Little did I know I would have the time of my life when Ghana’s President John Atta invited me to Osu Castle for an exquisite evening of dining and dancing with selected dignitaries.
From Takoradi, I took a cab with my girlfriend Tanjeet to the state house. We arrived in plenty of time to meet our fellow guests, dressed to the nines for an exclusive night.
“Welcome, President Atta and his guests are right in here,” said the hefty doorman as we stepped up to the mansion. I walked Tanjeet through, following the thump of the music to the hall where the President and his guests were dancing.
Inside, the flashing disco lights betrayed dancers faces and those on the sidelines were gossiping with pints in hand. As I moved my left leg to the beats provided by the Ghanaian DJ, my eyes were quickly drawn to the party’s host in a giggy-giggy style with his missus.
But I wasn’t here to see him – I had another president in mind. As I kept my dancing steps with Tanjeet, I kept scanning the room, seeing more surprises. There was Hugo Chavez, dressed in a red body-hugging shirt, strutting his stuff.
And there was Ahmadinejad getting down while Assad of Syria swayed behind a girl’s back. I even saw Zelaya of Honduras dancing with Kirchner of Argentina before the movement of bodies and the flashing disco lights strained my eyes too much.
“Whoa!” I thought to myself. “What kind of informal gathering is this?”
Just before the faces blended into a blur, I spotted the man I was looking for. There was President Obama, living it up on the dance floor like all the others. The hip-hop song blasting out gave me the confidence to approach him, and when he saw me he beamed a huge smile in my direction.
“Ukachukwu Okorie! What’s up?” Obama said as he gave me a dude’s hug. “I saw the book you dedicated to me and Michelle.”
“Cool,” I replied. “I got your letter. How is stuff going on in the White House?”
“Still battling the recession fever,” he said as we moved to the corner bar to order a couple of pints of Guinness. “What’s going on in Dublin?”
We talked in general about Irish life and food, and laughed heartily over a joke about an Irish and English couple who love Lagos Guinness, before venturing to more important areas.
On his question to me about hospitality among the Irish towards immigrants, I told him the truth. And what is it? The fact is that the Irish are a very good people, although there is also evidence that an ignorant minority is still powering some strong wheels that are derailing the integration process.
I prodded Obama to find a way to arrange an economic package for the Irish Government, because they are waiting for him. I told him how imperative such a package is to us as every day companies are folding up and unemployment is on the rise.
We then moved on to African matters, and he asked me why Nigerians were unhappy with him because he was visiting Ghana. Obama said they should not be disturbed, because he wasn’t even visiting Kenya where his father comes from.
On the issue of Honduras, I asked Obama if indeed he’s marching with Ortega, Chavez and others to restore President Zelaya to power. But before he could answer, a loud ringing noise sounded through my head – it was my phone alarm, waking me up from my sound sleep.
Ukachukwu Okorie is originally from Nigeria. Visit his website at www.olumouka.com
