GUY RAZ, host:
Welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.
President Obama and his family are on Air Force One, headed home after a four-day trip that ended with a whirlwind tour of Ghana. It's Mr. Obama's first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president.
And as NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports, it was cause for a national celebration.
(Soundbite of chanting)
OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON: Ghana gave a joyful and vibrant welcome to President Obama and the first family. His speech before parliament, laced with symbolic personal references to the president's own African roots, was one of tough love for the continent. President Obama praised and chided Africa and promised the support of the United States.
President BARACK OBAMA: America wants to partner with the people and nations of Africa, but we all know that the future of Africa is in the hands of Africans. So I especially want to again speak to the young people of Africa. In places like Ghana, you make up more than half the population. And here's what you must know - that the world is what you make it.
QUIST-ARCTON: His message resonated with young people here in Accra, including this 24-year-old.
MS. SAJIR HANNAN(ph): My name is Sajir Hannan. It's important for the youth to take the message away from what Obama was saying, that actually - yes, we can. That the future's in our hands and not in the hands of the corrupt government or Africa, but in our hands, and that we need to stand up for ourselves and stand up for democracy. So I think - yes, there are lots of challenges. But if you have somebody to say (unintelligible) so maybe it makes it - just sound a little bit easier.
QUIST-ARCTON: Throughout his visit, President Obama stressed the importance of good governance in Africa, and hailed Ghana as a continental model of a stable democracy.
Pres. OBAMA: Every day with its success, Ghana sends a simple message to the world, that democracy can thrive in Africa.
QUIST-ARCTON: President Obama said what Africa needed was not tyrannical strongmen, but strong institutions. He promised to fight conflicts in Africa, which he said where global security challenges, that needed a global response. Africa's war criminals, he warned, would be held to account. The president also spoke of his personal ties.
Pres. OBAMA: As somebody whose father comes from Africa, obviously, this visit has been particularly meaningful for me.
QUIST-ARCTON: The Obama family paid a visit to one of the string of slave forts and castles that dogged the Atlantic slave coast of Ghana. They are testament to the millions of Africans who were shipped to America and beyond. The poignancy was not lost on President Obama.
Pres. OBAMA: I'll never forget the image of my two young daughters, the descendents of Africans and African-Americans, walking through those doors of no return, but then walking back those doors of return. It was a remarkable reminder that while the future is unknowable, the winds always blow in the direction of human progress.
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QUIST-ARCTON: As the Obama family left, Ghanaians said they were looking forward to their next visit.
Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Accra.
(Soundbite of chanting) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Pres. OBAMA: I'll never forget the image of my two young daughters, the descendents of Africans and African-Americans, walking through those doors of no return, but then walking back those doors of return. It was a remarkable reminder that while the future is unknowable; the winds always blow in the direction of human progress.
RAZ: Ofeibea, tell us about where the president was. What was he speaking about?
QUIST-ARCTON: Ah, yes. The Obama family paid a visit to one of a string of slave forts and castles that dot the Atlantic coast of Ghana. And it's in the sort of dungeons where the slaves were kept before they were shipped out to America and beyond, that the Obama family visited. And this corner, I think, was not lost on him and that's why it was so poignant.
But he said, you know, I am of the blood of Africa so coming to this continent is as important for me as coming to see you all here. It was really a touching moment for the Obama family and for Ghanaians watching this African-American family come and visit.
RAZ: It really sounds like it.
That's NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton in Ghana's capitol, Accra.
Ofeibea, thanks so much.
QUIST-ARCTON: Always a pleasure.
