Congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama

By

Joachim Ezeji

As the United States of America Presidential election campaign period lasted and in line with the lofty legacies of Past Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton; Barack Obama had stopped over in Germany to make a historic speech at the Berlin Victory Column.

After listening to Obama make that historic Berlin speech, I did not hesitate to finally dismiss the niggling fear that Obama was too ‘little’ to aspire to the leadership of the United States. His composure, eloquence and power of oratory convinced me that this 47 years old lawyer and father of two daughters was well prepared for leadership.

Standing tall at the Victory Column, Barack Obama had scored a master stroke over his rival John McCain by his power of speech which showed his deep understanding of America, Europe and the rest of the world. A friend of mine had said that the speech was ‘’like a fountain gushing only meaningful quotable quotes’’. I could not agree less as I had taken note of most of them as well.

He had said ……“Today I speak to you not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen- a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world”.  Going further he had said; “There is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one”; and yet again ……’’Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice but the only way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity”; amongst many other useful quotes.

That Berlin speech had been preceded by tours of major countries in Europe where he met European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Markel. A total of 700 police officers were deployed for the  visit and over two hundred thousand people gathered and waited for hours at the Victory Column before Obama arrived. He used the occasion of that tour of Europe to outline his vision for America’s relationship with Europe.

On the hills of that Berlin speech, I had taken a deeper interest on Obama and refused to bow to the mantra of supporting him merely because he was an African America. The Obama speech at Berlin made more impact on me more than his victory over Hillary Clinton in the earlier Democratic Party primaries. The impact set me off to W.H. Smith Bookshop while on a visit to Sheffield, England to look for and purchase two books that were authored by Barack Obama: Dreams from My Father, and; The Audacity of Hope.

I implore every lover and admirer of Barack Obama to go back and read these two books in order to acquire the requisite background with which to celebrate Obama. The New York Times had said of The Audacity of Hope; …..“Barack Obama is that rare politician who can actually write- and write movingly and genuinely……In these pages he often speaks to the reader as if he were an old friend from back in the day, salting policy recommendations with colorful asides about the absurdities of political life………. Striving to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense……….while articulating these ideas in level-headed, non-partisan prose’’. 

According to the Oona King, The Times “Before Barack Obama became a politician he was, among other things, a writer. Dreams from My Father is his masterpiece: a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking the big questions about identity and belonging”.

My views of Obama got emboldened after reading these two books hence I followed his campaign with more interest and had endured sleepless nights, staying wild awake to watch the three presidential debates he had with rival Senator John McCain as well as those of their running mates Governor  Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden.

On the eve of the election, I was desperate to get an on the ground feelers outside what I have been reading in newspapers or watched on television, so, I called my friends Kelly and Meg; both white US citizens whom I have known in the course of my visits in the United States and their involvement in my sustainable development activities. Both ladies unequivocally told me that they were voting Obama because America needed a change; a discontinuation of the Republican government.

It is good that Obama finally made it by winning that all- important election. All- important election as it signifies a major change both in the United States and globally, and also because of the huge influence America has on the world.

I am happy that the euphoria that greeted the Obama victory was not lost on Nigeria and her elites. However the irony befuddling the atmosphere here is that even unrepentant beneficiaries of Nigeria’s rigged election are also celebrating and congratulating Obama. What an irony!

Just a day after the US election result was announced, another friend of mine Kristina, who also is an American citizen, wrote “Last night in my country, Hope triumphed over Fear. And good lord what a mess to clean up”. I followed up by replying “The election signified protest votes by Americans against the eight-year administration of President George Bush and its political, social, foreign and economic misadventure. It does not mean that the Americans have suddenly become colour blind. That will be a simplistic analysis of the issue. It is just that they are protesting the eight-year rule of Bush, which has left the American economy prostrate”.

I continued……..“There is also the class war in the American society, between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. The working class saw Obama as representing their cause and so voted massively for him. So, it does not mean that Rev. Martin Luther King’s dream has come to pass yet. Racism is still well and alive in the United States just as it is in Europe and elsewhere. Obama’s win in the US presidential election should not be misconstrued that every American white have come to accept blacks into political leadership”. These comments were my adaptation from the words of Prof. Tam David West in a recent newspaper interview.

 

Promptly Kristina had replied “Joachim, I really appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts and I agree with many of your points.  You are right–for many this was a protest vote against Bush/Republicans. The bad economy helped. If McCain had made a wiser choice for Vice President he might still have won. Ignorance is a natural precursor of Fear and that covers lots of people in the US. All of us were slammed with emails and advertisements throughout the campaign trying to make us fearful of Obama because of his past associations and Muslim heritage”.

 

She continued “But this time, we said no to Fear. This was the second highest voter turnout in our nation’s history. Post-election analysis has shown that it wasn’t just young people, poor people and minorities who made the difference; it was all walks of life that united to vote him in. Only 12% of our nation is black and only 6% of my city is black, but I have never seen or felt such joy and celebration for any presidential win. For the first time in my life I wasn’t voting against someone for president, I was voting for someone for president because of his ideas and priorities and also because he is a leader and not a bully. He is a ‘Uniter’ and not a ‘Divider’. We didn’t judge him because of the color of his skin, we judged him on the content of his character. He could not have won otherwise and In that respect, Dr. King’s dream did come true that night. I just got an email from a friend who is going to Mexico next week. He says he is relieved to tell people he is an American without his tail between his legs. This means he is no longer embarrassed and ashamed of our president. Me too!”

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Barack Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961. In his early twenties he found his vocation working among poor communities on the south side of Chicago. Later he went to Law school at Harvard University, where he became the first black president of the Havard Law Review.

After returning to Chicago, he was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. Barack Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and later that year he was elected to the US Senate.  He lives in Chicago with his wife Michelle and two daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Congratulations Mr. President-elect, as you move into the White House in January 2009.

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