"Yes we can" and they have. Certainly the election of Barack
Obama is historical. Yes he is likely to initiate changes, as obviously his
being President, at the very least, symbolises this. However, we collectively need to lower our
unrealistically high expectations of
him because he will work within a system that has many challenges, some
obvious and many subtle. If he can focus, as he has pledged, on American education then he will have
laid the seeds for America's future prosperity and survival.
Barack Obama certainly brings a level of constructive intellect, creativity,
global goodwill and energy to leadership in the USA
that has been missing for several years. As an African, I find Barak Obama's
victory, while extremely well deserved, bitter sweet because while we rejoice
that YES WE CAN, it is sad that apparently in Africa it see that NO WE CANNOT,
at least not yet. Not that we cannot, as such, but we won't have the opportunity to, at least not likely in this generation. The seeds of today
were planted years ago, probably in the late 50's and early 60's. Barak Obama
was born in 1961 but more importantly that was approximately the middle of the
modern period of the struggle for the political and social emancipation of the
African-American, the antiapartheid struggle and the political (not economic)
independence of African nations. Clearly, Nigeria
and much of Africa
are NOT effectively planting seeds now for tomorrow, or what we are planting is
troubling to say the least. As the ancient Chinese proverb says, "If you are
planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees;
if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people." Today, we must educate our people and leverage
on global tools such as Information Communication Technologies to foster the
requisite education for all people at all levels regardless of background, age,
sex, physical and mental characteristics, creed, tribe, religion, status,
income or any other social divide. Today, our competition is no longer local
but global, and our core limiting factors are ourselves, our education and the
opportunities we create. Can an African child of humble means be empowered to
attend the BestUniversity
in Africa?
Assuming of course you believe that the best African Universities are globally
competitive. Can that African child be empowered to rise to a level in the
political sphere where they canrealistically aspire to greatness in Africa?
Will the African political machinery give them an opportunity to articulate and
express their possibilities? Will the
African general electorate receive the message
of someone who is "not like them", especially if that person is not from
their ethno-cultural group. Arguably people like Nelson Mandela and the like
have demonstrated that in principle "Yes we can." We should remain hopeful that
it is potentially possible for this to happen. However, the price/ hurdles are
still very high and that there is still a long way to go. Our current political
circumstances, however, remain disappointing. As Africans we ask, will our
leaders at all levels truly learn from Barak Obama victory? Not likely. Will they
try to superficially "ape" him? Probably. Will our leaders change and change
our circumstances, for the better? Not anytime soon. This is the bitter pill we
are swallowing. While a few of our leaders may themselves, or enable others
who, have the basic intellect to deliver on a Barak Obama like potential we are
yet to be convinced that any of them have the attitude, or can create the
opportunities, to do so. Thus, while, we remain convinced that the rest of Africa "can",
and WE MUST, change for the better.
Realistically, I suspect it will be later rather than sooner. To do this we
must invest in knowledge and the requisite information tools infrastructure,
processes, methodologies and attitudes. As people of the so-called developing
world, and assuming that the generation to which I and maybe you belong to,
have "missed the boat" we must still make the requisite investments for our
children and those yet unborn - our posterity. So as we congratulate Mr.
President elect, and the people of the USA
for having the opportunity to make a
choice and making for what we consider the appropriate choice, we can only
watch wistfully as they do so, and continue to work towards the day when we,
and our children, can do likewise.
