Senator William Owens ^(Rtd) of Massachusetts as the new US Envoy for Nigeria

Chidi Anyaeche

Senator Barak Obama’s campaign slogan for the recently concluded US Presidential election was “Change we can believe in”. This change the whole world came to believe in, came to pass on November 04, 2008 when Senator Barak Obama was elected the 44^th President of the United States of America having being first elected as an Illinois Senator in 1996 and a Federal Senator in 2004. This cataclysmic change process is still on. It is not going to end with Senator Obama as the US President. 

In the spirit of this change, in the spirit of democracy, in the spirit of choice, Nigerians are being urged to rally behind Senator William Owens as the new US Ambassador to Abuja. 

Why Senator William Owens? Before answering this question, let me firstly introduce Bill as he is fondly called (Readers are also invited to remember the other Bill (William Clinton) that served as the 42^nd US President that passed the African Growth and Opportunities Act with its attendant benefits to Africa in general and Nigeria in particular). As the saying goes – there is a lot in a name. 

Bill was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972 and to the Senate in 1974. As a state senator he held a number of leadership positions, one of which gave him responsibility for oversight of a $7 billion USD budget as Chairman of the Committee on Human Services and Elderly Affairs.

For Nigerian’s, Senator Bill Owens led a delegation from the United States and England to Nigeria to meet with late Chief M.K.O. Abiola and President Ibrahim Babangida around the issue of Reparations. This shows the Nigerian friendliness of Bill amongst other acts. Bill has also lived in Nigeria for two years making him one of us.

Academically, Bill is equipped for the office, having earned a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard University, Graduate School of Education. He has also begun a doctoral program at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

For more information on Bill readers are invited to visit: http://www. nigeriansupportcommittee.org

Now revisiting the question: Why Senator Bill Owens? The answer is plain simple. Bill is a seasoned politician with great understanding of the plight of minorities. Bill is a friend of Nigeria and Nigerians having lived in the country for two years. Bill understands the aspirations, yearnings and frustrations of Nigerians. Bill will be a grassroots diplomat and not a toffee nosed one that will be there to protect the interest of the Nigerian political and business class that has pilloried the country to the ground since independence. They cannot fool Bill. Maurice Iwu and his gang cannot fool Bill. President Yar’Adua cannot fool Bill. For Bill is one of us. 

But most importantly my good friend HRH Chinedu Okoye that sold Bill to me has this to answer on the question: Why Senator Bill Owens?

“………Hi Odenigbo, good question, what our efforts will do is for the first time in US history, it will show that those who originate from a country other the US have an interest in seeing that the right people represent the US in their home country, most of the time those appointed to these posts were businessmen or friends of politicians or campaign donors so the citizens of the country where they are appointed never have a connection to the individual. In that case when decisions and policies are made, no real consideration is given to the host country”.

In a nutshell, what the paragraph above implies is that politics as we all know it is a game to horse-trading and lobbying. Interest groups trading and lobbying for their own particular interest. In this case the interest group are Nigerians trading and lobbying for a candidate that we can reach to be the next US envoy to Nigeria. A candidate that can tell the whole world come 2011 that the Nigerian president should not be recognised for he or she is a product of a fraudulent election. For we Nigerians can access that candidate. Senator Bill Owens is that candidate. We can have a connection with him.

Nigerians are invited to visit this website: http://www. nigeriansupportcommittee.org and follow the instructions on how to lobby for Bill.

Remember the slogan: “Change we can believe in”. This is the time and place for that change to benefit Nigerians.

Robot  # 1 | 14.02.2009 23:06

Senator William Owens(Rtd)of Massachusetts as the new US Envoy for Nigeria Chidi Anyaeche Senator Barak Obama’s campaign slogan for the recently concluded US Presidential election was “Change we can believe in”. This change the whole world came to believe in, came to pass on November 04, 2008 when Senator Barak Obama was elected the 44thPresident of the United States of America having being first elected as an Illinois Senator in 1996 and a Federal Senator in 2004. This cataclysmic change process is still on. It is not going to end with Senator Obama as the US President. In the spirit of this change, in the spirit of democracy, in the spirit of choice, Nigerians are being urged to rally behind Senator William Owens as the new US Ambassador to Abuja. Why Senator William Owens? Before answering this question,...Read the full article.

Palamedes  # 2 | 15.02.2009 17:40

In the spirit of this change, in the spirit of democracy, in the spirit of choice, Nigerians are being urged to rally behind Senator William Owens as the new US Ambassador to Abuja. What is this nonsense about “rally behind?” Why? Even if he was born a Nigerian, he would be the USA Ambassador and would be representing the interest of the USA. But most importantly my good friend HRH Chinedu Okoye that sold Bill to me... Good for you! Mr. William Owens will (no doubt, and more so being an African American) enjoy our great African hospitality, but please, don't try to sell him to Nigerians as if he is their ambassador. Haven't we had enough, and seem the danger, of personality cult in Nigeria?

crownabbey  # 3 | 15.02.2009 18:25

Garbage. Complete garbage! What a stupid article! Why do you people do this for god's sake? Why do you people stoop so low like this? Stop this nonsense please. And why is this RETIRED state senator using you to campaign for him? An aspiring ambassador campaigning for this job to nigeria? This is utterly nonsense!!!! Thank you.

ocnus  # 4 | 16.02.2009 05:19

There has been a lot of problems with the appointment of Americans to ambassadorial ans staff posts dealing with Africa. The root of the problem lies in the capitulation of Bill Clinton who effectively turned over US policy to the Congressional Black Caucus. All appointments to the Africa Bureau of State and the ambassadorships were taken over and vetted by the Black Caucus. It was an easy political compromise for Clinton and a way of engaging the Black Caucus in support for his international affairs. That is the positive side. The negative side is that the Black Caucus doesn't represent power or links to mega businesses or the Executive Branch. They are engaged in Africa, to a large extent, because of the "Roots" issue. They identify with Africa and feel comfortable dealing with Africa. I got into a lot of trouble when, at a meeting at the State Department I asked why we didn't turn over the China and Far East questions to the Mohawks, Sioux or the Cherokees because some time in the distant past their ancestors crossed the land bridge to Asia and they settled in the Americas. 'Roots', I am afraid, doesn't work. African nations, especially Nigeria, are engaged in many aspects of world trade. They are an important source of US oil and gas and minerals. There are US companies investing in Nigeria in a wide range of industries. Nigerian stuudents travel to the US for graduate and post graduate education. Nigerian banks are investing in US assets. They have real needs to engage with the Executive branch and Big Business, to express their needs and to dialogue on real issues. I had the misfortune to accompany an African President to a visit to the US where the Black Caucus had arranged meetings for him with industrialists. When I met him back to NY he was steaming mad. He told me that his meetings with industrialists provided by the Black Caucus were with manufacturers of hair straighteners, skin bleachers, makers of sweet potato pie, etc,; all the financial backers of the Black Caucus. He said he wanted to meet with mining companies, oil companies. defense companies, investment banks, not the people he met. As the President said, "We are a country with millions of citizens; we have an army and an air force; we run our own country and make our own policies. In short, we are on top and want to meet the top people of the US. Unfortunately, the Black Caucus are not among them". These Black Caucus hosts were the Andy Young people. It became worse under Bush when Condoleeza Rice's ex-graduate students at Stanford (Susan Rice, Jendayi Frazier, to name two) were pushed into top African jobs at State and the NSA. These all together are who have been running US African policies. They are no doubt qualified and relatively competent, but they are no link to the powerful in business and industry. They are ambassadors to countries who have real interests in their economic and political relations with the US and the ambassadors are not really equipped to service these requests. It may be different under Obama but it would be a very optimistic person who would believe this, especially with Susan Rice at the UN.