Nigeria's Lessons From Obama at 54: Hope, Democracy, Tribalism and Identity Crisis.

Today, Like every other day of the year like this, we citizens of this great country, Nigeria, the largest black nation in all the earth celebrate our independence from the British colony, but have that long time ago freedom since October first 1960 actually been a solution to multi-hydra headed problem bewailing our nation especially from the socio-political, cultural war front?

The Obama Point of View:

Curled from Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu.
Nigeria has a lot to learn from Obama's politics of hope as against fear which the Republican Party and some in the Democratic Party introduced and exploited during the presidential race. The Theophilus Danjuma's, Reuben Abati's, Ibrahim Babangida's, the North and the crowd of Nigerian army civil war officers amongst others has since the end of the Nigeria-Biafra war thrived on the politics of fear, which has increasingly led to the exclusion of certain groups in both the political and infrastructural spheres, while enthroning mediocre and ethno-religious bigots. This has in turn necessitated the proliferation of self determination groups and widened the schism within an already fragile nation. When Americans were confronted with the choice between hope and fear, they chose hope. Obama's triumph in his message of hope is a lesson for the Nigerian masses who continue to be misled by the incompetent and crassly corrupt ethnic merchants, who thrive on the politics of fear as a convenient ploy to continue their strangle hold of misrule and monumental corruption.

Tribalism:

Nigeria's tribalism and ethnic hatred has been put to shame by the civilization manifested by White Americans who voted to put Barack Obama in the White House. African Americans make-up only 12% of the population, and Obama's presidency would have been impossible without the White vote. American voters disregarded race and chose merit over petty racism. In Nigeria's case tribalism as sponsored and promoted by the Reuben Abati's and his co. travellers has continued to exclude credible visionary candidates who could possibly transform Nigeria on ethnic grounds. The logic is simple enough; the benefits of good leadership touches everyone irrespective of race or ethnicity, while the perils of bad leadership likewise affects everyone irrespective of race or ethnicity. For most Nigerians resident abroad, the primary reason of residence is to benefit from the good social and economic systems in those countries and not the race or ethnicity of the people who make up such nations. If we can be contented to live in foreign climes without regards to the race of the leaders, Nigerians must as part of the lessons from the Obama experience learn to let merit come before ethnicity, this will in turn, make possible the emergence of credible leaders capable of transforming the nation.

Democracy:

America's free and fair democratic process which permitted the likes of Barack Obama to emerge the president in spite of his race is a remarkable lesson for nations like Nigeria where fraud, ethnicity and rigging of elections has since independence characterised the electoral process. It is remarkable that in over 200 years, America has continued to enjoy an absolutely functional democratic process that has over the centuries permitted the people to elect their leaders without interference, manipulation or fraud. Such transparency has evidently contributed in no small measure to the success story America represents in every field of political, technological and economic walk of life. Had Barack Obama been a Nigerian, the fraudulent electoral system would have both on the grounds of ethnicity and merit rigged him out of the process. The failure of Nigeria's democratic process has kept the nation on the sure path to self destruction. Nigeria must learn from the Obama experience and American democracy by instituting a functional free and fair democratic process, if the nation can stand any chance of survival in the long term.

Identity Crisis:

The famous Roman Catholic, Saint Francis de sales (1567-1622) once said in a famous quote, "be who you are and be that well." In other words he wanted people to be as original as possible.

The Obama phenomenon presents a lot of lessons for people and nations willing to learn from his unique experience in several areas. Identity crisis is a problem which plagues many in Nigeria. It is a topic I usually prefer to ignore, as I realise that victims of a conflict of identity bears the brunt and burden of their conflicted persona, however the Obama experience presents an opportunity to help those who may suffer such isolations of a conflicted identity with a better way forward.

Ordinarily, Barrack Obama who has a White mother had every reason to deny or subdue his Black identity in a nation like the United States of America where Blacks were once slaves, and where they have continued to face discrimination through several generations. Another grim disadvantage is the population of Blacks which is only 12% while Whites make up 67% of the population. In a democracy, the majority wins, and since Whites are an overwhelming majority, the assumption that only Whites can possibly win the White house could have made Obama to subdue his Blackness and give more emphasis on his White mother and White roots.

The lesson here is that in spite of all the obvious advantages of being White and disadvantages of Being Black, Obama choose to remain original and true to his black identity while at the same time never denying his White roots from his mother. In the end, his originality attracted the respect of both Whites and Blacks whose votes secured his victory to the White house. Nigerians who suffer from a conflicted identity, most of which are for political reasons and ignorance should learn from Obama's triumph in originality.

Comrade Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu

Email:lawrencenwobu@yahoo.com