Africa texts Obama before visit - Foreign Affairs - Nairaland
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| Africa texts Obama before visit by MrCrackles(m): 11:48pm On Jul 12, 2009 |
US President Barack Obama has received thousands of text messages about Africa after he asked people to send questions before his trip to Ghana on Friday. Mr Obama will answer a number of texts - which will be selected by journalists from Senegal, Kenya and South Africa. The White House says there have been messages of support and criticism. Before his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as president, he warned the continent there would be no investment without good governance. The president's media adviser, Macon Phillips, told the BBC's Network Africa programme he wanted the messages to be part of a "continental conversation". Mr Phillips said people could text whatever they wanted - questions, criticism or just general comment. "What we can do is look at all these responses and find trends and popular issues and it gives us a better understanding of what people are thinking about," he said. "There's much greater value than just question and answer - it's yet another way for us to see what's happening on the ground." The White House has set up local SMS short codes for people to send their messages: • Ghana - 1731 • Nigeria - 32969 • South Africa - 31958 • Kenya - 5683 Elsewhere, the numbers are: 61418601934 and 45609910343. It has also set up Twitter feeds and blogs on a special page. Mr Obama's decision to visit Ghana has annoyed some in Nigeria - by far the most populous country in Africa. The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Abuja, says opposition groups see it as America's judgement on the health of the country's democracy. Jibril Aminu, who chairs Nigeria's foreign relations committee, said that if Mr Obama had concerns about the country he should have voiced them in Nigeria. "There's no reason to send goodwill with a catapault," he said. "If he's seeking to send a message, I'm afraid that with all respect, he's not been successful." But Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka praised Mr Obama's "wise decision" to avoid Nigeria, saying it should be a pariah state because it had abused the principles Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8141870.stm |
| Re: Africa texts Obama before visit by oyinda3(f): 5:17am On Jul 13, 2009 |
the whole concept and idea of rewarding the less corrupt nation with a visit doesn't settle well with me either. is obama a god or what?  imagine thinking nigeria will get their acts together so that they will earn a visit from US president. that's very belittling IMO but seriously though, nigeria needs to get her act together. lol |
| Re: Africa texts Obama before visit by MrCrackles(m): 8:19am On Jul 13, 2009 |
oyinda.: I wonder ooo!  |
| Re: Africa texts Obama before visit by TayoD1(m): 1:47pm On Jul 13, 2009 |
@topic, "There's no reason to send goodwill with a catapault,"This just cracks me up big time!  |
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