Saleh Shehu Ashaka
7 November 2008
opinion
Jos — Barack Obama has made history as the first black president of the United States of America. The history made here surpassed that of John F. Kennedy. This feat is phenomenal and right from the start; I saw the divine and heavenly seal every step of the way Obama took to get to this pinnacle.
Obama is a very, very, very lucky and hardworking man and it all paid off for him. Many people might have also worked harder than Obama but didn't make it, Obama could still do all he did and still fail, so good luck and knowing what to do at the right time, might have helped him to get to this place. God must have ordained Obama king right from the start, for him to have endured everything he went through and still came out on top.
When Barack Obama scored three high-profile newspaper endorsements including two from papers that have never endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate before (Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post) which all praised his handling of the grueling presidential campaign and the historical nature of his candidacy as the first black to be the nominee for a major political party, I knew then that he will be victorious.
When Kenyan MPs (months before the election) called for an airport in the west of the country to be upgraded for Air Force One (U.S. Presidential Plane) to land and take off from it, in case Barack Obama wins the US elections and wants to visit, I knew then that the ruler of the world will soon be elected. When Gallup Polls conducted in 70 countries from May to September 2008 revealed widespread international support for Barack Obama over John McCain in the U.S. presidential election (World Citizens Prefer Obama to McCain by Nearly 4 to 1 according to Gallup Organization), I knew then that the hands of God are in all these. Supposing Obama was a white contesting against McCain, the election would have ended a long time ago with McCain throwing in the towel earlier and nobody would have been surprised with this landslide victory because of the stuff McCain is made of.
On Tuesday, when Obama won and made history, when I saw the margin of his victory, I knew now that destiny is at work here. When Obama received 43% of the white American votes, more than what Bill Clinton received in 1992 and 1996; more than what Al Gore received, more than what John Kerry received, I know now that a colour-blind president is elected. When I saw people in almost all the countries in all corners of the world rejoicing and dancing in the streets when Obama was declared the president-elect, I know now that the world may not have had such a president so widely accepted before. As Obama won by 349 to 163 electoral votes; as the Democratic Party retained their majority status at both the Senate and House of Representatives and even gained many seats and boosted their control of both chambers; as the Democratic Party wins seven out of the 11 governorship posts contested, I know now that a leader that will give the world hope and peace has just been elected. When Kenya decided to observe yesterday as a holiday in honour of Obama´s election, I know now that a world president (a president without borders) has been elected.
With this election, America has started paying for the sins it committed during slave era: it is not yet enough, it is just a start, it is only when every black in America is being given equal opportunity and rights like every white, that the sins of slavery might be forgiven. This Obama´s victory has started the emancipation of the black race, but, it is only when the rogues that call themselves the ruling class in all African countries are done away with and when the majority of people in the African continent stop dying from ignorance, poverty and diseases will the emancipation be all encompassing.
Remember that slavery ended 200 years ago and it was in 1965 that the Civil Rights Act was passed that allowed blacks to vote in the Southern part of the United States. But now, Americans have voted for a black man, for the first time in their history, to lead the most powerful country in the world. This is the start of a crescendo!
I congratulate the president elect and his family for making it possible for us to be part of this history in our lifetime and for being the first black family of the world, so to speak. No one believed it could ever happen. The tears I saw as Obama was declared the winner is heart moving; Rev. Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and millions, couldn't hold back their tears, because, nobody thought this could ever be possible in our lifetime. I know that Martin Luther King Jr. will be very happy in his grave because one of his dreams has come true. I know that Obama´s mother, father, grandmother, grand father etc will all be proud of him, wishing they were alive to be part of this history. The suffering of the black people, the pains of the blacks, the humiliation and disgrace they went through, have gotten a bit of down payment with the election of Obama.
McCain was gracious in defeat; I thank him for a wonderful concession speech where he acknowledged defeat and urged his supporters to move beyond partisan differences to put country first.
The enormous task that will be facing the president elect will be overwhelming; George Bush wrecked havoc on American economy that it will take a divine intervention, which might be on the side of Obama, to put things right. The problem is that this Bush's administration has wrought damage to American economy and American psyche more than they have been willing to acknowledge or report. The president-elect will marvel to see the problems that he will face when he takes office, problems that nobody envisaged are of such magnitude before now, amongst which are the thorny diplomatic relations and an understated world hatred against America and Americans, the economic melt-down, the Iraqi war etc.
When Obama takes the White House, I will see how anybody can prevent any qualified Nigerian from contesting for the presidency simply because of where he or she is from; that injustice will not be sustained again. Obama´s presidency will also change the negative opinion greater part of the world has about the black race; the world as of now wrongly sees the black race as "inferior". With the Obama factor, in less than five to 10 years from now, I have a dream that a black man will take a shot at the British prime ministership and might as well occupy No. 10 Downing Street.
In his victory speech, delivered before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of his supporters in Chicago, Obama proclaimed that "change has come to America." Echoing Martin Luther King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address, he declared, "The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even in one term, but America I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there." My pride as a black has been reinforced.
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