In Ghana, Obama Preaches Tough Love: NYTimes

Quoted via NYTimes:

ACCRA, Ghana — President Obama traveled in his father’s often-troubled home continent on Saturday as a potent symbol of a new political era but also as a messenger with a tough-love theme: American aid must be matched by Africa’s responsibility for its own problems.

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The continent’s future, he said, depends on good governance, “which has been missing in far too many places for far too long.”

“That is the change that can unlock Africa’s potential,” he said. “And that is a responsibility that can be met only by Africans.”

The sight of the first black president of the United States, the son of a onetime African goat herder, electrified this small coastal nation and much of the region. Cheering crowds lined streets to catch a glimpse. Billboards with his picture dotted the city. His name and campaign theme became the refrains of songs played in his honor.

But while the history of the moment was lost on no one and Mr. Obama bathed in the rapturous welcome, he also delivered a strong and at times even stern message. more