OBAMA in Ghana: Retracing the steps of history

A large crowd gathers at Accra’s international airport in anticipation of the expected visitors. Music, fanfare and excitement fill the air. Among the expectant crowd are dignitaries from all walks of life, the top echelon of society. The president, his vice, their wives, ministers of state, members of parliament, members of the diplomatic corps and the media all wait in anticipation of what promises to be a turning point in the history of Ghana and Africa. Then, sometime after 21:00 hrs GMT, US airforce 1 touches down on the tarmac, takes a short stride on the runway and makes a graceful stop. Emerging a few minutes later is the man that the whole Africa and the world had been waiting for. He emerges from the aircraft, holding in hand a young girl of about 11, flashing his trademark style. Immediately on his heels, emerges a woman, taller than the man before her, who holds to another girl of about 8 years. They all walk down the flight of stairs to where the dignitaries await them. They exchange pleasantries amidst great fanfare, as if they were friends long lost. Next, the man walks over to a group of drummers and dancers, who are fuelling the evening’s excitement with intricate dancing steps and movements to rhythmic, melodious drum beats. Many watch amused as the man begins to gesticulate as if he was doing their dance himself. That man is Barack Hussein Obama, the first black president of the United States of America.

I’ve already done a blog post about Obama’s emergence as a global icon, but the Ghana blogging group, influenced by his visit to the country, decided to make Obama our common topic for July. Since Obama’s inauguration, all will agree with me that Obama has discharged himself excellently as the president of arguably the most powerful nation on the planet. Today’s blog post centres on the significance of Obama’s visit to Ghana and the new direction of US-African relations.

President Obama’s itinerary in Ghana includes a breakfast meeting with the president and senior statesmen, an address to parliament and a short visit to one of Ghana’s relics of slave trade and colonialism, the Cape Coast castle. According to most commentators, Obama’s visit was to highlight the growing importance of Ghana as a centre of democracy, good governance and rule of law, emphasizing its role as the beacon of hope and “shining star” of Africa. Some cynics tag the visit as a reward for Ghana being a “good boy” and an ardent follower the democratic creed as per America.

Whatever Obama’s visit means for you, the occasion gave him the opportunity to spell out America’s new policy direction for the African continent. It is heartwarming to note that America now identifies Africa as a strategic partner in global affairs, rather than the continent being on the fringes of world history and constantly receiving foreign aid and handouts. In his usual engaging, smooth and charismatic style, Obama proposes a four-prong approach of tackling the development needs of deserving African countries: democracy, creation of opportunity, health and conflict resolution. What Africa needs to take from Obama’s speech is his admonition that African development lies in the hands of Africans and not any other group of people, and certainly not the United States of America. We are again reminded that corruption, tribalism, religious intolerance and tyranny have no place in progressive 21^st century societies.

Also, the Obama family’s visit to Ghana and the Cape Coast castle in particular provided moments of reflection on racial interactions through the course of history. The fact that Obama’s father, a respected elder in his tribal community was just a houseboy in a British colonial officer’s house; the fact that the ancestors of Michelle Obama were slaves on America’s farms; the fact that a church was right on top of the male dungeon in the Cape Coast castle; and the fact that the African continent had been the playground post-world war II cold war powers; highlights the indignity that Africans and black people had suffered in the hands of history. When all those sad events are contrasted with the glory that has been achieved by man since then: Kwame Nkrumah’s successful independence struggle, Nelson Mandela’s demolition of apartheid, Kofi Anan’s leadership of the UN and a black family in the white house, one can’t help but be grateful for the fulfillment of the messianic visions of black leaders like Marcus Garvey, M.L. King and Kwame Nkrumah.

From all indications, the relationship between Africa and the United States would further be strengthened in years to come. What the continent’s leaders need to do is to strategically churn out homegrown solutions to the continents problems and take full advantage of programs put forth by the Obama leadership. Young people in Africa need to continually believe in the emergence of the African renaissance, and make patriotism, hard work, vision and imagination their watch words. Even Obama is watching what we are doing in Africa. Did you catch him mention Anas Aremeyaw Anas, that daring investigative journalist in his speech? YES WE CAN! Please don’t forget to keep your comments on Obama’s visit coming.

I hear there are Obama parties going on in Accra, Cape Coast and cities all over Ghana, and the official song is sure to be this cracker from Blakk Rasta: