Chiswickite - formerly The Croydonian

Obama is visiting Africa, as Presidents tend to do from time to time, and he has to start somewhere. Would it be worth getting upset if he did not make one's own country the first port of call? Not really, I would have thought.

Not, however, in the case of Nobel Literature Laureate (and stranger to the barber) Wole Soyinka, who seems to think that by choosing Ghana as his first stop that Obama has impugned the dignity of Nigeria:

"The Nobel Laureate had told THISDAY on Thursday at an Art Exhibition at the Italian Embassy, Abuja that Obama's decision to visit Ghana ahead of Nigeria in his first trip to Africa was a wise decision.

He went further to say that "If Obama decides to grace Nigeria with his presence, I will stone him. The message he is sending by going to Ghana is so obvious, is so brilliant that he must not render it flawed by coming to Nigeria any time soon", he said".

I doubt that the 74 year old is so good with a stone that Obama's goons will be that worried. Anyway, if other Nobel Lit laureates fancy their chances of lapidating the President, we are in a good position as we have two living Laureates in Doris Lessing and V.S.Naipaul. Mind you, they are both getting on a bit. Elsewhere, if he feels he has not had enough attention of late, Derek Walcott could have a go. Maybe it needs to be opened up to Peace prize winners and so on, in which case Jimmy Carter is going to be horribly conflicted - should he be on the side of the Laureates or that of his President? Decisions, decisions....

Labels: Africa, facetiousness, United States

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 10:38 am. You can skip to the end and leave a response.