Former president J. A. Kufuor has rejected suggestions the motive for US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ghana was the country’s newly discovered oil. “Given any situation, there will always be doubters and cynics, but I tell you, I sense so much humanity in this leader, this president,” he told the BBC’s Komla Dumor. The former president said Mr Obama was an inspiration not only to African leaders, but also African youth in general because the African youth must be thinking “that if our brother there could do it, we too can do it. We could help lift Africa up quickly”. Touching on the controversial issue of why The White chose Ghana over Obama’s ancestral home, Kenya, Africa’s economic hub, South Africa, and Ghana’s regional rival, Nigeria, Mr Kufuor said Ghana was an obvious choice. Being the first south of the Sahara to gain independence, Ghana, the former president contended “is a part of destiny to set the pace in Africa.” Hitz FM’s Blakk Rasta says he would ask for reparation from President Obama in lieu of the harrowing slave trade that plagued the African continent for centuries. He told Komla Dumor that Africa deserves reparation for having been stripped of their dignity as a people during the trade. “I expect that when he (Obama) comes and goes to the Cape Coast Castle – I prefer to call it Cape Coast dungeon – he would see the atrocities that we went through as a people,” he said. Blakk Rasta was speaking to Komla on the much anticipated visit of Mr Obama to Ghana, a visit that is not detracting from the usual buzz about anything Obama. Discussions in Ghana have generally centered on the visit, with the national Daily Graphic newspaper dedicating its Thursday, July 9, 2009 edition to the 44th US President’s historic visit to the country - his first to Sub-Saharan Africa. Blakk Rasta, who composed a song in honour of the first black president of the United States, also wants Mr Obama to share ideas with African leaders. He is expected to entertain the Obamas during the visit. Mr. Obama, his wife, Michelle, and two daughters, Sasha and Malia, are expected in Ghana Friday evening for a two-day visit. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com