Even as he celebrates his re-election, two days ago, US President Barak Obama has been advised to remember his African roots even more in this his final four-year term.

The advice was given by Nigerian politician and philanthropist, Prince Tonye Princewill, while reacting to Obama’s overwhelming victory in Wednesday’s US presidential ballot.

Princewill, a Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart and leader of Princewill Political Associates (PPA), urged Obama, whose father was a Kenyan, to take a deep interest in African issues particularly the promotion of investment in Africa as the security of the world and its financial sustainability lay in the continent.

Princewill in a statement signed by his media consultant, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, and made available to News Express described Obama’s re-election as a beacon of hope to all and a triumph of democracy.

“This is truly remarkable and a sign of the triumph of hope over cynicism, the reward of hard work and evidence that if people take their fate into their own hands, they can rewrite their own history,” said Princewill. “I have always said politics is far too important to be left to politicians and I was glad to see ordinary Americans do what they do best: Write their own destiny,” he added.

Continuing, Princewill, who is fondly called The Prince by his admirers, said: “We in Nigeria have a lot to learn from this great exhibition of people’s power. Nobody there played victim; everybody there showed an ability to stand up and fight not just for themselves but for each other. A love for their country symbolised in a simple and enduring patriotic spirit Nigerians would do well to think deeply about.”

Princewill commended Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, for demonstrating statesmanship not only by conceding victory to the will of the people but for the manner and tone by which he did so. He urged Nigerian politicians to emulate this example as Nigerians were getting more and more aware of their power, saying: “If we are to move our democracy forward, we must listen to the voices of our people.”

•Photo: Prince Tonye Princewill.

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