No, I am not here to continue the debate about Obama’s near-empty rhetoric at Accra Ghana- an issue that have driven a lot of otherwise thoughtful Nigerians to frenzy here on NVS.

I am here to write on a far more important issue; the purported search for our own Obama. Mr Dele Momodu on ThisDay regaled us with a highly stimulating three part essay; “The search for own Obama”.

In this ‘search for our own Obama’, several names were touted as possible Nigeria’s Obama: The Okonjo-Iweala that we could not tolerate here that simply moved on to greater heights; The Ezekwesili that worked tirelessly on our educational system, institutionalising due process and moved on to a bigger platform; The Nasir El Rufai that cleaned up the city of Abuja; and the Northern star, Nuhu Ribadu, that is on the run.

But of far more importance to Nigerians methinks is this: Do we really need an Obama or do we need a skilful politician that should simply apply Obama’s method?

Can you compare President Obama’s communications strategists to Aso Rocks rebranding morons? One has gloss, optimism and gravitas. The other appear cynical and improvised.

Obama use of web communications is First Class; he has a knack for linking the medium to the message. For his huge-spending presidential campaign, he harnessed social networks to make the army of Democrat volunteers across the US feel like a tiny band of carol singers.

And his speech to the Muslim world wasn’t merely for his immediate audience at Cairo University, or any English-speaking news junkies who happened to be watching CNN or Al-Jazeera at the time. It was, in fact, texted to mobile phones in four languages, translated into 13, and broadcast online via social networks like Facebook (which has 20 million users in Muslim countries), Twitter and Google’s Orkut service.

(Forget that he got tongue-tied in Accra. In Cairo, Obama talked about what Islamic culture had given to the world — timeless poetry, cherished music, elegant calligraphy etc. The parallels are stark. Nowhere else can one better acknowledge humanity's collective debt in relation to culture, music, multiculturalism, and the coexistence of diverse cultures than in Africa. Unfortunately, when Obama visited the Cape Coast where you have the slave camp; he could not bring himself to say anything except to compare the slave trade to the holocaust. what sacrilege! In any case, the Jews have got their reparation for the holocaust, but one one have as much as apologised for slavery. What is good for Muslims is apparently not good for Africans- Charles Abugre, a Ghanaian economist)

For the Cairo speech, an event page was set up at Whitehouse.gov, for users worldwide to watch a live stream and chat in real time, as if they were tweeting the Apprentice final. It was a broader online effort than ever, said press secretary Robert Gibbs, even for a web-savvy White House that issues a weekly YouTube address from the Chief.

The Cairo speech is an hour long, but it makes better viewing (in any language) than five minutes of Yar’adua on NTA, with his sly grin like the serpent, or a cat that got the cream but then discovered that what it thought was the cream was actually the mayonnaise.

Later, the White House posted selected comments on the speech from around the world. “Thanks,” wrote someone in Uruguay. “Everything is OK,” wrote someone else from Uganda. “Go Obama,” wrote an Australian.

For his speech in Ghana, President Barack Obama received thousands of text messages about Africa after he asked people to send questions before his trip to Ghana. Thousands responded. From Ghana - 1731 • Nigeria - 32969 • South Africa - 31958 • Kenya – 5683

Many followed the speech online on Facebook. It has also set up Twitter feeds and blogs on a special page while many took part in online discussion with Obama in the Whitehouse the next day.

In one of the most prophetic part of the essay cited above Mr Momodu wrote:

“The mood of the Nigerian nation today will be the waterloo of our ruling elites. The search for our own Obama has already started. Nigerians worldwide are warming up for the battle ahead. They are determined to cause a bloodless revolution in their own country. They are networking like never before, and discussing issues that can move us forward”.

Yes a battle of the cyber space is on, I have written on this battle elsewhere, but don’t we need a skilful politician to start an organisation, a movement that should harness the creative energy and internet savvy of our youths especially the so-called ‘internet warriors’?

A lot of Nigerian young men and women are on Facebook, Yahoo groups, various Internet forums and have mobile phone; which Nigerian politician is making any effort to harness this dormant force.

Only in Nigeria do those that label themselves as democrats tend to wait until the general election comes before they start campaigning to see if they will win the electorates vote without a formidable structure or campaigns manifestos.

Rome was not built in a day, the effort might even take decades, but patience and hard work never disappoints; ask Moshood Abiola.

Our aspiring politicians should look at other western countries to see how the opposition prepare themselves for the next election even when they failed in a general election. They still fight to the last to see that their party emerged in the next election by organizing political meeting, adverts, rallies etc for the people to see the different between their views by providing a formidable opposition.

How can you convince the electorate without making your views and aspiration known to them, when you don’t organise talks, seminars conferences. When you don’t mobilise grassroots support without waiting until the election is around the corner?

Barack Obama’s success should have taught any aspiring politician that those that want change can bring change only if they plan well for it. The energy of our internet warriors are waiting to be harnessed.

The aim might not even be simply winning an election, why not start from effecting legislative change; electoral reform for example.

The way things are, it simply a Herculean task to dislodge the ruling party from power. In view of this, a member of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC), Barrister Festus Okoye suggested: 

 “Groups and other stakeholders can forward and sponsor the three Bills in the Report of the Electoral Reform Committee to the National Assembly as private members Bill and rescue the electoral process from the Bills already submitted and programmed to fail. Civil society groups and organizations can design a robust engagement policy and work with members of the National and State Assemblies especially during the public hearing of some of the Bills to impute into provisions of some of the Bills that can strengthen the electoral process and clean up the environment for elections.”

That is why Pat Utomi’s new movement for electoral reforms is welcome. Pat Utomi, school teacher, entrepreneur and politician, gathered what looked almost like a conference of the opposition, for a special dinner on July 12, 2009, except that You could call them the truly concerned professionals; professionals who want a better republic.

Launching the movement Utomi said: 

“This disciplined vanguard of youth may number in the tens of thousands and be present in every ward. It will be non-partisan and focused on how the ballot box can be a legitimating instrument for elected officials.

The committee on voter education: This group will be dedicated to massive campaigns to educate voters, to focus on issues, the character and competence of candidates and their antecedents. 

Recruiters of middles class participants into politics: This initiative is designed to inspire more educated middle class people and professional to actively play citizenship roles of voting, persuading other to vote for preferred candidates and running for office.

This is driven by the understanding that unless politics is dominated by middle class values and concerns, and the systems is committed to a majority of citizens being in this middle bulge, social stability will continue to be a challenge”.

He concluded that for those "who fail to perform their roles, there is the query waiting for you in history and at heaven gates". 

Pat Utomi is a Nigerian politician that has introduced a modicum of intellectual rigour and modern savvy to Nigeria’s political space. The only problem is: Is Nigeria ready for this man?

afamefuna@elombah.com

www.elombah.com

Robot  # 1 | 16.07.2009 00:32

That is why Pat Utomi’s new movement for electoral reformsis welcome. Pat Utomi, school teacher, entrepreneur and politician, gathered what looked almost like a conference of the opposition, for a special dinner on July 12, 2009, except that you could call them the truly concerned professionals; "professionals who want a better republic". ...Read the full article.

S. Njokede  # 2 | 16.07.2009 02:58

Yes, we need both some one, flesh and blood in the image of Obama and also - a person who´d employ not a Nicolo Machiavelli tactics like Yaradua; but a leaders who´d do the right thing at the right time. Whether it be the Nelson Mandela, Obama, Mother Theresa or the Dele Giwa method: so long it´s rightly done. That´s where the hammer head lays. We need Obama, what we don´t need are AGF Mike Aondokaa, Maurice Iwu, Farida Waziri, president Yar´Adua, education Minister who´d spend 120 million Naira to celebrate 25-year marriage to wife, &co.&co. Obama should knell down and pray to Modesty and History, to forgive him for comparing holocaust to the satanic via-Atlantic Slave Trade that took place 300 yearlong plus counting. It´s the sweats and bloods of African slaves that built the European and American powerhouse of today. They owe Africa the whole world and everything therein. www.punchbadleaders@yahoo.com

employlawone  # 3 | 16.07.2009 03:55

In a discredited system, Utomi appears closest to an Obama, 'however' if you closely examine that phenomenon called 'Obama' it was a combination of organisational ability, connection with the previously disenfranchised and his ability to 'orate' in inspiring terms. Very few of our politicians can do that. I have written an article, trying to inspire and mobilise but cannot even get it into the press, I therefore conclude we are in for a hard long battle, but our time has come! See excerpts of my article below the full article in on the Village Square: "I am convinced that rather than what obtains in President Yar’Adua’s Nigeria today, government can and should be a place where everyone comes together and where no one gets left behind an instrument of good. We have had bad governments in Nigeria by default, by allowing the past and present rulers to operate on the margin of despair and apathy. They won power not because they were geniuses but because we were asleep and the coalition of progressives was fractured. But today I am convinced that the many masses, the impoverished, the committed within and the educated out there, across the globe, your time has come. I am convinced that from Sokoto to Lagos, Kwara to Taraba, Borno to Imo, Cross River to Kano, your time has come! I remember, the analogy Jesse Jackson tried to draw from scriptures about little shephard boy, David who took the rocks that God gave him and a sling shot. Today, many of us are rocks simply lying around. It was with this improbable weaponry that David changed his generation; it was with his unlikely size that David defeated the giants of his age. We also, though scattered, in Diaspora, facing a confounding enemy called corruption, vicious in its appetite for the destruction of Nigeria can and will win by the margin of our hope inspired by courageous leadership. Now is the time to come together out of our comfort zones, of course we will debate, deliberate, agree to disagree but whatever our positions we will be the same flight. The flight of progress, meritocracy, the enthronement of good, the flight of the future." I welcome feedback on how we can begin to mobilise. employlawone@aol.com

Law Mefor  # 4 | 16.07.2009 05:32

We need more than just Obama to change Nigeria. Why? Obama may not do well in the present-day Nigerian setting where there is yet no country to govern or rule. And to make a country is no job only one Obama can do. It will require the whole Nigerians accepting to be Nigerians – to form one country. For now, Nigerians do not believe in Nigeria and that is why what we have is a systematic class fraud consciously aimed at sapping the economy and immobilizing the nation. Nigeria is just like an orphaned raped by her caregivers. It is that bad.

FRESHAIR  # 5 | 16.07.2009 08:00

No. We don't need Obama. We need you, Daniel Elombah. Please take the place of Obama for Nigeria. That is, if you have any idea about the "change" Obama stands for. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice. The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.

edoji  # 6 | 16.07.2009 12:35

=FRESHAIR;372033> That is, if you have any idea about the "change" Obama stands for. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice. The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy. And what's your point?

Gbolly  # 7 | 16.07.2009 18:44

How do you define Obama? The changes that Obama is implementing in the USA are good for the USA. Nigeria problems are far more than the USA problems. Hence, we need more than Obama to shed some light unto our beloved country (Nigeria). Without Obama, the USA can still claim to be the greatest county in the universe. Nigeria is so bad that her citizens are fleeing to countries like Ghana, Togo, etc. I don't think any USA citizens want to flee to Togo or Ghana. We need a few good men or women who have courage to rule Nigeria. Any interest?

Anioma777  # 8 | 17.07.2009 09:27

Nigeria does not need an Obama. Our problems are nothing new or unique. One needs to talk about problems that are common to every Nigeria and then a GENUINE CONSENSUS FROM INCEPTION TO ACTUALIZATION. The problem with most Nigerians is that everyone like new fashion is excited at first, but when they start going over the proposal with a fine tooth comb and then stumble on an area that may not suit their PERSONAL,GEOPOLITICAL location or TRIBE, its then we go back to square one and nothing gets done. I read with rather painful aches in my stomach today about UMYA saying he will have the last laugh on his misguided nonsense called 7-nonsense agenda. I actually feel sorry for him as he looks physically sick and drained..Baba go slow pele!!!!!!!! NO ONE MAN OR WOMAN CAN CHANGE NIGERIA,NOT EVEN GOD CAN "CHANGE" NIGERIA. NOT BECAUSE HE CANNOT, BUT HE GAVE US BRAINS TO USE. UNFORTUNATELY OUR BRAINS ARE FILLED UP WITH PERSONAL AND SELFISH INTERESTS. I could understand if God made a pact with a Nigerian Abraham, and even then the way we have handled our affairs its a enough to break that pact. Speaking with an ex girlfriend last week on an extended phone call from Abuja, told me. "Your wasting your time these people will never change just do your own thing and survive when you chose to come back home". It left a nasty taste in the mouth but I live in hope!!!!!!!:sad:

edoji  # 9 | 17.07.2009 12:21

=Anioma777;372440> NO ONE MAN OR WOMAN CAN CHANGE NIGERIA,NOT EVEN GOD CAN "CHANGE" NIGERIA. NOT BECAUSE HE CANNOT, BUT HE GAVE US BRAINS TO USE. UNFORTUNATELY OUR BRAINS ARE FILLED UP WITH PERSONAL AND SELFISH INTERESTS. Speaking with an ex girlfriend last week on an extended phone call from Abuja, told me. "Your wasting your time these people will never change just do your own thing and survive when you chose to come back home". It left a nasty taste in the mouth but I live in hope!!!!!!!:sad: lol...I have also been told not to bother about changing Nigeria that no one is bothered. That Nigeria will only get better if things get better for me.:confused:

Enyi  # 10 | 17.07.2009 13:14

Let's look at two points in this write-up dispassionatley. On slavery the writer states "Unfortunately, when Obama visited the Cape Coast where you have the slave camp; he could not bring himself to say anything except to compare the slave trade to the holocaust. what sacrilege! In any case, the Jews have got their reparation for the holocaust, but one one have as much as apologised for slavery. What is good for Muslims is apparently not good for Africans- Charles Abugre, a Ghanaian economist)" Two questions arise from the above: 1). Who should receive the apology? 2). Who should offer the apology. In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to restate the obvious. Slavery is almost as old as the world. People in different parts of the world have been enslaved at one time or the other. There are records to show that the jews were enslaved in Egypt and Persia at different times. Slavery in ancient cultures was known to occur in civilizations as old as Sumer, and it was found in every civilization, including Ancient Egypt, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Ancient Greece. Rome and parts of its empire. The Arab or Middle Eastern slave trade is thought to have originated with trans-Saharan slavery. Arab, Indian, and Oriental traders were involved in the capture and transport of slaves northward across the Sahara desert and the Indian Ocean region into Arabia and the Middle East, Persia, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The slave trade from East Africa to Arabia was dominated by Arab and African traders in the coastal cities of Zanzibar, Dar Es Salaam and Mombasa. French historian Fernand Braudel noted that slavery was endemic in Africa and part of the structure of everyday life. -Wikipedia It seems right to offer an apology to the descendants of those who were sold into slavery. This apology should be given by the descendants of both buyers and sellers of slaves. Should we not also demand an apology from our fellow Africans who sold their kith and kin into slavery? "Pat Utomi is a Nigerian politician that has introduced a modicum of intellectual rigour and modern savvy to Nigeria’s political space. The only problem is: Is Nigeria ready for this man?" The answer to this question is NO! Nigeria is not ready "for this man." In the hoopla surrounding the election of Obama we forgot to examine the circumstamces that facilitated his emergence. Without any prejudice to his oratory and organizationa ability, the often over-looked but important, underlying factor is that the American society has undergone internal changes. This is as a result of determined and sustained struggle by the civil rights movement. Lives were lost, limbs were maimed but the struggle continued. If therefore we want an Obama we must be prepared for a national struggle. I agree that "The way things are, it simply a Herculean task to dislodge the ruling party from power". However a "Herculean task" is not an impossible task. Ask the ANC! We must take our destiny into our hands and stop waiting for a miracle.