Why Obama Chose Ghana...Ahead of July 10th

It should be no surprise that Obama chose Ghana for his first trip as U.S President to Sub-Saharan Africa. What seems more of a surprise is the supposed outrage coming out of nations such as Kenya and Nigeria, or even South Africa. The populist rants on facebook and other social networking spaces makes me feel nauseated, "what's so great about Ghana? Nigeria is after all the most popular nation in Africa and guess what we have oil," or " how can he betray Kenya, his father was born here, are we no longer good for him" seems to be the order of the month. But wait what makes Ghana any less worthy than Kenya or Nigeria? We are seriously missing the point (as usual we (Africans) love to criticise and very rarely sit, scratch our heads in view of the context within which we "doth protest.")

First of all Kenya has become an embarrassment, a shame really, this is not personal it is all politics. Kenya was once the pride of Africa, now it is its laughing stock. Do women really need to restrict sex as a last hope for political action? You know your case is hopeless when even this last desperate attempt does not work. In a world where a politician can claim a suit against his wife for denying him sex all that can be said is that "they really do not get it." South Africa with Zuma’s elections and rising violence does not ring a hopeful tune in the ears of the man whose campaign slogan was that of HOPE. As for Nigeria, let me not even go there...I will however, discuss why it is more than fitting for the US president to visit a nation like Ghana...Yes I will dare to defend this decision.

The small nation of Ghana (barely the size of Oregon), since independence has been the gateway to Africa. Ghana's African record setting has been unmatched, since the fateful day of March 6 1957, Ghana has given Africa many gifts including Nkrumah, who introduced and spent his life promoting the novel idea of Pan-Africanism. Ghana powered West Africa with the first Dam of its kind. The very name Ghana (Warrior King), embodies historical prowess. The engraved sense of self-determination won us our independence from our European counterparts (the first Sub-Saharan African nation to do so). Yet it is not only Ghana's history which makes it so unique, nor what sets it apart for the honour of being the first nation to be visited by the first Black African United States president. It is Ghana's future, it is the will of the people to always be in charge of their future which makes Ghana ripe for such a visit, the need to defile any such myths that African's cannot be lovers of peace and democracy is what lies at the heart of Ghana's future.

Now the cynics would say "ahh but guess what Ghana just discovered oil, so it is no surprise that Obama chose to visit Ghana." BUT why have we come to look at natural resources with such disdain? Obama surely has the interest of the United States in mind on his trip to Ghana (as he should, after all he is US president), but so long as the Ghanaian leadership have the interest of Ghana at heart, any such agreement with the US should be for the sole reason of elevating Ghana to the status of an equal world partner, not one dependent on handouts from foreign governments and certainly not one to be hung on a string ready for manoeuvring. If Obama wanted an oil producing country where he can gain access to hundreds of barrels of oil for a cheap price negotiated secretly inspite of its countries interests, Ghana surely would not have been first stop (we are forgetting a country two borders away from Ghana where such a transaction is the order of the day). No offense, but this cynical approach to international relations is frankly narrow-headed and extremely disrespectful to Ghana, because at its heart lies the premise that Ghana would surely not be receiving such a visit were it not for its oil find, this is absurd!

Obama's trip will seek to mix the past with the future, he will come to represent his African American brothers and sisters whose ancestors were brutally removed from the continent centuries ago....encapsulated by the planned visit to the Cape Coast Castle a historical fortress which marked the biggest passage ways for the Atlantic Slave trade. The Irony, however, is that Obama's history is that linked to Kenya, his ancestors were not slaves, but this experience in a way would be a time of reflection and a chance to gain more of an insight into the history of the people who made his election a reality.

So finally why Ghana? Because Ghana is Africa in every way, Ghana is its history, and Ghana is Africa's future, Ghana is where others should be and the story of Ghana is the story of the Africa very rarely published in world news. Obama's visit should be a point of pride for every African because the optimism of Ghana will show that a new Africa has arrived and will be here to stay.