"Half of Obama’s heart may be Kenyan, but he is, when all is said and done, a quintessential American original. Given his cosmopolitan outlook, Obama is unquestionably more informed than his recent predecessors, about the poor places of the world, and more sympathetic to the plight of the world’s poor… ""Goodluck Jonathan calls on Barack Obama"
By Okey Ndibe (okeyndibe@gmail.com)
Goodluck Jonathan gets his first strutting experience as “president” next week when he visits the U.S. at the invitation of President Barack Obama. How Jonathan handles himself, and the image he projects, will determine how seriously his American host takes him and the country he runs.
Umaru Yar’Adua set a poor tone when, during a visit at the White House in 2007, he acted like a child let loose in a candy shop. Eyes glimmering, he gushed to President George W. Bush that coming to America was the best day of his life.
It would serve Jonathan to avoid such callow exuberance. He better come properly briefed, and fully prepared, to articulate Nigeria’s take on the topics of discussion.
The two men, and their respective countries, have a large menu of bilateral issues to bite into. There are such issues as oil, terrorism, democracy, trade relations, anti-corruption measures, and Nigeria’s tense – and, it appears, worsening – sectarian divide.
It’s easy, in talking with Obama, to misread his ties to Africa – as the son of a Kenyan father – as an indication of deep sympathy for African causes. Half of Obama’s heart may be Kenyan, but he is, when all is said and done, a quintessential American original. Given his cosmopolitan outlook, Obama is unquestionably more informed than his recent predecessors, about the poor places of the world, and more sympathetic to the plight of the world’s poor.
Even so, his deepest loyalties lie – as they should – with America, and especially with America’s corporate giants, many of them with tentacles in Nigeria. It’s Jonathan’s place to recognize this fact, and to do his best to champion Nigeria’s economic interests as strongly as Obama pushes America’s interests.
Oil is at the center of America’s interest in Nigeria’s vicissitudes. With the rise of anti-American sentiments in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, U.S. authorities have made no secret of wishing to buy more of their crude oil from Nigeria.
That prospect means that the U.S. is attentive to Nigeria’s domestic stresses. There’s little doubt that Washington closely monitors both the deepening militarization of the oil-rich Niger Delta and the incessant outbreaks of religious violence in such places as Jos, Maiduguri, and Bauchi.
America is, in short, invested in easing the pressures that have caused sharp declines in Nigeria’s daily oil output. But Jonathan, who happens to hail from the Niger Delta, ought to convey to Obama that economic justice is key to reducing militancy. The Nigerian state and the oil companies have exploited the resources of the oil-producing delta.
It would be a mistake to imagine that Obama is less than enthusiastic about George Bush’s plan to establish an African Command. Should Obama try to sell the idea, Jonathan ought to unambiguously register Nigeria’s continuing opposition. At the very least, such a command would further undermine the sovereign will of African nations. At worst, it is likely to subordinate African nations, willy-nilly, to American control. Put bluntly, it is a recipe for re-colonization.
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