On the brink of history as the world watched, Americans trudged out to cast their vote. Knowing I couldn’t vote in the USA , I settled for cheerleading instead “It is alright, It is okay, He is gonna make it to White House anyway!” Eleven hours later, an SMS from a friend in far away Massachusetts woke me up in the early hours of Wednesday morning- “He Won! Obama won! New Hope New USA!” and a few seconds later, a beep from a friend in nearby Ogudu, “He got it. Obama did it. God did it!” and then another from Apapa, “A change has come, as Senator Barack Obama made history in America and the world, nothing is impossible for change is constant and inevitable…”
Propelled by the positive texts, I crawled out of bed in excitement. My eyes fell on the book I had read the night before- the biography of Martin Luther King Jnr. by Amy Pastan. The story of a life that made 2008 change in USA possible gave me a fresh perspective of Obama’s hope and song of change. The Martyr, Martin Luther King Jnr. paid the price over 40 years ago that made Obama’s victory so certain, he groomed the fertile soil for Obama’s dream to grow.
King lived for one thing- doing God’s will. He expressed this in his nonviolent movement to end segregation and its likes in USA. He was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things for change. His words, deeds and passion empowered others; he bridged the gap for generations to come. He would have been 79years this year, probably alive to witness this massive change but he was assassinated by only God knows who 40 years ago! But still his dream lived and the cause he advocated for paid off again through Obama’s victory.
Looking back now at the just concluded US election, it was worth being Obamaddicted for change, thank God hope did not fail. Are we not Obamafied, I mean satisfied by the result? King would be smiling now, at Obama’s courage and victory. He might have also foreseen this in his mountaintop journey. He said in one of his speech “I must confess my friends; the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there…moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dream will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted…difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”
The future is here, whether the world is ready for it or not, America's first Black President emerged last night. Congratulations President Barak Obama a.k.a Uncle Oby (as Dayo Israel puts it) and Vice President Joe Biden. Like Martin Luther King Jnr., your audacity has rekindled hope in many, to dare to dream the impossible!
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