Nigerian Human Rights Activist Blasts Obama; Says Bush Did More For Africa

During an event Tuesday at the Washington-based Family Research Council, a Nigerian civil rights activist and attorney said that George W. Bush – not Barack Obama – will be remembered for his legacy of helping the African people.

“President Bush will really be remembered as the president who had the most impact on Africa of the last three presidents,” said Emmanuel Obege. “I think they’re no doubt about it.”

Via CNS News:

Obege was responding to a question by CNSNews.com at an event at the Washington-based Family Research Council, focused on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and in Africa.

CNSNews.com had asked him to expand on his remarks about Bush having helped Africans by establishing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), while Obama has promoted homosexual rights, including same-sex marriage, on his African visits.

Obege said Bush’s visits to Africa made a difference to countless people on that continent.

“When President Bush visited Africa he launched an initiative – a presidential emergency program for AIDS relief, which was meant to help combat a major pandemic that was taking so many lives,” Obege said.

“And for many of us who were there, who rejoiced to see what President Bush did. It was sad for us to see President Obama go to Africa and for the second year running his primary objective was sexual imperialism, where he was calling on Africans to legalize gay marriage.

“One doesn’t even want to go into the questions of how antithetical that would be to the very notions and the very programs that President Bush was trying to implement,” Obege said.

When asked to expand on his contrast of the impact on Africa of the Bush and Obama presidencies, Obege responded that each had very different priorities.

“The point I’m trying to make is President Bush actually did something that was relevant to the crisis that was facing the continent at the time,” he said.

“When you show up and you’re saying to the people of Africa ‘You need to legalize gay marriage’ – I had a lot of Africans say, ‘Well, when our presidents go to America we don’t say to you to legalize polygamy even though we have a lot of polygamy in Africa and we think it’s a great idea, but we don’t come to your country and tell you to do that.’”

Obege referred to Obama’s recent visit to Kenya where he lobbied for homosexual rights.

These are highlights from President and Mrs. Bush’s trip to Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia in 2007.

The trip demonstrated President and Mrs. Bush’s continued commitment to the people of Africa through the work of the George W. Bush Institute’s (GWBI) Global Health program. The trip also highlighted the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon® initiative, an innovative partnership between GWBI, the U.S. Department of State President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and other private partners. The Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative leverages public and private investments and existing health infrastructures to combat two of the leading causes of cancer death among women in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America – cervical and breast cancer.