THE WHITE HOUSE (FinalCall.com)�Despite the widely held perception that President George W. Bush has turned a cold shoulder to African leaders, Nigeria�s President Olusegun Obasanjo pledged that Africa�s most populous nation will support the U.S. anti-terror fight.

"We are part of that coalition, and we will remain steadfastly part of that coalition," Mr. Obasanjo told reporters in the Rose Garden Nov. 2, following his meeting with Mr. Bush�the first for an African head of state since Sept. 11.

Nigeria and South Africa are the key U.S. partners on the continent, and oil-producing Nigeria is particularly important because of a huge Islamic population. "We are unique in a way, because we have the highest population of Muslims in Africa," Mr. Obasanjo continued.

"We are also unique in the fact that almost 50 percent of our citizens are Muslims, and almost 50 percent are Christians. That has advantages and also has disadvantages. It is up to us to let our people, the citizens of our country, know that whatever faith they belong to, they are not safe as long as we allow terrorism to take hold of the world."

Mr. Bush admitted that he is counting on the Nigerian leader to send "a message of tolerance and respect to other heavily Muslim nations. I assured him, and assure those Muslims who live in his country, that our war that we now fight is against terror and evil. It�s not against Muslims," he said.

Mr. Bush deflected the persistent question that input from Black leaders in this country and from African leaders has been ignored since the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. "I�m proud to have him by my side," the president said of Mr. Obasanjo, when asked by a reporter "why did it take so long" to arrange a visit by an African leader. He did not address the delay in scheduling the meeting.

White House sources have cited logistical problems and scheduling conflicts, although Mr. Obasanjo was reportedly ready to come to Washington in mid-September when he concluded a visit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

Africa observers have long argued that the U.S. would be wise to engage Mr. Obasanjo and other African leaders, not just because of their connections to the Muslim world, but because of security interests.

Three years ago terrorists struck against U.S. interests in Africa: the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were�like the Sept. 11 attacks�blamed on Osama bin Laden�s Al-Qaeda network, and those governments were credited with making swift arrests and bringing suspects to trial in those cases.

"A lot of the source of racial tension that (this) country has is because white people generally don�t listen to Black people," said Dr. David Bositis, of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "And those people who have an opposing view ridicule what Black leaders have to say or they accuse Black leaders of being racist or anti-semitic, or out of touch."

African leaders themselves may have kept their silence about not being consulted more openly about the World Trade Center and Pentagon incidents, in part, because "they are probably still trying to reconcile the U.S. walkout from the World Conference Against Racism in Durban," Acklyn Lynch, professor of Africana Studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore, told The Final Call.

Then, African leaders must deal with two major challenges, Prof. Lynch said, "globalization and the increasing marginalization of their people, and the debate over reparations, because their people are talking about it, and many of them are agonizing about where they�re going to stand on those two questions."