered an opportunity to promote important values even on a one-night visit: "We have limited time and we tried to figure out where we could get the most out of limited time," the official said.
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so what if Obama visits Ghana instead of Nigeria? even if Jesus reappears in Ghana it is still an African country where suffering is eternal and inate
What's the beef of our nigerian brothers, Ghana did not beg prez Obama to visit. he did so on his own conviction. After all he is a right thinking prez.
the issue about Africom came up during Prez. Bush visit's to Ghana in 2008. The government of Ghana stated clearly that it will not allow an American base to be established on its soil. this was said in the presence of Pres.
when it comes to oil, of course Ghana will trade its oil with the highest bidder just like any oil producing country. if America is interested in Ghana's oil we will sell to them if the offer is better.
I can understand the frustration of my Nigerian brothers. Historicaly, Nigeria has been Ghana's closest family bcos we have ties culturally, common colonial heritage as well as economic linkages. we Ghana feels Nigeria closer to us than our three immediate neighbors, Cote d'voire, Togo and Burkina. There whatever glory Ghana recieves is shared with Nigeria.
Ghana is receiving Prez Obama mainly bcos of her democratic credentials. In the last election, the opposition won the election by just 0.05 percent. in most African countries, the imcumbent would have manipulated it for their advantage.
We Ghanaians deserve this honour and such no one should downplay on its significance. but we share this with all Africa. Remember of first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah said after Ghana became the first sub saharan African country to win independence that ' the independence of Ghana is meaningless without the total liberation of the whole Africa'. we in Ghana don't think of ourselves alone...
I totally agree Obama should not visit Nigeria until we buckle up and stop all the curroption. However, I think he should also have visited Botswana, that is one African country that has proved themselves and I have hardly heard anything negative about. GOD BLESS BOTSWANA...
This news is really interesting.......... thanx john real estate search
Obama's visit to Ghana is an amazing news and also the stepping stone for the Ghanaian Economy...Take it or leave it,Obama is highly welcome to the country that brought civilization to West Africa.....
I'm proud to be an African and also A GHANAIAN
GOD BLESS MY COUNTRY,GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS GHAHA
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