Abuja — Marie Nelson, head of the Rainbow Push Coalition's Washington DC bureau, is travelling with President Clinton's entourage.
Saturday 26, August 2000: I was basking today in "presidential visit" euphoria, when I heard the reporter ask, "President Clinton tell us about your plans to meet with Egyptian President Mubarek to discuss the Middle East peace process."
An historic meeting between Clinton and Obasanjo - on the lawns of the Presidential Villa with breathtaking Aso Rock as a backdrop - and he may as well have been standing on the White House lawn. It did not matter to the members of the international media that there were a million other pressing issues related to Nigeria and Africa to put before the two heads of state.
Those of us who have waited so long for Clinton to come to Nigeria, silently hoped that hard questions would be raised about debt relief or Nigeria's mounting regional peacekeeping responsibilities. But, again we were sadly reminded that in the eyes of the "West", Africa - her people and their challenges - are not compelling enough to capture and hold our attention.
We continue to look at Africa through a keyhole and not a door, even when the door is being held wide open in invitation. Thousands of Nigerians lined the streets of Abuja to get a glimpse of Clinton and his delegation, waiting in the beaming sun for hours. President Obasanjo and all of his leadership literally and figuratively rolled out the red carpet. Obasanjo even bestowed upon Clinton the name "Omowale", Yoruba for a "son who has returned home." Pomp and circumstance.
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But, the question remains. How do we get the rest of the world to see and understand what those of us engaged with Africa have grasped? To see beyond the exotic and the crises. To see the continent for what it can become. I think President Clinton gets it; however, the time has come for us to look past this administration and on to the next.
Pragmatically, this struggle for hearts and minds will only be won when we create enough strategic ties and partnerships to convince the rest of the world of Africa's worth. As a result of the weekend of meetings, we will, I hope, begin to see evidence of America's commitment to Africa in the areas of HIV/AIDS, economic investment, and the advancement of women.
We need to be critical of the deliverables from this visit, and we need to hold the other presidential hopefuls accountable for follow-through.
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