Ghanaian scholar Dr Godwin Etse Sikanku has launched a book on US President Barack Obama.
Titled ‘The Afrocentric Obama and Lessons on Political Campaigning’, the book is touted as one of the few to have come out of mainland Africa addressing the identity of Barack Obama from an African point of view.
Author Dr Sikanku, a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, says the motivation for his latest work stems from the fact that what have been written about the world leader with a Kenyan descent did not address his African identity.
“A lot f it was within the racial constructs of the United States and as an African, I was interested in exploring more on his African heritage,” he told 3news.com.
The book exudes a wide gamut of lessons for current African leaders.
Among these mentioned by Dr Sikanku and seen from the political lifestyle of Barack Obama are politics of decency, politics as a tool for bringing people together rather than dividing them and the need to compromise at some point in politics.
“African leaders can learn that politics can be done in a civil and decent way without falling into insults and violence”.
After its global launch in Iowa on Friday, September 9, the book has made its way to the Iowa State University and the University of Pennsylvania for readings and discussions.
A final launch is scheduled for Accra on Saturday, October 8 at the British Council.
Already, the book has received rave reviews from scholars across the globe.
“The book is not just the spectator’s narrative,” states Dr Gilbert Tietaah, a Lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana.
“In an impressive show of lateral thinking skills, the author analyses and draws out for the young generation of Ghanaian and African political leaders, a key lesson of the Obama legacy: nurture your nature!”
Dr Josie Zhaoxi Liu, Assistant Professor at the Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas states: “This work will make an immediate contribution to the study of American politics, African studies and global politics; it will also have a lasting impact on future studies on identity, culture and politics. The interdisciplinary nature of the work makes it particularly valuable.”
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