Candidate Obama And Candidate Fayemi—Bisi Fayemi

So why was following the US election and particularly, the fortunes of Barack Obama so important to me? It was important to me because I needed to believe again. I needed to find a reason to trust in the systems and processes that human beings have put in place over time to manage their affairs. I needed to believe in dreams again. I needed to believe that a man or a woman in any part of the world could have a vision of change for their community and those aspirations would see the light of day. I needed to believe in justice and fairness again. I used to believe. I wanted the feeling back.

When President George W. Bush won the 2004 elections, progressive forces within and outside of the USA were aghast. How could this possibly have happened, they asked? The response they got was that people voted for who they thought could protect their interests, and the key concern at that time was security, so President Bush was the answer. They might not have liked him much, but the people spoke. And they were heard. For the 2008 elections, the key issue was the economy. The people have spoken again, and this time, as we would say in Nigeria, they have spoken well.

Much will be made of the significance of an Obama victory for black people in the US and around the world, and particularly for Africa where he has ancestral roots. With this victory, it is hoped that every person of African descent can hold their heads a bit higher, and dream a bit further. In 2004, when he was campaigning for the Senate, Obama impressed and inspired a young African scholar and human rights activist who was in Chicago on sabbatical writing a book. This African, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, was to eventually become a candidate for an election in Nigeria.

In April 2007, Candidate Kayode Fayemi ran for Governor of Ekiti State. People who believed in him and in his dreams for change turned out en masse to vote for him. In his home state they called him Imole Ekiti (the light of Ekiti). On the day of his election, there was chaos, violence and scenes reminiscent of a violent battle ground instead of an orderly, transparent and straightforward process of voting for a candidate of one’s choice. Eighteen long and painful months later, this candidate still seeks justice. All he has been asking for is that the votes that people cast for him be respected.

As the wife of Candidate Fayemi, I can regale you with many instances of delegations that have come to me, the assumption, of course, always being that wives are supposed to be more amenable to pleas for their husbands to be ‘reasonable’. My response has always been the same: ‘ask the recipients of his stolen goods to return them, and I can assure you he will be reasonable’.

There were so many who felt that Candidate Obama would not make it because he would either not get enough support from white voters to put him past the 270 electoral votes he needed or something untoward would happen on election day. There were predictions of attempted election malpractices and a replay of the Al Gore Vs George W. Bush 2000 election, which had to be fought all the way to the Supreme Court because of voting irregularities in Florida. In preparation for 4 November 2008, all the citizens who desperately wanted change organised to make it happen. They took their destinies into their own hands by donating tirelessly to Obama’s campaign, enabling him to amass a formidable war chest for the long struggle ahead. They enlisted as volunteers, mounting the most impressive voter registration drive in electoral history, and put measures in place to ensure that people’s votes would be protected. It all paid off.

Of the many lessons that will be drawn from this historic event, the most important for me is the sanctity of people’s democratic choices. People’s votes are sacred. People’s votes should count. As African and especially Nigerian leaders begin to fall over themselves to congratulate President-elect Obama, they should be asking themselves questions. How long will it take for the votes of African citizens to count? How many more elections will we have that will turn out to be a waste of people’s time and tax payers’ money? How many more elections in Africa will end up in power sharing deals such as has been seen recently in Kenya and Zimbabwe, after shedding the blood of innocent citizens? How many more ‘do or die’ elections will we have in our countries, turning the simple act of choosing leaders into desperate epic movies complete with a full cast of characters starring armed militia, complicit police, maniacal godfathers, biased electoral umpires, a compromised judiciary and millions of bewildered citizens waiting for justice?

A few months ago, the former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, said Nigeria is currently incapable of producing someone like Candidate Obama. He did not mean that we do not have people with the vision, eloquence, charisma, clarity and focus of Obama. He simply meant that under our current political circumstances, the chances of them being duly elected in free and fair elections by citizens who know what and who they want are slim. It will take a long and engaged struggle to turn this around, the kind of which we have just witnessed in the United States. President-elect Obama has told us ‘Yes we can’. As Nigerians, we should ask ourselves: ‘Can we’? Till then, Candidate Obama and Candidate Fayemi will continue to be worlds apart.

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is the Executive Director of the African Women’s Development Fund based in Accra, Ghana.