Africans no
longer stood still to watch the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama
as was witnessed four years ago. The President's acts during the
period clearly showed he was and will always be the president of the
United States not of Africa. He proved he will neither be the
President of both 'continents' nor fully that of one and partially
that of another.
As the president of the United States
publicly takes the oath of office for the second time, it is
understandable why, in stark contrast to four years ago when Barack
Obama's unique personal history made his election to the White House
the cause for intense pride and excitement across Africa, many
Africans have shrugged off the event and carried on with their lives.
To be fair, many Africans' expectations
of the then-new American president were wildly unrealistic and Obama
had quite a number of pressing challenges demanding his immediate
attention, not least of all th United States' economic meltdown and
healthcare system.
Nevertheless, the sense of let-down
acutely felt, both in African capitals and among the Africa
constituency in Washington, over the lack of engagement during most
of the administration's first term, remains palpable. Even for the
administration's most reflexive defenders, there is no getting around
the data.
While veteran diplomat Johnnie Carson
was installed as assistant secretary of state for African affairs
within four months of Obama's first inauguration, an ambassador to
the African Union was not on post until nine months after the
president's swearing in and, until just nine months ago, there was no
permanent assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) for Africa.
The U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan
Africa was not released until June of last year. As for the president
himself, he has not set foot on African soil since his brief visits
to Egypt and Ghana during his first year in office--and the latter a
stopover lasting less than twenty-four hours.
Of course, the administration has
scored some noteworthy successes, not least of which was helping see
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to its fulfillment in the
largely peaceful referendum and subsequent secession of South
Sudan--although the continuing conflict between
Africa's newest independent state and
the country it left behind remains a challenge the administration
must tackle in its second term alongside the overall lack of economic
development and general governance capacity in Juba.
Somalia
must also be monitored;defeat of
Somalia's al-Shabaab as a military force, the improved security in
and around Mogadishu, and the installation of a new parliament,
president, and prime minister represent relatively big advances, even
if the progress is still far from consolidated.
Africa could receive more attention
during his second term but not to the benefits and desired directions
of Africans. His actions, if African leaders are wise enough are to
tell them that no one can build their countries and continents for
them. No foreign country will ever make policies to favour and uplift
their continent. They must wake up.
