Africa as an afterthought in Obama’s last State of the Union Address.

On January 12 2016, I rushed from school to my little apartment. Barack Obama, the first African-American president in the history of the United States was due to deliver his final State of the Union (SOTU) address and I was eager to hear what he has to say and how he will sum up his historical presidency and his legacy. I know Obama to have a way with words, his amazing oratory skills and his ability to connect with and charm his audience was one of the things I admired most about him. Africa’s half-son is a role model; an inspiration to the many dreamers of the world and I felt blessed to have lived to see history made. I was seated in my couch at 8:30pm even though I knew the address was set for 9pm Eastern Time. I had a cup of orange juice and some sugar-free biscuits next to me, I was not getting up for anything. Even if it is 1% of his genetic makeup, Barack Obama is a son of the African continent. He was born to a Black Kenyan man and a white American lady. He knew his roots to the African continent, he had visited there as an adult and written about in his books. He had also demonstrated a love for the continent and its people. As a Ghanaian, I felt specially loved by the gentleman; my country Ghana was the first African country he visited as president and, as usual, he delivered a memorable speech during that visit. Africa is important to him and his government, he may not have mentioned Africa much in his previous SOTU addresses but surely he will in his last one, and it will be  positive and pleasant too. Surely he will tell the world how much Africa is changing for the better and how bright the future of the continent is, right? For the next hour or so, I was moved very close to tears; Africa was relegated to the backburner- AGAIN!!

I understand the SOTU, in name, is supposed to focus on domestic interests and the president’s decisions on and reactions to them. However, to make an hour long speech on the state of America today and not make enough time to comment on America’s role in the world is frankly, short of applause and praise. President Obama referred to the entire continent and the many undertakings America is and was involved in on the continent in about four or so sentences and even that was limited to how America is helping combat disease and starvation. The deepening democracy in Ghana, Botswana and Tanzania and the restoration of democratic rule in Burkina Faso were all ignored. I expected the president to sum up everything that has been done under his tenure but I feel like he focused the speech on begging Americans to vote another Democrat into the White House to protect the Affordable Care Act and the rest of his policies which, in fact, embody his legacy. I expected more from Obama in his tenure, unfortunately, the threat of terrorism to the United States and a "hostile" congress compelled him to focus on protecting his homeland- as any president must do as a primary duty- and constantly wrestling with the Republican Party to reach workable compromises. However, although I find this action valid and relevant, It still hurts to ponder and recollect how little Africa has featured in SOTU address under President Obama. Recently, the United States has been sending a number of former Guantanamo Bay detainees to African countries as part of efforts to shut down the facility, does Obama not know this or did he simply forget? Are these African countries, with their less advanced technological capacity and porous security and widespread illiteracy and poverty not make for a fertile ground for radicalization and extremism? How is America keeping tabs of these former detainees?  Isn’t this worth mentioning in the SOTU address? But hey, Obama did not even touch on the 10 American sailors detained in Iran, how much more Africa, right? The question is, will Africa continue to be at the backburner of America’s foreign policy or will things change? Only time will tell.