Barack Obama has had a powerful, some would say magnetic, influence upon communities, even those which are located very far from the USA. How has the Obama phenomenon impacted upon the Nigerian society?

"Obama the Lord is your strength, we believe in change." The Disk Jockey waxed his CD plate and the powerful speakers by his side emitted those lyrics into the airwaves. It was the same sentence repeated over and over again, but with each word the energy increased. Youths raised their fists in the air as though they were charged by an unseen force and their bodies vibrated in conviction.

When their hands rose up, a picture of Nelson Mandela saying "free at last!" came to mind. Such was the vigour with which they chanted the lyrics of the song. They sang like their lives depended on it. They sang like it was the gospel truth. This was Nigeria, these were Nigerians but they called 'Obama',as though he was their brother or something higher, maybe a saviour of sorts.

A group known as 'Kapollo' recently held an Obama rally opposite the Millennium Park in Abuja near the Unity Fountain. The rally witnessed a large turnout of people especially youths, who came out to openly express their support for Barack Obama. Music churned out from the speakers as men and women adorned in shirts with a picture of Obama, ran across the roads shouting their support for him at the top of their voices.

The passion they felt for this man was clearly written on their faces as they marched around the area holding placards above their heads. "We believe in change." That was what they repeated again and again. It was ironic. They believed in change, but it was not to come from their own Government or anyone in the helm of affairs in Nigeria, but from America.

Obama has awakened the political consciousness of Nigerians, and even in America where he comes from. He seems to hold the world in his palms. Never before in history have such a large number of people keenly followed the presidential elections in America like now. Everyone including influential and opinion leaders are praying he comes out of the race, the winner.

It is no longer news that next to perhaps nothing, Obama is currently the most popular man in Nigeria. How a man could pull such weight and draw strong emotions and reactions from people around the country beats the imagination. However, all the way from America where the heat of the forthcoming presidential elections is building up, many Nigerians have caught the 'Obama' fever, and are throwing all their support for him more than they did when Nigeria's presidential elections which saw Musa Yar'adua emerge as president was holding.

Recently a World Press Conference held in Lagos organised by Africans for Obama, and guess whom its Chairperson was? None other than the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyuike. She was at the forefront canvassing for support for Senator Obama. In an interview she granted The Sun, she confessed to be 'an Obama maniac!'

Obama even received the blessings of a Northern First Class Emir when the Emir of Gumel, in Jigawa, Alhaji Ahmad Muhammad Sani called for a special prayer for him to ensure his electoral success over his Republican rival, John Mc Cain.

A report by the Vanguard on June 18, 2008 said the Emir of Gumel, Alhaji Ahmad Muhammad Sani whose forefather waged a Holy war in 1804 to cleanse Hausa land of unIslamic practices made the call when the Governor of Jigawa state paid him a courtesy visit in his palace. The Emir, according to the Vanguard referred to Obama as 'a true vehicle of change'.

At another World Press Conference organised by a group called the 'Obama Nigeria initiatives' as early as March this year, the President of the Group, a member in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adewunmi Onibiyo expressed confidence that 5 million Nigerians will rise and support the Obama Presidency. Onibiyo had somehow got 32 representatives in the Lagos State Parliament to volunteer. I t is quite possible he would not have gotten that number if he was rallying for support to get their vote on a bill he was proposing!

Here is how he put it: "As representatives of the people, it is a treasured gift to be able to come to terms with the way the world is changing in terms of global politics ,and keeping abreast with it. We encourage all Nigerians to embark on mass mobilization for the realization of the Obama Presidency."

The respected Reverend Father Matthew Kukah lent his voice on the matter. In an opinion piece titled 'The Hillarity of Obama', Kukah proffers that the emergence of Obama is an answer to a higher calling ,beyond the comprehension of anyone including Obama himself.

He said: "How could anyone explain the fact that this burden will fall on the shoulders of an orphan? Would common sense not have led us to conclude that anyone carrying this mantle would have descended from the loins of the likes of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Mohammed Ali, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Toni Morrison, or even the acerbic Louis Farrakhan or someone with some name recognition?"

Even headstrong militants in the Niger Delta revere Obama. At a time when the spate of attacks in the oil producing region of the Niger Delta was high, they only considered a temporary ceasefire after the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate made an appeal.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in an email said: "The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem."

If it was not for the pot holes on the roads or the rumours flying here and there of various Government Officials misappropriating funds which are a constant reminder that this is Nigeria, one will have mistaken it for America. Why? Obama is everywhere. His stickers are on cars, doors, and his name is constantly on the lips of someone at every point in time. For many ,Obama has dared to achieve the seemingly impossible ,and has inspired a reorientation in the minds of many that the only limits that exist are in ones imagination.

Generally people like to associate with good things, so it will not be surprising if in the not too distant future you hear parents christening their children, Obama. Or a mischievous person might trace his ancestral link to Nigeria, and if he wants to be very mischievous, his state. Obama will also soon be bagging many chieftaincy titles in absentia. There will also be Nigerian movies with their very funny titles like 'Obama the king' or 'Obama in Abuja.' Watch out for movies like these.

A very popular historic public speech is the one delivered by Martin Luther which he titled "I have a dream". When he delivered that speech on August 28, 1963 to over 200, 000 civil rights supporters during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites among others would coexist harmoniously as equals.

Many believe that Luther saw into the future and Obama, is Luther's dream in flesh. Obama is an embodiment of the American dream. He made history when he clinched the Presidential Ticket on the Platform of the Democratic Party ,at a time when it was never envisaged that a black man could possibly be in the White House. As much as America claimed it was a model to copy in the practice of democracy, racism and certain discrimination has never quietened. But Obama conquered this fixated opinion, and defied predictions of many that he will not survive the Hilary Clinton storm.

Obama did not have an easy childhood; his father had abandoned a pregnant wife and child when he met his mother, Ann, a white woman from Kansas, while studying in Hawaii. Obama was two when his father left his new family to study at Harvard. His father eventually returned to Kenya, working as a government official after independence. A third marriage failed, and the father of seven fell prey to drink, never again contacting his American son. Obama was raised by his maternal grandmother.

Barack Hussein Obama II now stands as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential election. He is the first African American to be a major party's presumptive nominee for President of the United States.

A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer and practiced as a civil rights attorney before serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. From 1992 to 2004, he also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate in January 2003. After winning a landslide primary victory in March 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He was elected to the Senate in November 2004 with 70% of the vote.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he cosponsored legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the current 110th Congress, he has sponsored legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel. Since announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the war in Iraq, increasing energy independence, decreasing the influence of lobbyists, and promoting universal health care as top national priorities.

Obama has broken many barriers-religion, race, background, age and influence. All the excuses we cook up where politicking is involved.

There are people who eat, drink, sleep and talk Obama. They are obsessed with his personality ,and have steadily followed the progress he has made since he indicated interest to run for the presidency. These people, assuming they were married, if they are not, will make their spouses turn red in jealousy with the way they carry on about Obama.

Tom Obulu is the Coordinator of Obama Dream to Reality Group Africa; he is rallying support for Obama in his own way. He sent a letter to the Senator through the American Embassy expressing his staunch support for him. His interest in Obama is stemmed in his disillusion with 'bad governance in Nigeria'. For him, Obama is like a rose in the midst of thorns and he is a welcome change.

"Obama's effect, Obama's fever is showing because every individual loves change. We want change every second, every minute, and every hour and so on. Our interest in Obama is natural because of the hunger for good governance, good democracy and good fight against corruption. We see him as an inspiration, as a motivation that African leaders or Nigerian leaders should try to emulate especially the way and manner he emerged as the presidential candidate of the democratic party you can see it was devoid of religion, devoid of racism, but was based on intent of character, merit and more so he is an inspiration because Nigeria as a country has acute shortage of good leadership, quality leadership so Obama should be an inspiration of good leadership for Nigeria, good leadership for Africa," he said.

On August 4, 2008, Obama will be a year older. Obulu intends sending him another letter wishing him a happy birthday. He is also organising a get together with Obama fans like him to celebrate his birthday. That is how much he loves the man. One hardly hears where ordinary Nigerians celebrate their President's birthday on his behalf. It is amazing!

Standing at over 6 feet is 'the original man' as he likes to be referred to. He was one of those at the rally organised for Obama in Abuja and this Daily Trust Reporter could not help but notice the way his heavy biceps flexed as he shouted "Obama" at the top of his thunderous voice like the Presidential Hopeful could hear him in America. In a very set face and eyebrows knitted in a frown ,he says, "We need to let the world know that in Africa and all over the world we have good people. Obama is a dream come true to Africa. You could remember Martin Luther King that said I have a dream that is going to come to be and right now what is happening in America is a dream come true for some people and that is why we are trying to emulate those people .It will also encourage the younger generation coming to know that going overseas we are going there to do something meaningful to make Africa a great nation."

Then he goes ahead to describe Obama's personality like they have shared a room before, "that guy is a loving guy and when you see somebody that is going to perform, you just know. If such guys were to be made the President of Nigeria by now you and I will be singing a different song. "

Jossy is a female fan of Obama, and as an aspiring youth, she has adopted Obama as her role model. She is quite taken with him; she carries a picture of him she printed from the internet in her handbag.

With an emotion laden voice she tells this reporter that "I have been following the news ,and I believe in him a lot .When he talks I believe in him and for the plans he has for America and for the whole world especially what is going on in Iraq. I believe and I am praying in my heart that Obama will be the next American President. He has affected my life in the sense that he has made me believe that anything is possible once you put your mind to it."

Kem Ajieh, the Director of Communications and Spokesperson of Kapollo, attributes Obama's progress to his education as he urges other youths to emulate him.

"Get knowledge and stay on the path of integrity and honour, stay away from coping the bad examples that our leaders are showing ,so that you can aspire to say now no matter where you come from, no matter who your parents are, no matter your background, you can aspire to the highest level in any part of the world. It shows that colour, age, race will no longer determine who the opinion leaders in the world will be, because we are standing for generational change."

In New York, retailers in Manhattan and on the web, are using creative slogans and images to profit from the image of the Democratic White House hopeful, as he campaigns against Republican rival John McCain ahead of the November election.

There are campaign buttons, jewellery, teddy bears and even women's underpants. And this merchandise is being sold online at unprecedented levels in a presidential campaign. Obama is drawing large crowds of young people and now represents about 75 percent of political sales, while items showing McCain account for roughly 10 percent. Many say Obama's charisma is a clear factor in the merchandise surge, and his success at utilising the web.

At this point, Obama has made history, but he is yet to gain total victory. What happens if Obama does not make it to the White House? Will the fame he has attained slowly ebb away, or will he go down in history as a man who pushed his limits?

Tom Obulu offers his opinion: "In life there are two kinds of victories. The victory that he will be installed as American President and the victory that he has already created an impact for change in the entire world, so Obama's victory to me will be the impact he will make whether he wins or loses the elections. Take for instance there is an 81 year old man who wants to run for the prime minister of India next year. He has set up a think tank studying Obama's strategies for his own campaign for the post of prime minister next May. So you can see already there is an impact he is already a winner in terms of the change he has brought."

The President of 'Kapollo' sees it this way, "we want them to know that the whole world is watching if they fail the world ,then democracy has collapsed ,so we want to tell America that we are conscious of what is going on, and that is why great Nigerians, great Africans are making sacrifices to develop our democracy."