The news is out that the much anticipated visit of the US President Barack Obama may not take place after all. It is the second time that President Obama will be giving Nigeria a serious diplomatic slap in the face.
But Nigerian President Dr Goodluck Jonathan should not lose his sleep over this calculated disregard which at best is really an irritant and a distraction. The government of Nigeria does not require a visit of endorsement of any imperial power, or of any other government for that matter.
We will like to appeal to other media outlets not to continue to play up incidents like this. Would it ever have been given a mention in the Euro-American press if an African President were to cancel or postpone a planned visit to any country in Europe or North America ?
The Nigerian media and indeed the citizens of our country must desist from attitudes that suggest inferiority complex or submission to racist supremacy tendencies. It is here that a visit by a technician from Europe and the US and Canada would be accorded red carpet treatment by our top government officials.
If the President of the US chooses not to visit Nigeria , it is entirely his problem. And in any case, what did the visit to Ghana two years ago translate to? It is a well documented fact that the long standing policy of The US towards Africa has left a very bad taste in the mouth. The US and Britain were the earliest to offer recognition and support to the regime of Idi Amin of Uganda .
The same US massively supported Mobutu Sese Seko of Congo throughout his notorious rule in his country. For several years it was the same US that propped up and sustained the dictatorship of Mubarak of Egypt. It was the US that armed Saddam Hussein to the teeth until they built him into a monster. Iranians under Shah Reza Pahlavi are not likely to forget the US discriminatory foreign policy in a hurry.
If therefore the US President chooses to ignore the largest market in Africa , and the largest concentration of members of the Black race in the world, it should not bother us.
This is not to say though that Nigeria as a country should not worry about its declining influence in international affairs. That we have a ruling political party that cannot keep its house in order is a matter of concern. If a ruling Party cannot manage its own affairs, how can it manage the affairs of the country?
Aside this, a country immersed in massive and incorrigible corruption may not offer much attraction to any one who may not wish to lump himself or herself as belonging to birds of the same feather.
Having said that, it is not the responsibility of any foreign busy body to rub insult on our injury. Nigerian leaders must listen to the memorable quote of the late General Muritala Mohammed that ‘ Africa has come of age’.
Barack Obama may be our son, but he does not represent Africa . He is the US President, and must reflect the ethos, the passion and the character of his country. And if and when he changes his mind and his home climate allows him to visit, we shall always welcome him as one of our own.
But Nigeria will no longer receive any foreign visitor however highly placed who may consider himself or herself a Sanitary Inspector coming to examine, inspect and probably endorse or disapprove our national state of health.
Nigeria is a Sovereign state equal in every material particular to any other Sovereign state as enshrined in the United Nations Charter.Any source
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