Out of Africa

On Tuesday, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.  It was a day when hope seeped back into the United States, a day when hoped swept through the rest of the world. 

While there is some argument over whether is speech (watch below) was lofty enough for the occasion, and whether or not it’ll be memorable, I don’t think anyone can argue that it set the tone for what his presidency will be like. I personally believe it was what was needed for the moment. As the first black president of the United States, there are so many expectations being laid on this man — not just by Americans, but by the world.

In an interview with The Gaurdian, former Nigerian ambassador to the U.S. and Israel, Prof. George Obiozor seemed to say it best:

“With this, America has proved again that it can be a nation of hope and promise; the U.S. has reconfirmed its heritage as a country of hope and promise.”

Africans especially seem to have high expectations. There is hope for a greater partnership between the U.S. and African countries — and not just in aid, but in TRUE development.  It means hope that African countries will also begin to put their best people forward and let democracy take its course and change our continent.  As written in an article on worldpress.org:

Barack Obama’s election and assumption of office has raised extraordinary expectations. No where are these expectations more stratospheric than in Africa, the continent of birth of the 44th President’s Father. Africans of all political persuasions, ethnicity and religion expect President Obama to keep faith with his deep African roots and make a difference in the continent.

Also sharing his thoughts with The Guardian, the former Minister of National Planning Sanusi Daggash said having Obama as the U.S. president holds a different kind of hope than any other American leaders.

“It represents a tremendous opportunity for Africans and Nigerians to seize the golden opportunity to reflect on issues on our Nigerianess, how we function as a people and international politics, our responsibilities to the world now that America has turned a new page with President Obama.”

But even with all these expecations, there are some realities Africans must face with this new administration. True, Obama knows Africa “from the ground up,” or at least more intimately than passed presidents. And yes, he understand poverty and instability from his childhood in Indonesia. Obama and his wife have also been actively involved in grassroot efforts throughout their lives, and grassroot efforts are essential to the developement of Africa. But when it comes down to it … we must remember that Obama belongs and serves the U.S. first, not Africa. 

The worldpress.org piece, written by Chinua Akukwe, that was one of the first realities he points out. Obama first needs to turn around the declining U.S. economy before he can truly reach out and help the rest of the world. There are also the two wars the U.S. is currently involved with in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Middle East definitely is a major concern on President Obama’s list of things to do. And as he’s stated in other interviews, building relationships with Latin America (a closer neighbor than Africa) is also a high priority.  He also needs to work on weaning the U.S. off its dependency on oil.  And let’s not even begin to talk about the health sector of the United States.  … President Obama has a lot on his plate. 

But even though Africans shouldn’t put TOO much hope in Obama and expect his first term to bring rapid change and perks for them, we need not fear that he will ignore our beloved continent. We are a growing source of oil, scarce natural minerals, trade and potential support in international institutions — America needs us, just as much as we might need them. And during his campaign, he did list three goals for Africa:

(1) Accelerate the integration of Africa into the global economy

(2) Enhance peace and security

(3) Strengthen institutions and civil society organizations 

All of this is achievable, but we must remember that Obama’s first and foremost priority is the United States. Meaning that it is Africa that has to step-up to make whatever help Obama can bring to our continent as president is not wasted.  Until we step up on our own, we will simply be an object of America’s foreign policy rather than a partner in it.  

Obama will not be the one to change Africa. The only thing Obama truly offers Africa is inspiration. 

His campaign is probably the best documented example of how to force your way over the barriers of discrimination and into the seat of power.  Its strategy was publicly and exhaustively debated.  Even its fundraising machine, the engine of the juggernaut, is no secret.  The pieces and processes are there if reformers wish to emulate Barack Obama’s attempt at a peaceful overturning of the status quo.  And though they may have the tacit support of the President, the success of such efforts is ultimately in the hands of people in Africa.  Barack Obama is a symbol of hope, but he cannot change the world alone.  – Michael Madill,  adjunct professor of government, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, Illinois.

Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech: 

Most of us will forever remember exactly where we were the night Barack Obama was announced as the next President of the United States. I wish I could say I was at Grant Park (especially since I was living in the Chicago-area at the time), but instead I was working late at school. Even so, it was still memorable. Now it’s just days before the inauguration and I’m starting to wish I bought a ticket to D.C. and will be at the Washington Memorial.  Well … almost. It sounds like it’ll be really crowded. 

People are coming from all over the world to see the dawn of a new era in the United States of America.  Airlines with international flights that day are entirely booked up. In Nigeria, people are even moving to neighboring countries with the hopes of getting on a plane that will bring them to the States on Tuesday. 

“Being the first African-American to be elected president of the United States, there is this euphoria on the part of Africans to grace Obama’s inauguration to lend moral support.  I learnt people are also going there from several other parts of the continent” – unnamed source.

It’s obvious that Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States will not simply affect this country … it looks like many Africans believe January 20th will be the dawn of a new era for Africa as well.  However, will it be? Nigerians here in the diaspora have a warning:

Don’t celebrate more than the owners of the occasion. Rather, Nigerians should use the occasion to ponder and pray for their country. Americans and Kenyans, the warning went on, worked hard to get to their present status in life.

Emma Agu, a Nigerian singer who will perform at the inaguration and the African Inuagual Ball, has a similar warning, but his act “Obama: The Wind of Change” speaks to the frenzy and excitement which the election has brought: Africans may need to work hard to change their status in life, but winning the election Obama has become the catalyst of change that may have been needed to make this happen. The act, he said, is not a praise song but focuses on how the frenzy of the election swept through the world, and how it can change it. 

“The change that must come to African nations. The change that tells sit tight leaders like Mugabe, and the other tyrants in Gambia, Bukina Faso and whole lot of them that their time is up. The change that we are one nation, one people under the sun. The change that all men are equal,  regardless of who they are,  or where they come from.  

Obama: The wind of Change is my own little way of   using my God’s given talent to contribute to the on-going happiness that has touched the whole world.”

Just like we won’t forget where we were November 4, 2008, none of us will forget where we were in two days either.

“Yes We Can!”

That’s the motto, chant, or whatever you want to call it, of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

And a lot of Africans believe that “Yes, they can!” too … as it shows in songs created by the continent’s musicians.

“Yes, We Can” sounds the same in Luo as it does in English.

Here are some examples:

• Cameroonian ex-pat Fojeba, copied the Black Eyed Peas and splices excerpts from a speech over a Makossa rhythm:
  

• Here’s Ghana’s Blakk Rasta’s “Barak Obama Crunk,” the song mostly warns Obama to mind his safety, because there are racists out there:

• Kenya’s Tony Nyadundo song “Obama”

Oh, and not only is Barack Obama making it into Pan-African music … he’s infiltrating other parts of culture too:

The gap between America’s high-minded rhetoric and its historical, breathtaking insensitivity towards Africans and African-Americans has been a source of disenchantment for millions … Suffice it to say that John Kerry never had a beer named after him, whereas Obama is exalted in every hop and grain in Senator, a frothy and occasionally lethal substance sold cheaply in the slums of Nairobi. And John McCain, Hillary Clinton be damned. They’re already calling it President.