Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has justified the South African protests which greeted the visit of United States of American President Barack Obama to the African country on Saturday.
Obama is visiting Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania on his second visit to Africa since the beginning of his Presidency.
Falana said in a statement on Sunday said South Africans' protest against Obama was justified "having not changed his reactionary view."
He said Obama should be told that "he has dashed the hopes of millions of Africans who had expected him to lead the battle against poverty in the world."
Among Obama administation's alleged double standard, according to Falana, include his (Obama's) exoneration of imperialism for the underdevelopment of the African continent and his failure to take any concrete step to arrest the flight of Africa's wealth to the West.
The lawyer said, "When President Barrack Obama visited Ghana for a few hours in 2009 he blamed African leaders and exonerated imperialism for the underdevelopment of the African continent. I had cause then to join issues with the American leader over his simplistic and escapist position which has informed his dangerous African policy.
"Since the bulk of the wealth stolen from Africa is lodged in the vaults of western banks and other financial institutions I challenged President Obama to join the peoples of Africa to ensure the repatriation of such looted wealth for development."
He urged Obama to familiarise himself with "the history of the brutal exploitation of Africa by the imperialist nations" by reading Dr. Walter Rodney's book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, before paying his next visit to Africa.
Falana also accused Obama administration and its allied forces, which invaded Libya for crude oil, of indulging in imperialism which had left the country in "political turmoil".
He maintained that "inconsistent policies" of Obama-led US government in the Middle East had contributed to the crisis in Egypt, "while the United States government has continued to support Morocco in the illegal occupation of Western Sahara".
He said, "Having not changed his reactionary views on Africa President Obama has been confronted with protests in South Africa.
"Although the South African police resorted to violence in stopping the protests it is symbolic that the first African American President is being challenged in Africa for not fulfilling his promise to stop the United States' government from violating the human rights of oppressed peoples across the world.
The Punch