Obasanjo And The New African Dream
By Greg Mbadiwe
The recent election of president Olusegun Obasanjo as chairman of the African Union (AU) is a milestone in Nigeria's foreign relations just as it represents an acknowledgement of the positive impact the country has made in the international scene under him. President Obasanjo's ascendancy to a pre-eminent position in the global arena cannot be surprising because not only is he the leader of Africa's most populous and strategic country, he had prior to his assumption of office as an elected civilian president, distinguished himself as an international statesman. He had been a member of the United Nations Eminent Persons Groups and one of the founders of Transparency International. It was only natural that his colleagues would want to quickly put the fledgling AU under his immediate supervision given his abundant knowledge, interest and stature in the international sphere.
President Obasanjo should be congratulated on this. I think we in Nigeria owe it a duty to rally round him in this assignment because the rest of Africa expects that he employs both his personal experiences and the clout of Nigeria as the giant of Africa to give the continent a new political and economic direction that is anchored in an era of peace and stability President Obasanjo will be expected not only to take the A.U to greater heights but also to work towards strengthening unity among African states and also bringing about lasting peace in the troubled areas of the continent.
These tasks are enormous but I am confident that given president Obasanjo's penchant for problem solving, he will be equal to the challenges. In fact, knowing his capacity, it will not be suprising if one of the president's first assignment will be to use his pre-eminent position now to bring about concerted pressure aimed at ensuring that before the completion of his tenure, at least a minimum of two seats will have been secured for Africa in the United Nation's Security Council, a situation which is not only overdue but is also constituting a major source of embarrassment for the continent of Africa.
President Obasanjo's dedication to Nigeria cannot be over emphasized given the giant and landmark strides and achievement of his administration on the domestic arena. It is this same dedication that he is expected to bring to bear on Africa. I am certain that our dear president will excel, considering his antecedents particularly in articulating the problems of the continent and helping to find constructive solutions to them. Mention could be made of his contributions to the formation, growth and development NEPAD, an initiative designed to generate resources for the rapid development of the continent. His continuing efforts in the search for absolute peace among the peoples of Africa, be it intra or extra state, are already legendry and receiving continental recognition. This is underscored by the fact that even before president Obasanjo's assumption of chairmanship of AU, he had already be made the chairman of the peace committee of the continental body.
The assumption of the leadership of Africa by president Obasanjo could not have come at a better time. It is instructive as well as timely that the mantle has been placed on him as a testimony of the confidence his colleagues in Africa repose in his implicit and explicit ability to bring about ideas and policies which will bring Africa in line with current trends the world over and at the same time enable the continent play its role as a vital and strategic continent. It therefore expected of the President Obasanjo to come up with contemporary innovations. With honour and humility, I believe that the key challenge to the president's position as chairman and the success of it could be easily anchored on the extent to which he is able at the end of his tenure lay a solid foundation for United Africa: An Africa that would be anchored on a strong patriotic belief of one heritage and one destiny; an Africa which will no longer be divided by wars and hostilities but bounded together as one people, one market, one parliament, one currency as well as free and uninhibited movement of people and goods across the entire continent.
These would be coupled with the establishment of an African High Command for ensuring a coordinated and effective security of the entire continent. President Obasanjo's new AU should encourage the coming together of the various regional groupings within the continent; such as ECOWAS, SADC, CEDAC and the Conference of North African States. At the end of his tenure, it is expected that president Obasanjo would have used his position and personal clout to extract a genuine commitment from members and leaders of the G-8 in areas of aid and assistance towards actualization of the goals and objectives of NEPAD; but even more importantly a substantial and meaningful debt reduction as a means of promoting rapid development in many African States. Today, majority of African States are overwhelmed by the sheer weight of their external debt, a situation which constitutes a real threat to their corporate well being as well as their nascent democracies.
At this juncture, I wish to congratulate the president on behalf the Global Initiative, of which I am the coordinators. When last year a group of serving Nigerian ambassador decided to write a book entitled "Nigeria's Foreign Policy in the Obasanjo/Atiku Years", at first the full import was not appreciated by the generality of our people. Then, Nigerians in general saw nothing other than a junketing administration that would rather junket aimlessly on the international arena while neglecting the domestic front. But today, we have been vindicated as the global interface with the administration has started to manifest and impact seriously on our lives and the general perception of our country and its people.
These efforts have returned confidence to a nation; which confidence had been seriously impaired and dislocated by successive military interregnum resulting in a pariah status for our country and its citizens. But today, we have, thanks to president Obasanjo, regained our enviable position as a serious and important African nation. Evidences of this could be located in some international landmark events of which Nigeria had played a central role. These include the hosting of the African Nations Cup, the hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the formation of NEPAD, the nomination of president Obasanjo as the chairman of the peace committee of the AU, and more recently, his election as the chairman of the AU.
Without doubt, the challenges facing the new AU chairman, President Obasanjo of Nigeria, are enormous. But given the vigour and religiosity with which he is known for going about anything he believes in, there can be no doubt that he is quite capable of making an impact. Here is a president who could sneak out at 8p.m. to attend a meeting at a venue outside the country just to sneak back before 3a.m. to attend to visitors in his living room. Apart from the energy and drive, Obasanjo has the good will that cuts across the globe to transform Nigeria and the entire continent of Africa. This is wishing President Obasanjo an eventful tenure as chairman of the African Union and the gradual moving away from father Nigeria to father Africa.
* Mbadiwe is the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Congo Brazzaville
