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

To serve Nigeria is not by force

I pledge to Nigeria MY country
To be faithful Loyal and Honest
To serve Nigeria with ALL my strength
To defend her unity
And uphold her honour and glory
So help me God

As a little boy, I heard that when every American wakes up in the morning, the first thing they say is “God bless America” Because of this I always wondered how much they must love their country. I even attributed that to the success of the nation as world leader and police.

I have never been to America and recent happenings that we read in the tabloids and see in the news may tempt one to assume that there may be a bit of exaggeration in the above truism. Nevertheless, the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, the obsession to de-arm Iran, the fight for “the right candidate” to succeed President Bush all point to one common interest in America – Americans will always put the interest of America first in anything they do. Although American presidents would argue that they are trying to protect the world against these tyrants, Iran, Iraq or the Taliban will remain priority on any American president’s agenda as long as they pose themselves as threat to America.

Considering the foregoing, it saddened my heart when one of our “celebrities” in Nigeria released an “anthem” a few years ago - “Nigeria jagajaga”. Unfortunately for the rascal, he released the song during Obasanjo’s regime and I love Obasanjo’s response to the song. Charity they say begins at home, it therefore did not come to me as a surprise when a few months ago, I met a young man who had no single positive thing to say about his fatherland. I visited one of the electricity generating stations in the UK with some undergraduates from my place of work. The undergraduate who received us at that station turned out to be another undergraduate, a Nigerian whose father works at NEPA (Now Power Holding Company of Nigeria). I’m not sure what Mr Akande’s motive was that day, whether he was trying to gain the approval of the white folks in my company or he was trying to prove his level of intelligence (he strikes me as a pompous empty barrel), I am not really sure to be honest. He went on to boast about how he received a delegate of “top NEPA officials” the previous week. His father was among the delegates.

Mr. Akande was supposed to make a presentation, giving us information about their station’s mode operation and the reasons for its uniqueness (Combined Heat and gas). Instead of going to the business of the day, he went on telling us how horrible Nigeria and the Nigerian system are. At some point, I had to speak up to correct some of his misconceptions and misinformation which he was dishing out to the audience of which two of us were Nigerians. After arguing with him for a few minutes, I realised his level of reasoning and intellect and immediately let sleeping dogs lie. But I made my point. Nigeria is bad. We all made it what it is today (you may say you’re not one of them but trust me, we all are responsible). At the end of his presentation (eventually), one of the delegates that went with me remarked; “that was the most unprofessional presentation I have listened to” The Nigerian argument apart, it was a shoddy presentation, I felt ashamed. My team unanimously agreed that the time spent at Connah’s Quay that day was a wasted time.

Still on the issue of loyalty and patriotism, I stumbled on a TV program tonight (18 June). It was an AIT show. Unfortunately, the program for on schedule was different from what AIT broadcasted, so I didn’t get the exact title of the program on screen. But the segment of the program which I stumbled on was when the presenter conducted a random interview of some Nigerian Hip Hop “stars”, asking them to recite the national pledge. Out of about thirteen “stars”, only three could recite the national pledge correctly. To tell how bad the situation is, out of the three successes, the second success (Slam) missed “honour” in the 2nd to the last line. The most pathetic part of the story is that they ALL laughed about it and some of them shamelessly said “don’t blame me”. For crying out loud, if they went to school, we all recited the national pledge for at least 11 years of our growing up life! Perhaps stardom has eaten that bit of their memories.

Commitment to Nigeria and its growth starts from little things as knowing your national anthem and pledge correctly. It is like your religious mantras which you recite every morning or night. This reinforces your faith in whatever you believe in.

I have been in company of people in the past who sarcastically recite a portion of the national pledge as “to serve Nigeria is not by force” if you ask me, it is the same attitude with which such persons would handle any national issue if committed into their hands. I used to do the same in ignorance. But that was then. Now I know better. I know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth thus speaks and as a man thinks in his heart so is he. The things which we utter out of our mouths or wish for are those things which we see manifest in our day to day life. Yet in ignorance, we blame it on our leaders. A nation that is great is made of patriotic citizens. It is patriotism that will drive out the canker worm of selfishness which is the bedrock of corruption and all its consequences in today’s Nigeria.

I pledge to Nigeria MY country
To be faithful Loyal and Honest
To serve Nigeria with ALL my strength
To defend her unity
And uphold her honour and glory
So help me God

So help me God

God bless Nigeria