Obama's parting message to Africa divides Twitter

In a wide-ranging, historic address at the African Union HQ on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama tackled a host of contentious issues, including corruption, development and a hot-button issue of African democracy: term limits.

1. It was the speech everyone was waiting for. Having already traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia, Obama's final appointment was a speech at AU HQ, where he would address the AU Commission. The US president, under pressure from all quarters, was expected to address issues of human rights, democracy, and to talk of an Africa developing at an impressive clip.
3. The address was typically Obamaesque. Charming. Sweeping. Thorough. Beginning by saying he was "the son of an African", Obama had the audience hanging on to every word. As expected, he spoke of Africa's place in the global order, of the need to move beyond the tired tropes of a starving, war-ravaged continent. Of trade, development and aspirations.
4. But then it got better.

6. Barack Obama: "Now let me be honest with you: I do not understand this. I am in my second term ... I love my work, but under our constitution, I cannot run again. I actually think I'm a pretty good president, I think if I ran again I could win, but I can't."

7. As it stands, more than half a dozen African countries have been led by the same leaders for the past two decades, including Chad, Zimbabwe, Sudan, The Gambia and Eritrea, among others. Equatorial Guinea's President Francisco Macias Nguema has been in power since 1979.
8. Obama made specific reference to events in Burundi, where President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for - and secured - a third term despite violent protests and an election the AU refused to observe. 
9. And the best was yet to come.
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11. Barack Obama: "The point is, I don't understand why people want to stay so long.

    Especially when they've got a lot of money."

12. That comment drew laughs and cheers from some sections of the audience.
13. Obama's speech, naturally, drew an immediate response.
16. Several people felt the speech was refreshing. Africans often complain that AU institutions are too far removed from their daily-lives. The 54-nation body is seen by many on the continent as designed to protect African leaders and not African citizens. Obama's words resonated.
22. But others were not convinced. What gave Obama the authority to lecture Africa, they asked.
24. Some felt he was condescending, telling Africans how to act, how to behave.