The Significance of Obama’s Election to Nigeria (II)

Indeed, no drama, in consonance with Obama’s supplemented theme for his campaign of Change and Hope. One can only best quote Robin Renee Sanders, (black) Ambassador of the US to Nigeria, when in a November 4 press release, she wrote in Abuja that:

QUOTE: Democracy works for the people. A democratic system ensures our governments serve us. Democracy educates our children, cares for our sick, and ensures the common wealth and security of our nations. Democracy works because it gives ordinary citizens control over their government through the power of their vote. As a citizen, casting your vote serves as your voice on issues and policies important to you. American’s democracy reflects our own unique history and traditions, as it does in other democracies around the world. In Nigeria too, democracy should respect the traditions of the Nigerian people, while honoring and reflecting the will of the Nigerian people through free, fair, transparent and orderly elections which allow for the peaceful transition from one elected government to the next. All democracies, however, should rest on key fundamental principles which most notably are freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly.

Well functioning democracies share common characteristics: free and fair elections, respect for the rule of law, open and transparent institutions of government, and effective measures to combat public and private corruption and illicit enrichment by any member of government. Those in the past who have done so should face the rule of law. Strong democracies meet the needs of their people. They invest in their people through education and health care; they ensure economic opportunity for all; and they create an environment of peace and security in which each individual can thrive. UNQUOTE

Enough said.

THE ETHNIC DIMENSION
There are four ethnic groups in America’s social fabric – White, Black, Hispanic/Latino and All Others (which include Asian and Native American populations). According to the Census Bureau, in 2000 (the last census), Whites constitute 69.1%, Blacks 12.1%, Hispanic/Latino 12.5% and All Others 6.3%. The percentage of the White Majority, particularly of the voting electorate, has been decreasing over the years. Obama’s winning coalition therefore had to cut across all ethnic groups, and particularly the young White folks many of who were voting for the first time, and do not have the ethnic inhibitions of their older generation. The Obama-Biden team was so vastly superior to the McCain-Palin team that the United States would have earned global opprobrium if Obama had lost, for it would have been assigned to simple racism.

While at one level, there are as many as 378 ethno-linguistic groupings in Nigeria, there are also four ethnic groupings – Hausa-Fulani (29%) , Yoruba (21%), Igbo (18%), and Ethnic Minorities (32%, comprised of Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Tiv, etc ). The absence of an outrightly dominating ethnic group, the sheer size of the so-called ethnic minorities, and the geographical, cultural and religious identifications of the various groups, the lack of political-party ideologies - as well as historical and colonial legacies - clearly complicate Nigeria’s political life more than that of the USA. Nevertheless, the emergence of an ethnic minority such as Obama in a truly federal system such as the United States is a good harbinger for Nigeria and many countries in Africa – such as his own native Kenya where a winning Luo was recently denied the presidency through a stolen election - if the proper lessons can be learnt.

WHAT OBAMA’S ELECTION IS NOT TO NIGERIA AND AFRICA
Finally, Obama as president of the United States of America beginning January 20, 2008, will become arguably the most POWERFUL Black Man ever in the history of the world, as Prof. Ali Mazrui succinctly put it in a recent interview, atop the most powerful country economically and defense-wise. However, he will still just be president of the US, not of Nigeria, not of Africa, and not of the world, and his primary constituency will still be those who voted for him. Nevertheless, while there are members of the Nigerian and African Diaspora who are tax-paying citizens of the US and daily contribute to its ecumene, it will remain incumbent upon us to ensure that American foreign policy towards Africa in trade, aid, immigration and other matters becomes more enlightened and mutually beneficial, and that Obama use his good offices to be a bully pulpit to the political leaders of the continent of his father to stop their rapacious attitudes and tend more to the developmental needs of their people. So it is not yet Uhuru, but we may be closer with the election of Obama.

The Significance of Obama’s Election to Nigeria and its diaspora

INTRODUCTION

On November 4, 2008, a remarkable event occurred in the United States of America: a Kenyan-African-American named Barack Hussein Obama, aged 47, Federal Senator from the State of Illinois, was elected to be the 44th President of the USA in its 56th presidential election since George Washington was first elected in 1789. He is the first African-American so honored, and the second Illinois legislator ever to be elected president [after Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)].

This was a keenly-fought contest against white Senator John McCain from Arizona, war hero with a military family pedigree. Needing only 270 Electoral Votes to clinch the position, the result was a big national mandate for Obama: 64,975,682 million popular votes (or 53%) and 364 Electoral Votes for Obama to 57,118,380 million (46%) popular votes and 174 Electoral Votes for McCain. The Democratic candidate Obama won the highest votes EVER recorded by ANY president of the United States, winning in states like Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Colorado and Nevada that were considered too Republican for a generation now to attempt a win. He competed well in many other states even where he lost the popular vote, winning almost every demographic imaginable. To this writer, a Nigerian immigrant with five children all born in the United State, who has lived in the United States continuously since December 1978, who has now witnessed the last eight US presidential contests, who voted in last four of them, who actively participated in some little way in this year’s contest, and teaches in a historically black college (Howard University) right in the heart of the nation’s capital where one almost sees the Capitol and the White House on a daily basis, the outcome is of immense socio-cultural and political implications, both to Nigerian/African immigrants as well as to Nigeria/Africa.

OUR CHILDREN CAN ASPIRE WITHOUT NAME AMPUTATION OR ABANDONMENT...

Raised by his white mother and grandparents, and for a time living with an Asian step-father, Barack’s life trajectory is a remarkable one. His Black father may not have been with him all his life, but he (Obama Junior) knew where his father was from (Kenya), even his ethnic group (Luo) and visited with his extended family in Kenya. Yet he was American enough to love his country of birth, participate fully as a citizen and now attain its presidency WITHOUT changing his name to fit the majority White-Anglo-Saxon orthodoxy. Although he went by “Barry” for a while, a cultural epiphany made him to change back to his original “Barack” (for “thunder” in Hebrew but “blessed one” in Arabic/Swahili) – not “That One” as he recently joked in backhand reference to .

Obama joked throughout his campaign that whoever gave him his names obviously never thought that he should aspire to become the president of the United States of America. But we can all look at him now, and tell our children born in the US that provided you live a clean life, go to the best schools that you possibly can, do the best in school that you possibly can, even possibly become a mere community organizer somewhere before beginning your political career ANYWHERE in the United States – and along the way possibly marry a beautiful or handsome African(-America) spouse and loving partner - you too can become a legislator (state or federal), a governor of a state – or the President of the United States of America, WITHOUT amputating your family-given first and/or last name out of recognition.

OUR COUNTRY CAN LEARN (ONCE AGAIN) FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS OF FREE, FAIR AND CREDIBLE ELECTIONS…

Participatory democracy is a desideratum for any country that wishes to develop socially and politically, and free, fair and periodic elections are a grund-norm for such a democracy. Although the United States unilaterally declared its Independence from Great Britain in July 1776, it did not become an operational (con)federal government with a ratified Constitution until March/April 1789, whereupon it elected its first president in George Washington who took office on April 30, 1789.

There have been periodic four-year terms for the presidents ever since each begun with an election - exactly fifty-six of them including Barak Obama’s. Ever since, no military coups, nothing…..unlike Nigeria where we have had more than dozen successful and failed coup attempts since Independence in 1960. One sincerely hopes that one has seen the last of military coups in Nigeria – the last successful one against an elected government was against President Shehu Shagari by Mohammed Buhari in December 1983, and the last successful one against a military regime was against Buhari himself by Ibrahim Babangida in August 1985. [Abacha’s coup of sorts of November 1993 was against a transition civilian government of Shonekan following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.] In Obama’s election, no election-related violence, nothing…in eighteen months of a tough primary contest within each of the two main parties (Democrats and Republicans), and about four months of the general contest between Obama and McCain, to the best of the knowledge of this author, no one was knifed or gunned to death specifically over the campaign. Even the hint of an assassination attempt against Obama by a deranged pair of Neo-Nazis was quickly squelched.

In Obama’s election, no rigging, nothing…..For the first time, as many as thirty-four states out of the fifty and the District of Columbia in the US permitted early voting (distinct from absentee voting) in this year’s presidential election, with 31.7 million people out of the total of 124 million people that voted. There were fifteen candidates by the way, not just Obama and McCain. The various states had various closing times since America has different time zones, with each STATE secretary being in charge of their elections – no central INEC, no Maurice Iwu. By 10 pm EST, on November 4 election day proper, the election had been called by the TV networks; within an hour, Senator John McCain had conceded and sent his congratulatory message; soon after Senator Barack Obama had given his victory speech; and to cap it off, President Bush also sent his congratulatory message and pledge to ensure a smooth transition between now and Inauguration Day January 20, 2009.

To be continued...

Author: Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD

Money!

Money you are a bat
The pilot of all good and bad
To love you is evil, to hate you penury
Sure, man cannot avoid you
I pity him whom you drive
He who has no grip on you
His wife sure is another man’s
On his chicks, let him sign a waiver
Let him learn in society
To maintain the golden rule of silence
Because no good idea can ever
From a poverty-soaked mouth emanate
Let him not at all worry
His peers who for this bird called money
Have found a cage will unbiased decide
What daily of him becomes
And as far as he can gather enough strength
To cheerfully hail, “baba o!”
Why, the crumbs is sure.

(c)Femi Olatunji 2004

Note: Use of this work without permission from the original owner is a violation of copyright law

Yes YOU Can!

Success they say has many kinsmen. I daresay success is a relative word and apart from mere identifying with the electoral success of America's 44th president, the first African American to be nominated for President by a major U.S. political party, the first black occupier of the white house, I would like to dwell more on a very important issue which most black boys may be missing out. There's a leaf that needs to be borrowed from this man of history (I hope the leaf goes round. Lol!) I was just wondering if african boys and progressives saw the qualities, values and success nuggets which this great man has exuded - the result of which has re-written the history of America and world politics. I wonder if the brightest of prophets in Nyanza provice in far away Nyang'oma Kogelo ever dreamt that such a phenomenon could come out of their loins. I guess they never saw or imagined this star lingered in their sky.

Riding on my line of thought above, I refuse to subscribe to the sentiment of most people of colour who wanted Obama as America's president on the basis of his skin colour. Just like most people around the world, I was discussing and analysing Mr Obama's electoral success with a dear friend earlier today and as is characteristic of him, he made a comment which I think should be a food for thought for every young black guy (and anyone who aspires to achieve greatness in any area in life). The UK government statistics indicates that black boys are more ill-behaved and violent compared to their white counterparts in the UK. And that is because they lack role models.

According to my friend this afternoon, "...apart from the campaign strategies and politicking behind obama's victory as president-elect of the United States, the important lesson to learn from this experience is that this young man could only contemplate the highly exalted office because he discovered himself and (my own addition) did not limit his vision..." He got so much support from the people because he was clear about his vision and he communicated it very clearly to Americans and the whole world. Mr Obama had obvious limitations and more than enough reasons to stop him from even contemplating a senatorial seat in his Illinois not to talk os the US number one seat and arguably most difficult office in the world. But his ability to see beyond these barriers was what I believe, fuelled his passion, enthusiasm and resilience in the last 21 months and this same spirit I have no doubt, is able to see him through the most challenging experience of his life which he is about to embark on in the next 77 days.

To put Obama's clarity of vision in undertaking this mission in perspective, please read the transcript of his "Victory speech" delivered on Wednesday 05 November 2005, 05:24 GMT below;

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference. It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America. I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead. I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure. To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you. I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there. There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can. A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.