ChemodanLave
President Barack Obama’s decision to spend America’s Independence Day at Havard was a masterstroke. In a sense, he wanted to go back to his roots and refresh himself for the challenges ahead. The polls showed that 44 per cent of Americans approved while exactly the same percentage disapproved of President Obama. Much of this was the handiwork of Yale University adversaries and detractors of Barack Obama. The President was back in the trenches amongst his own storm-troopers.
He must have digested the message delivered by Frank Schaeffer, a New York Times best selling author: “Not since the days of the rise of fascism in Europe, the Second World War and the Depression has any president faced more adversity. Not since the Civil War has any president led a more bitterly divided country. Not since the introduction of racial integration has any president faced a more consistently short-sighted and willfully ignorant opposition – from both the right and left.
As the president’s poll numbers have fallen so has his support from some on the left that were hailing him as Messiah not long ago; all those lefty websites and commentators that were falling all over themselves on behalf of our first black president during the 2008 election.”
The President coolly announced that he would be convening a special forum on Africa from 3rd to 5th August in Washington D.C. His take on Africans and terrorism was captured by “Daily Trust” newspaper of July 15, 2010.
Headline: OBAMA SLAMS TERRORIST GROUPS. “President Barack Obama yesterday said terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and al-Shabab do not think African life is valuable, President Obama has said in response to the Uganda bombings.” As evidence of the eternal struggle between the police and democracy which Obama has been pushing vigorously in Africa, “Daily Trust” newspaper of July 12, 2010 offered the following teaser.
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Headline: “LIBERIA DEPUTY SPEAKER FREED AFTER POLICE BEATING” “Liberia’s deputy parliamentary speaker has been freed after briefly being held under house arrest for allegedly ordering the beating of a policeman. Police left Togba Mulbah’s home in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, after he wrote an account of what happened. Police said earlier the officer was beaten unconscious after he tried to impound one of Mulbah’s vehicles. Mulbah has not been charged. Police officials said it was the third time he had ordered attacks on police. But Muhbah, a member of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change, denies the allegations. He told the BBC police had raided his house and taken away five people, including his son.” In Nigeria, there is a monumental on-going struggle between democracy and freedom of speech on one hand and kidnapping in the other corner.
• “Nigerian Compass” newspaper (July 12, 2010) Front page headline: “NUJ CHAIR, SECRETARY, FIVE OTHERS ABDUCTED.” •Kidnappers demand N250 million (1 million pounds) ransom.
Even Royal Fathers are not spared. (ii) “ThisDay” newspaper (July 12, 2010) Front page headline: “EMIR OF KANO, ADO BAYERO, ESCAPES ASSASSINATION.” “But for providence, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, would have been killed over the weekend. The traditional ruler escaped assassination last Friday by a lone gunman who attempted to kill him during the Muslim Juma’at prayer in Kano.”
The suspect 19 year-old Usman Abubakar, who lives in the Dorai Quarters in Kano Metropolis, was however, apprehended by the Police before carrying out the act. In Africa, democracy and money are locked in an epic battle for supremacy as evidenced by the following reports: (i) “Nigerian Tribune” newspaper 2nd August 2010
Front page headline: “GOVERNOR’S AIDE HIDES N300 MILLION (TWO MILLION DOLLARS) IN SEPTIC TANK” •Money carted away by gunmen. •It’s a private affair -Government. “Tongues are wagging in Bayelsa State as regards the carting away of over N300 million from the home of an aide to Governor Timipre Sylva by hoodlums. The development has created palpable tension as it came on the heels of similar invasion of residences of prominent politicians in the state in the last three weeks. We also have evidence that in Africa, democracy does not come cheap. “BusinessDay” newspaper 2nd August 2010.
Front page headline: “NIGERIA’S VOTER REGISTRATION IS WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE” •Price tag of N1,292 per voter is ten times more than SIM card registration cost.
