The melanin-spangled banner

In the early hours of November 5, 2008, I watched the US election results file in. Blue. Red. Blue. Blue. Red.

And then that overwhelming mass of blue - seventy or so fully-armed electoral votes - that swept across the TV screen and ended the race.

Two and a half months later, the glorious culmination of the 2008 electoral process.

Here's my ten kobo on the events of January 20, 2009:

1. On Pigment

Finally, the Star - Spangled Banner has been splashed with a decent dose of melanin. Long overdue, if you ask me. (Wikipedia tells us that " in humans, melanin is the primary determinant of human skin colour." KidsHealth.com simplifies it for us: "The darker your skin, the more melanin you have.")

I grew up in Abeokuta, the Nigerian city famous for "tie-and-dye" fabric, adire, made from dipping cloth in indigo dye. We have Obama to thank for dipping the American Flag into a basin of ‘Grade A' Melanin. From ‘Star - Spangled Banner' to ‘Americana Adire', if you ask me!

2. On Detail

The papers have been awash with photos and news and arcane details relating to the historic event of yesterday. And analyses of everything from Michelle's outfit to Elizabeth Alexander's poem to Chief Justice John Robert's mangling of the words of the Oath, to the nouns and nuances of the Inauguration Speech, to the £380,000 Presidential Limo (the Obamobile).

The events of January 20 were a trip into the lush - and painstakingly laid-out - gardens of Tradition: a Bible - and Congressional Dinner menu - from Lincolnian times, a Constitution detailed enough to spell out the exact time a man becomes President, oath or no oath! The devil, dear reader, is in the details. So is the beauty. And the glory, and the pride. A country interested in detail is a country interested in excellence.

3. On Language and Politics

The day after the inauguration I came across a Reuters article titled "Japan learns English from Obama speech textbook".

Yuzo Yamamoto of Asahi Press, publishers of "The Speeches of Barack Obama" (an English-language compilation which has sold more than 400,000 copies in the two months since its release) is quoted as saying "[Obama's] speeches are so moving, and he also uses words such as 'yes, we can,' 'change' and 'hope' that even Japanese people can memorise..."

This forced my thoughts to turn to my dear country, Nigeria. I have a feeling that Nigerians are far more comfortable with speaking (or attempting to speak) the English language than the Japanese are, so memorising even the more difficult Obama words like "expedience", "magnificent" and "patchwork" should not be any problem for us.
What we therefore need to learn from Mr. Obama is not "English" but "Politics".

4. On Reluctant Presidents

The journalist Pini Jason, in an interview with former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari, asked if it was true that he actually wanted to be a Senator, not President. Alhaji Shagari's response: "That is true! If you read my book (Beckoned To Serve) you will become aware of the struggle I put up in order to escape being a presidential candidate, and the reasons for this... I had no idea that I was the chosen one, and I didn't want to become a presidential candidate... I had no idea they were going to recommend me. I didn't want it."

Twenty years later, Olusegun Obasanjo had to be "begged" to become our President. "How many Presidents do you want to make out of me?" he famously queried. Rhetorically of course.

And then in 2007, a man who had spent eight very quiet years as a Governor, and who was apparently preparing for life in retirement, was suddenly thrust into the fray as the man who would be our next President, and anointed accordingly. Eager aspirants were subtly asked to get lost.

As though Nigeria were a Monarchy, we were introduced to the "King-in-waiting". I'm not sure anyone ever asked that simplest of questions: "Sir, would you like to be the President?"

A tale of reluctant men, eh? I need to get a copy of the Nigerian Constitution, fast! I'll bet my vote in the next Presidential election that the tome says something about ‘Reluctance' being the Number 1 requirement for eligibility for the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

McCain has wanted to be President for a long time. He dreamt about it, campaigned for it, debated for it. Ditto Hillary C. For two or so years Barack O. marched resolutely, against all odds, towards the White House. He needed no delegation to tell him "you alone doth the cap fit Sir".

My New Year resolution: I want to master the art of Executive Reluctance. 2011, dear friends, is around the corner.