Richard Carlson, Ph.D. (5-16-61 to 12-13-06) is my favorite American best seller author. His “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”, series is a reader’s delight on how not to let the small things in life get the best of us whether it is the Family or Work, or Money.
Understandably he was rightly considered “to be one of the foremost experts on happiness and stress reduction in the United States and around the world”. Richard Carlson died in 2006. If he were to be alive today reading about how the possible outcomes of 2016 American election had put many in the world, including Africans on the edge he would have added to his globally acclaimed tittles with Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, American President. And most Africans would found the book useful and therapeutic. Whoever presides over America, the largest economy in the world and the most powerful country in terms of military power must undoubtedly be of concern to all.
For most Africans, 2008 America presidential election that produced Barack Obama, the first African American president generated a lot of identity excitement such that most Africans often hard put to conduct free and fair election on the continent wished they could vote in America! In Nigeria, I recall there was even a dubious fund-raising to support Obama election which assumed Nigerian characteristic of another scam.
Eight years after being in office, it is debatable what positive relevance, Obama presidency had on African continent. Like other American presidents, Obama had made some safari tours of the continent to Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya (where his father comes from!) but certainly not yet Nigeria. But even at that the first ever Africa-America summit at the instance of Obama held in Washington not in Addis Ababa where the headquarters of Africa Union resides. The point cannot be overstated that President Barack Obama, first “African American president” is an American President after all voted for to serve Americans and nowhere else.
For Africans, this time around will it be Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, the presumed Republican or Democratic candidates respectively? There are scores of big domestic and international issues in 2016 American elections. They include Budget: Government must cut spending more or not, Guns control, climate change, Syria, Islamic state of Iraq, Immigration (Mexico), Obamacare, etc…I search in vain for any critical issue that affects Africa, from electricity shortage to poor roads, to Boko Haram, meaning that whoever emerges the next American President is elected to serve America for better or for worse. All the star-words of the two leading candidates are all about fixing America not the world, least Africa. This then raises the point that as we are legitimately concerned about the outcomes of American election, we must pause a bit about the election this year in Ghana which has direct implications for us all.
Even at this eleventh hour in which candidates are rounding up their campaigns, yours truly searches in vain in Nigeria’s print and electronic media for a discernable perspective on Ghana’s electoral process. It is a scandal that a continent in which media coverage of unhelpful details about America’s presidential primaries and presidential election could fill tons of some Ghana-must-go bags, there is very little space for elections next door that have more impact and direct relevance to us. Ghana’s black out (as it were) compares with past African media under reportage of the Zambia’s presidential election in which the then acting President Rupian Banda won, an election that took place almost same time American election held in 2008 and at a time we were inundated with petty details about Obama and McCain but less about President Rupian and his formidable challenger, Michael Sata. It further underscores media imperialism in which what’s news to Uncle Sam that’s news to Africans. The point cannot be overstated!
The political events in Ghana have more relevance to Africa and Africans than the events in Washington. Our political charity turns into political hypocrisy or worse still, political folly, if it does not start at home. How many of us are aware that General elections will be held in Ghana on 7 November 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament.
The president is elected using the two-round system, whilst the 275 members of Parliament will be elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. The candidates include, incumbent President, John Dramani Mahama NDC, potential candidates are Samia Nkrumah, first woman to head a major Ghanaian political party and daughter of the first President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah, and Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP candidate for president (2008 and 2012). If we must ‘Sweat the Small Stuff’, let’s sweat it on issues that affect us on the continent.

By Issa Aremu, mni