Sure enough, the birth of Barack Obama caught up quite a number of midwives. It even involved the birth of a dream of which he became the fulfillment.

They came from all walks and circumstances of life and death. There were slaves who became free, and free men who became prisoners. There were men and women who gave up, and those who carried on.

It was the tortuous history of a mission. The burden of the quest was an acceptance of the equality of human beings as such. It was a fact rejected and reduced to the nebulous state of a dream, a dream debased, derided and denied.

But inside the core of that dream was a vision sustained by a hope that no debasement, no derision, and no denial could dissolve. For the kennel embodied the self-evident truth that "all men are created equal."

Anyway, that "audacity of hope" is already producing the efficacy of unflinching desire. Stocks have perked up around the world's stock markets as soon as it became obvious that Obama would win the presidential election.

People are saying America will never be the same again. But the truth is that the world itself may have changed forever.

America has decided to make herself beautiful, and we all feel beautified by it. The feeling is good. It is heart-warming, like a sumptuous Christmas Lunch. But is it real? This all seems to be so smooth, too sleek, like the movement of a Siamese cat. It is enough to incite a cynic to scoff, but then, genuine cynics are merely pessimists hoping they may be proved wrong. God bless America.

I came across a headline stating that a certain Egwu faulted the American electoral system. I did not read the body of the news story. I can imagine no one more unlikely to be invited by the Americans to conduct tutorials on proper electoral systems at this time. The nerve of the man!

Obafemi Awolowo emerged as the leader of the Yoruba mostly because he was at the head of the movement to make the Yoruba beautiful. That was why he founded the Egbe Omo Oduduwa as a socio-cultural organization.

An ethnic body, pure and simple, it was given a Yoruba name openly. That was also why he separated its identity from that of the Action Group which, on the other hand, was presented as a political party.

It had Afenifere as its Yoruba nickname, or cognomen. That has changed, over the years, from a political group, and its appearance also takes on the guise of a socio-cultural organization now and then.

It has never been able to fully replace the Egbe, either in the intensity of its operations, or impact on the minds of those it is projected to serve or represent.

Unfortunately, Awolowo thrived at such a lofty height, far above most of his associates, and neglected to set a line of succession for his position. Although he acknowledged a cluster of leadership" as of right.

That event removed the spiritual base of Yoruba politics from Ikenne to Owo. Some people attempted to justify that move by asserting that the idea of the Unity Party of Nigeria, which replaced the Action Group, was born in the Ajasin residence in Owo, anyway.

It could be noticed by keen observers, however, that some feathers had fallen from the wings of the Yoruba "Eagle" thereafter. Its power to soar began to dwindle by the day. The people began to lose their place among the other ethnic groups.

At a time when power at the centre shifted among military hands, the mystique of Ikenne had fizzled out. Pa Ajasin, God rest his magnificent soul, simply did not have the charm to capture, or even titillate, the imagination of his people. The Yoruba was becoming a "second-rate citizen" even on his own land.

That was when Frederick Fasehun, stepped in with the Oduduwa Peoples Congress., OPC. We are in a position to confirm today, that when the glory of our heritage as a people was already spread on the ground to be trampled by all and sundry, the OPC fortunately arrived to save our prestige.

It reclaimed for us our rightful place as an ethnic entity that has to be reckoned with in Nigeria. That was why Bola Ige declined, even as the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, to be part of a legislation proscribing the OPC. He knew the score.

Now, Bola Ige was one of the young hopefuls for the succession to the position of leadership relinquished at death by Awolowo.

The wishing of that position on old Ajasin was part of a plan to frustrate his aspirations. But he could still snatch the palm eventually if he became the President or, at least, the flag-bearer for the Yoruba party, now identified as the AD.

In fact, he saw no rival in that direction. He was a dyed-in-the-wool politician, a long-serving member of the group with a record of official positions, one of those who shared the travail of imprisonment with Awolowo, and a former successful State Governor to boot.

But his pursuers were ahead of him - pardon the paradox. They suddenly turned the issue of the nomination for the flag-bearer into an essay-writing competition. As it turned out, a very good essay writer was ready to supplant him, and that was that.

The way was clear for those who knew how to play the game of succession to consummate their accession to the throne of the leader. And they did. And then, the leadership of the Yoruba really almost sank out of sight in its appeal to the people.

Who wants to be the Yoruba leader?

Someone mentioned the name of Olusegun Obasanjo the man who headed the whole nation for eight years, and left followed by a sniff of disgust on one side, and a sigh of relief on the other. Another person mentioned Ahmed Tinubu whose supporters claim had no such ambition, and is already an "Asiwaju" in his own right, anyway.

Even those who may nurse the desire fight shy of proclaiming it, while the air is full of voices declaiming the qualifications of almost any proposed candidate.

Of course, there is Chief Rueben Fasoranti, my old teacher, a gentleman of the first waters, who would never hurt a fly in thought, word, or deed. In other words, a man whose antecedents make you wonder what he is doing in active politics.

He can be highly articulate, if need be, but he constantly has a clever advocate rooting for him. That was the man who wrote a better "essay" than Bola Ige - Chief Falae.

Falae's main point is that Pa Ajasin, at his death, virtually nominated his successor. His successor too, according to Falae, also did the same for Chief Fasoranti. So where could any opposition come from?

He could have added that even if the issue were thrown into an essay-writing competition, his principal would win. I too can vouch for that as an old pupil.

But I wonder who would have won in such a literary contest - John MacCain or Barack Obama? But then, the emergence of a leader depends on much more than all that. Apart from all other attributes, personal charm, CHARISMA, also counts.

A leader comes out with a definite aura, surrounded by a distinctive mystique and accompanied by a captivating presence that incites a feeling of awe, or admiration, or inspiration.

Come to think of it, I believe Obama would even also have beaten that one to a frazzle in an open essay-writing competition.

The identity of most of our new Ministers would have been known by the time you read this...maybe. The reports, or rumours, have it, "on good authority", that the names would have been announced by Thursday.

Honestly, these delays in executing vital projects of state unnecessarily invite speculations, rumour peddling and sheer fictitious reporting.

And it would appear that the oath-taking exercise has achieved very little. "Sources close to Aso Rock" are still in full bloom.

The insistence by the Senate, of having the portfolios of the Ministers made known at once may still not help to expedite matters. All the same, it would be a shame if Barack Obama eventually makes his men (and women) known before we know our ministers.