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OLD TIES IN NEW TIMES:NIGERIA AND THE NEXT USA ADMINISTRATION
Being Remarks by Ojo Maduekwe, CFR, An opportunity by a Nigerian government official to share the vision of his country with a distinguished audience in the most powerful nation in history is an experience that has been entrenched in the tradition of continuously excellent relations between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Nigeria even before Independence in 1960. Such an experience is even to be more treasured when it is on the heels of the epoch-making event of the Idea of America attaining unprecedented affirmation and celebration in the election of the first African-American, a post racial African- American, the “Tiger Wood of American Politics” as President of the country of Abraham Lincoln.
The prospects of a more perfect American Union which is truly the best gift to a turbulent world in the first decade of the 21st Century, is the real significance of Senator Barack Obama’s historic election. That election validates President Lyndon Johnson’s observation on March 15, 1964 just before the passage of the Civil Rights Act, that, “at times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom.” Nigeria salutes America for this breakthrough. America in the unassailable words of Fareed Zakaria, is creating the first universal nation, made up of all colours, races and creeds, living and working together in considerable harmony, a place where people all over the world can work, mingle, mix, and share in a common dream, and a common destiny, a place where openness has made it possible to respond quickly and flexibly to new economic times, to manage change and diversity with remarkable ease, and to push forward the boundaries of individual freedom and autonomy. For us, in Africa, this is the real essence of Obama’s election. It goes beyond having someone of our race in the White House. It is about the inclusiveness of participatory democracy, the elegance of a peaceful transfer of power, the invigorating ethic of freedom of expression, the sanctity of the rule of law, respect for minorities, the nurturing of an opportunity society, and the capacity of a nation to continue to re-invent itself. It is about the American Dream being experienced by all God’s children. Beyond the song and dance in Mother Africa to celebrate this awesome development is a sober, adult realisation that we the continent’s political elite are soon running out of excuses for failure; that the principle of merit and fair play that produced the son of a Kenyan father to be the President of America should also be possible in Africa; and that Nigeria, by reason of demography, geography, history, culture and an Afro-centric foreign policy culture, has a special responsibility here. I stand here in this land of the brave and the free, to affirm that the administration of President Yar’Adua whose felicitations I bring to this audience, is determined to provide exactly that leadership. We have no choice. And we cannot afford to fail.
The meaning of my being here in Atlanta, the home of Dr. Martin Luther King, the Moses that brought things to Canaan’s Edge, cannot be lost on one. It was here that it all started. When I worship on Sunday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, it will be a pilgrimage and an appreciation of how its one time pastor’s prayer for a time when a man shall be judged by the content of his character and not by the colour of his skin, has been answered in the life time of all of us here in this audience today.
Nigeria-US Ties before the Barack Obama Era Since then, Nigeria-US relations have been excellent, cordial and mutually beneficial. It is noteworthy that, consistent with his promise of better relationship with Africa, President John F. Kennedy received the Nigerian Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, at the White House on July 24, 1961, within barely six months in office, and was given the rare honour of addressing a Joint Session of Congress during the visit.
The United States Trade and Development Agency On the other hand is the factor of people to people relationship. From a demographic perspective, for instance, while Nigeria is the most populous black nation, the United States has the biggest black population outside of Africa. This factor influences decision making at times. Many Nigerians have keen interest in studying in the United States. Indeed, our first President was an alumnus of Lincoln University and University of Pennsylvania. The United States currently plays host to a substantial Nigerian Diaspora. Inter-university collaboration and cooperation, especially in terms of exchange of scholars and technical assistance, has not been insignificant. Going by the UN conservative estimates, there are 22,000 highly qualified Nigerian medical doctors in the United States, excluding pharmacists, nurses and other Nigerian health personnel. As noted by Ambassador Andrew Young, former US Special Representative to the UN and one time Mayor of Atlanta, Nigerians represent the second most educated immigrants among the Diaspora in the United States. In general, it can be rightly said that the relationship between and among Nigerian and American people has not only been cordial but has also, in no small measure, complemented government-to-government relations that has transcended political, military, economic, technical, immigration and cultural cooperation at various levels.
Challenges in the Relationship Nigeria-US Ties under the Obama Administration Political and economic relationship between Nigeria and the United States received some boost under both the Clinton and Bush administration. But the gap between the promise and potential is still wide. On economic issues, the United States’ interest seems to be limited to the extractive petroleum industry in Nigeria. American investors have been reluctant to invest in other sectors that can add value to the economy and create jobs. Total US investments in Nigeria currently stand at US$ 18 billion and they are basically in the oil sector. Oil is the main commodity imported from Nigeria while Nigeria has remained the fifth largest importer of US wheat. So, under the Barack Obama dispensation, we expect political and economic relationships should be up-graded to a level more reflective of what both countries can offer. Nigeria is more than oil and gas. With a market of over 140 million, it has a highly gifted, reasonably well-trained work force that can leapfrog incomes in ICT, Agriculture and Tourism. Another area of needed cooperation that has not attracted much attention in Nigeria’s relationship with the United States is the development of infrastructure. A Big Infrastructure Push in Nigeria will create jobs in the two economies, a shot in the arm so useful at a time of widening global recession. For instance, the United States can facilitate the execution of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s 7-point Development Agenda, especially its Vision 20: 2020 which is geared towards making good Goldman Sach’s prediction that Nigeria could be one of the leading twenty economies in the world by the year 2020. The 7-point Agenda is aimed at addressing the problem of power and energy, security as a critical infrastructure, employment generation and wealth creation, developing capacity for mass movement of goods and people, addressing the challenges of the education sector, and restoring credibility to the electoral system, as well as resolving permanently the crisis in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Given the vast natural resources of Nigeria and US capital and technological endowments, there are opportunities for expanded trade and investments in agriculture, development of infrastructure, including power and energy, transportation and human capital development. The facilitation of these programmes cannot but be most welcome. The anti-corruption agenda of the Umaru Yar’Adua administration has been designed to enhance its sustainability through a closer adherence to constitutionality and rule of law. The Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is, indeed, maturing even while it grapples with the unavoidable challenges of a transition and institutional capacity building. The United States has provided assistance in the anti-corruption drive of the EFCC but will still need to do more. A Special Partnership with United States is further informed by an undeniable reality: the wellbeing and security of America is tied to that of the whole world. In this regard, it should be of interest that Nigeria is geo-politically located at the gateway to the West and Central African regions. Located between Benin Republic and Cameroon and the strategic Gulf of Guinea, that is a clear alternative to the volatility of Middle East energy supply. Covering an area of 356,000 square miles, Nigeria is in the neighbourhood of the North Atlantic and is about the same size of California, Utah and Nevada combined. Thus, a partnership with us that recognises equality and the dignity of each, a partnership that opens all the gates to Africa, a partnership that can serve as a catalyst in the integration of African economy into the world economy, as well as enhance political stability, peace and security in Africa, a partnership that can strengthen civil society and a growing culture of democracy, as well as accelerate poverty alleviation, and, in fact, a partnership that is marked by mutual respect and synergy – that can be a model for a more integrated world in which the boundaries between rich and poor nations do not harden into a new form of apartheid. The Nigerian economy is the second largest in the whole of Africa and is also larger than all the economies of the other 14 Member States of the ECOWAS put together. This clearly suggests that Nigeria has the capacity to positively influence national, regional and global developments. Even with our challenges and problems associated with nation building, Nigeria is growing steadily on the benchmarks of good governance, the rule of law, respect for fundamental human rights and free enterprise. While we cannot be completely immune to the current global financial crisis, Meryll Lynch has declared Nigeria one of the least vulnerable economies in the world for investment. This conducive investment environment has been helped by a bank consolidation exercise that was prescient, by foreign debt cancellation and by a growing modern Stock Exchange. In light of the foregoing, there is a compelling logic for the development of stronger ties between Africa and the United States, on the one hand, and between Nigeria and the United States, on the other. Considering the geo-strategic location of Nigeria, rich human and material resources, an investment environment that has been made friendlier, as well as the new wind of change that is blowing across the world with a new message of hope and a can-do spirit, there is an opportunity for a more adult Nigeria-US relationship that should not be missed. What does the Future Hold? America, as an Idea, belongs to the whole world. America is at its best when it is conscious of being a global heritage. The genius of the founding fathers of the American Republic was the herald of a new humanity. Consequently, what we expect from the administration of President Barack Obama is that America should continue to be an America loyal to the principles upon which it was established. In this context, Nigeria stands ready to partner with the incoming President in advancing the ideals which are espoused through our common and shared values of democracy, good governance and the rule of law. In his thoughts on reclaiming the American dream, titled THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, the incoming President has eloquently expressed what we in Nigeria will be looking forward to as a new relationship with America. He says: “No person, in any culture, likes to be bullied. No person likes living in fear because his or her ideas are different. Nobody likes being poor or hungry, and nobody likes to live under an economic system in which the fruits of his or her labour go perpetually unrewarded…” He continues: “Our challenge then is to make sure that US policies move the international system in the direction of greater equity, justice, and prosperity in that the rules we promote serve both our interests and the interests of a struggling world… There are positive trends in Africa often hidden in the news of despair. Democracy is spreading. In many places, economies are growing. We need to build on these glimmers of hope and help those committed leaders and citizens throughout Africa build the better future, which they, like we, desperately desire. Moreover, we fool ourselves in thinking that, in the words of one commentator, “we must learn to watch others die with equanimity” and not expect consequences”.
We in Africa, and indeed, more specifically, Nigeria will expect the incoming Obama Administration to honour the pledge implied in these powerful words. And the time to start is yesterday. I will give an example: US National Security Doctrine posits that US security depends on the trinity of defence, diplomacy, and development. America’s battles in the past decades have taken place in the developing world often with dire consequences for the world’s most powerful nation. Beyond the decimation of Africa’s workforce by malaria, is the bigger challenge of the visionary commitment of the international community to Africa meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The grim news out of the continent of Obama’s father is that no African country looks set to meet those challenges on the due date of 2015. And if the international community is to move from a wringing of hands to real action that can generate results and not despondency and desperation, the Obama Administration will have to provide immediate global leadership to facilitate the much needed, and yet lean international support for a global aid architecture that establishes a few high-level funds aimed at critical aspects of the MDGs. Such funds include, but are not exhausted as:
- Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and other Diseases
It is in America’s interest to provide leadership here. To deal with recession in America, there is need to stimulate growth in Africa which remains outside the global economy. Africa is not just a crisis; it is an opportunity. Now is a new Day in America. Africa that gave America Barack Obama must be part of it. It can be done. All that is required is to return to “the better angels of our nature” in the words of Abraham Lincoln, another President from Barack Obama’s State of Illinois. |