ZHUL-QI’DA 25, 1429 A.H.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2008
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Politics: The ecology of an ‘Obama’ tree
By Abdullah Musa
Much later, when our local political scientists have gone back to sleep, Western political scientists would continue their research into the new Millennium’s phenomenon known as Barack Obama.
What factor or a host of factors that led the US establishment and the citizens to jettison at least for once, all the prejudices that had earlier shaped both the economic and political life of their country? We await the numerous publications which will surely roll off the presses.
If a cripple was watching the Beijing Olympics, he could have been dazzled by the apparently effortless speed of Usain Bolt from Jamaica. If the cripple was so much charged by Bolt’s performance such that he felt motivated to simply bolt out of his wheel chair and make it un-aided across the tracks, then in only a fraction of seconds, it would dawn upon him that unless he is to participate in Para-Olympics, the performance of Bolt is not his to match.
Many non-Americans, particularly Nigerians were highly thrilled by the feat of Obama: a black man winning the Presidency of United States of America! The game of politics, or more appropriately in the Nigerian context, the ‘war’ of politics leaves in its wake many casualties. In the first instance many believe that fair play is sacrificed. Lives are also easily squandered. Many are refused the right to vote by the deliberate acts of thugs on payroll. Many also believe that where they are allowed to vote, their votes are either not counted, or are transferred to the favoured sons. And there are many other ills which only the victims know.
We have witnessed that the Obama success, at least as far as electioneering went, was earned. At some points, Senator McCain was certainly rabid; this is not even taking into consideration the fact that he even distorted facts by trying to paint Obama as a terrorist. At the end it did not pay.
Many were of the opinion that there was really foul play at Florida when George Bush was seeking first term in office. 9/11 donated second term to him. Why was there no Florida this time round?
When we talk of the ecology of an Obama tree, we are trying to capture the biologist’s perspective of what is really required before a planted seed can germinate to blossom to maturity.
We know that seeds hardly germinate on concrete surface, or on barren land. With insects or mammals, ecological balance is a must before survival is assured.
In a nutshell, we cannot uproot an Obama tree from the fertile soil of United States and plant it on the barren soil of Nigeria or Africa, and expect it to give us the fruits of democracy. The civil war that America went through was not without purpose.
That purpose was kept in mind throughout the years taken to consolidate the gains. In Nigeria we have surely forgotten why we fought the civil war, as we still have the secessionists trying to actualize their dreams.
In America the dominant national language is English. I do not know whether Obama speaks the language of his father. However at all his rallies, English must have been the medium used to arouse the people.
In Nigeria, there are areas where you would go to and speak in English with people looking at you without comprehension. How then do you construct the bridge? There are states in the US where Spanish is dominant, but yet the majority understands English.
The democracy of the United States is domiciled in the people. All classes of people believe in it. Democracy is neither for the elite nor for the poor alone. It is for all citizens. Watch carefully, most of the educated class in Nigeria does not attend rallies.
People who consider themselves decent do not also attend rallies. Majority of women also avoid rallies. Fear is the strongest factor that drives people away.
For at rallies in our country, and nay, in many African countries, you may suddenly be a victim of mob action; with women being the most vulnerable.
We can see that empathy with a prospective leader in our set up is very difficult. We rely on radio to keep on churning the dull jingles about water and roads, hospitals and the likes. Ironically, all classes of politicians have failed in the delivery of such services, so why not take up other themes? It was said that there was no way Obama could have won the Presidency on the basis of colour: that it is the turn of black race to rule in a power shift kind of scenario. Obama had to campaign as a fit American, with credentials to meet the challenges of the moment.
Can Obama suddenly become stupendously wealthy after finishing his term of office? This is most unlikely, for their system cannot condone such.
Our own does much more than that; the goal of the power seekers is to enrich themselves and their kinsmen. It is for this reason elections in our land and that of many African countries become a do-or-die affair.
Optimists however are seeing the Obama phenomenon in totally different light. They are of the belief that the central message that comes across is that obstacles can be overcome to have a successful political system that meets international standards. But my question would be: who are the architects of such New deal?
It is nice that one should persevere in the quest of a worthwhile goal. In Nigeria those with prejudices from the First Republic still run the show. They teach their students to think and interpret events in the light of the animosities and the prejudices of the First Republic.
How can you move forward with such shackles on both your mind and feet? Any group that has never produced a President for Nigeria would want to do so in order to pay back for the wrongs done to it. Can you see the “Audacity of Hope” here?
The political aspirations of a General Buhari and the endless scheming of General Babangida, are all part of the military quarrels that these gentlemen had with each other; and Nigerians are thus sucked into vicious circle from which I see no escape. There is no escape in so far as power is made to rotate from North to South on tribe and religion. I do believe that the Obama miracle could not have seen the light of the day were it a reality that he is a Muslim. The baggage could have been too much to handle! America thus enjoys seemingly uniform pillars of societal support: Christianity and Capitalism.
African countries do not enjoy such harmonies. Even where they are all having one religion, the state may not have its goal clearly defined. I hold the opinion that democracy seems not to thrive in countries that are dependant on mineral wealth to fund governments. I have no example that easily comes to mind of a successful democracy that depends either on oil or other mineral as source of government finances.
Much as we dislike accepting it, our intellectual tradition is very shallow. You do not have the likes of Bill Clinton who are strong believers in the intellectual foundation of democracies.
Our democracy employs the services of those who run shrines, marabouts, and other charlatans. That is why when all else fails we hand over the affairs to thugs to settle the scores for us.
We are celebrating in Africa because we do not share with most parts of the world the problem of the economic meltdown that currently threatens the civilized world.
But the fact that we do not share the same type of problems also means that we cannot reap the same type of dividends. Those who consult the shrine for solutions to all their problems cannot produce an Obama to lead them.
Long back someone wrote that you cannot have Western type of development without Western culture. We say that is surely possible. But have we been able to replicate it?
There was a time when I was so irked by the activities of Western NGOs that I even wrote an article: DFID: reveling in Indirect Rule.
This was because of my perception that they enter every aspect of our life and governance in order to align it with theirs. Whether they are succeeding or not is only known to them and their guinea pigs.
Can Obama help Africa? Of course he can. The United States should be interested in Africa just as it is interested in Middle East.
It should spearhead joint infrastructural development of high capital content in railways, power, and agriculture, and so on. It should give support to public education.
It should mobilize international opinion against those with negative minds by educating African citizens to reject such evil.
It should also show sensitivity to the values of others in so far as those values are not destructive to global wellbeing. For the meantime, the Obama tree can only grow in a green house, till it is mature enough to brave the arid and hostile environment.
Musa writes from Kano.
