Ghanaian
women await the first family's arrival, in Accra, July 10.
Modern Ghana,
Ghana
May Obama Herald
Era of 'Peace and Honest Dealings'
"Today, it isn't about gold, but about energy security ... the 'new Portugal' needs to engage Ghana to guarantee energy security for the most powerful country in the world. Mr. Obama, we say Akwaaba! [Welcome]."
Not since [Portuguese Nobleman] Dom Diogo de Azambuja's
mission to Elmina on January 20, 1482 has a potentate visiting our shores garnered
so much interest. It is widely assumed that Azambuja's visit was the first made
by Europeans to our shores. But the facts are a different. For about 10 years
before this official mission, the Portuguese, then the most powerful sea-faring
country in the world, had been trading with their rivals the Castilians of
Spain in the Ghanaian town of Shama.
Elmina
Castle: Erected by the Portuguese in 1482, the
construction of the fort came out of a deal between
a local tribal chief and a Portuguese nobleman named
Dom
Diogo de Azambuja.
The need to dominate trade
led the Portuguese to create a strategic long-term plan that involved the capacity
to store inventory and thus, control prices. The coast of Elmina provided the best
location for construction along these lines. According to two accounts, one by
Pina and the other by Barros [could not confirm identities of Pina and Barros],
when Azambuja arrived in Elmina with his delegation his interpreter was an
African from the coast.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
What does all this have to do
with Mr. Obama? While we consider and project ourselves as a poor nation, the
world has always viewed our patch of the earth as a place heavy with riches. The
Castilians were followed by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Swedes, the Danes
and later, the British. In spite of compelling evidence to the contrary, which
is obvious to any trading nation, we have positioned ourselves as beggars, entering
into every major transaction from that position. This hasn't served us well. We
aren't poor. But we have made ourselves look poor through misplaced priorities and
by mismanaging our resources.
Mr. Obama is the third consecutive
American President to visit Ghana. This cannot be because we are a beggar
nation, even though begging has superseded soccer as a national sport. We're
less concerned with harnessing our resources for our own good. Instead, we tend
to speculate for short-term gains that benefits a few fat cats, while the rest
of the citizenry whither in abject poverty.
His African heritage
notwithstanding - and like King John II of Portugal, who sent Azambuja in 1482 -
Obama is the leader of the world's sole superpower. As such, he doesn't gather
his caravan for trivial jaunts.
This isn't a Black
brotherhood type of visit, despite our naive sentiments in this regard. Like the
late 15th century's John II of Portugal, Mr. Obama is interested in advancing
the strategic interests of his country. Just as Azambuja sought a piece of
Elmina rock from local chief Kwamin Ansa to build his castle, Mr. Obama is
interested in making a small dent in our absolute sovereignty to protect the
economic, military and strategic interests of the United States. This is only
natural. He must protect future sources of energy for his highly-productive and
consumptive country. Our modern sovereignty is about partnerships for
development and we should weigh Mr. Obama's proposals against our goals for development.
This shouldn't become another wasted opportunity.
In 1482, Kwamin Ansa was quite
ambivalent about the Portuguese request, noting that, "the desires and
passions common to all men will inevitably bring disputes," potentially
souring his existing good trading relations with the Portuguese. Of Kwamin Ansa,
Barros noted, "Like anyone who wished to grasp the matters being proposed
to him, he not only listened eagerly when the interpreter summarized them, but he
watched every gesture of Diogo de Azambuja. While this went on, both he and his
men remained in complete silence, without any of them even spitting - so
obedient and well-taught were Kwamin Ansa's people. When the speech ended, like
a man who wished to reflect on what he had heard, he fixed his eyes on the
ground for a short time and then he replied."
His wariness about the castle
and how it might undermine his sovereignty were foremost in his mind. Yet, at
the same time, he recognized the vast military and technological superiority of
his new trading partner. He expressed his doubts and searched for the right
distance to keep from the superpower.
He said, "Friends who meet
from time to time treat one another with greater affection than neighbors."
Sensing Kwamin Ansa's doubts,
Azambuja responded. According to Barros, "The reason his lord the King [of
Portugal] sent him to that land with such a magnificent display, was
his desire for peace and a closer friendship with Kwamin Ansa. As a token of this desire, he wanted to erect a building
there, in which he might keep his property and by which he could show greater
confidence than he had shown in Kwamin Ansa and his vassals before, for no one
would put their property in a place where deceitful practices were suspected."
In the end, Kwamina Ansa
relented and gave permission to Azambuja to build, asking that "peace and honest
dealings be observed." From 1482 until 1637, the Portuguese were confined to
the rocky promontory - until the transatlantic slave trade spurred a Dutch takeover
of the castle and the construction of other castles and forts along the coast
to facilitate commerce in that ignominious trade.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
America's first family arrives in Ghana: The first African-American president visits the continent of his forefathers.
Today, however, it isn't about
gold, but about energy security and a new "Elmina Castle." It is
believed that significant participation by Ghana in what is described as a "distributed
command" for AFRICOM - the U.S. African-Military Command - is high on Mr. Obama's
agenda. The "new Portugal" needs to engage Ghana to guarantee energy
security for the most powerful country in the world. Will President Mills find
the right distance, just as Kwamina Ansa did - if he did indeed find it? Over 500
years of history is the judge of this encounter.
It is believed that one Mr. Christopher
Columbus was on Azambuja's mission. He later made two trips from Lisbon to
Elmina to estimate the supplies he would need for his western approach to India.
As we all know, ten years later in 1492, he arrived in the Caribbean and soon
after, America was "discovered."
Mr. Barack Obama, you are
most welcome to Ghana. We hope, along with [President] Professor Mills, you
find the right distance to keep in relations between Ghana and the U.S., which
will maintain real mutual benefit for both of our peoples for years to come. In
the spirit of Sankofa, which
brings you home to Black Africa on your first visit as President of the USA, we
say Akwaaba! [Welcome].
[Editor's Note: Sankofa is a word from the Akan
language of Ghana, which means taking from the past what is good and bringing it
into the present.]
In the words of Chief Kwamina
Ansa of Edina, "May peace and honest dealings be observed."
