J. STalwart
If Obama had come to Nigeria, he would have drawn the ire of the Conservative Western Press for posing in photographs with the nation’s politicians. Nigerian oil is a source of world financial market upheaval. Whenever the Ogonis in the Niger Delta confront foreign oil companies to stop them from wreaking continuous havoc on their environment and posterity, the price of oil goes up, the west panics, global stock markets plummet.
Nigeria could not have guaranteed that electricity would be available if Obama had arrived Nigeria. The entire country is a blurb of darkness. Nigeria has as much electricity today as it did 50 years ago. A country without adequate electricity supply is like a man with a weak heart. The heartbeat of any country can be measured by the tensile strength of its power availability.
For a country that could easily be like China but for persistent power paralysis, Obama naturally felt disenchanted at the degree of monumental mismanagement, malfeasance, missed opportunity and squander mania that have plagued and incapacitated the motherland.
Why are there so many indigents in a country as blessed with both human and natural resources as Nigeria? What would Obama have said if he had seen so many children hawking bagged cold water and carrots on the streets? What would he say if he had seen so many beggars crawling on top of cars trapped in endless traffic jam? Even an American president is not prepared to deal with that scenario in the face of global economic recession.
In Nigeria, Obama would have had to confront all these issues and many more instead of just confronting the ghost of slave dungeons in Ghana.
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Obama’s trip to Ghana is a boon to that country and a loss to Nigeria. Countries, especially contiguous and sister countries compete for image, respect, and commerce. His trip to Ghana is an endorsement of her trajectory for maturity and respect for the rule of law. Ghanaians can sure take that gesture to the bank because as a result, there will be more venture capital investment in Ghana and divestment from Nigeria.
His trip to Ghana is also an auspicious sign of America’s endearment towards that country, more so as there have been reports of a newly discovered oil field in Ghana. Soon the West will have a choice to either buy oil from a stable Ghana or an unstable Nigeria.
