" I have a dream that one day this nation willrise up and live out the meaning of its creed: " wehold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

'Yes we can!' someone shouted in the hall of Novotel hotel in Egypt. I was sitting by the swimming pool but I heard it loud and clear and I knew it is done, the history that the world had waited for all these while. I had left my room where I was watching television all day to sit by the swimming pool and relax, watching tourists from Europe bathing. They were speaking German, this guy and his wife or girlfriend. But they heard it too. As I rushed back to my room to catch up with CNN and to be part of Obama's victory, I looked back and saw the two bathing in the pool rushing out and heading to their room. That resounding sound still echoes in my head and fill my heart with great joy. In my sleep and in dream I keep murmuring, "YES WE CAN!" Ernst Junger, the German novelist, said it all in his novel Eumeswil: "If you do not achieve your dream it is because you did not dream forcefully enough." Barack Obama, the United State president elect has shown the world that dream comes true. In the heart of despair where shadows of hopelessness looms over, hope has kept men going and that hope has translated tody into the great victory of Obama. It is a victory for all black people, but above that it is the victory for all oppressed people. It is a victory for all minorities oppressed by majority or majority opppressed by minorities. It is the victory forthe priviledged who have sacrificed so much for the less priviledged in our midst. It is victory for FREEDOM, JUSTICE, EQUALITY and HUMANITY. It is a great victory for democracy.

What we must learn in Nigeria is that the road to Obama was paved at a great cost. It did not just happen by faith and prayer, but by work, dedication to duty and great sacrifice. It is the road paved by the likes of Rosa Park when she refused to give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery and was arrested that later led to the beginning of a new beginning in the fight against segregation in the USA. It is thesame road paved by Jesse Owen when he stun the world in 1939 to win four Olympics gold medals in Germany under the nose of the Nazi government and showed the world that we can.

It is thesame road that cost the lives of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, two remarkable black leaders of the Civil Rights Movement era and thousands of blacks who came out to march with them on the road to freedom from segregation. It is the road paved by the Mohammed Ali the greatest boxer of our time who put the black image on the map of the globe and into the house of every white man in the world. It is the road paved by musicians like Ray Charles, actors like Sidney Pontiac, icons like the 'King of Pop', Michael Jackson, basket ball legend Micheal Jordan, gangster rappers like Ice Cube, Jay Z, Tupac Shakur, Bob Marley, and million of black musicians, footballers, soccer stars of black origins all over the globe. And millions of unsong heroes from Harlem to Chicago, to the heart of California and Soweto to Johannesburg.

This is not just an American victory. It is the victory for Africa and in Africa we cannot forget the influence of Nelson Mandela, Kofi Anan, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Leopord Senghor, Julius Nyerere and millions who have re-branded the black image over time. It is the victory that all the world has fought for. It is the  victory of Mahatma Ghandi.

It is by and large the victory over tyranny, facism, lies and propaganda. It is the the victory of unyielding hope, and brother, it is amazing.

As we celebrate the victory of Obama in Nigeria, we must go back into history and see if Nigeria of today is what our heroes past had dreamt. As we celebrate the historic event in the USA with our black brothers and all Americans, we must ask ourselves what sacrifice do we all intend to make for the Nigeria of our children and grand children.

Before we can make such sacrifice we must look beyond amassing wealth as the greatest achievement. Nobody remembers those who amass trillions for long, but those who in their little ways impact on humanity. Yes We Can!

Obama has turned me from a non-believer to a believer. I believe our diversity can be our strength in Nigeria. I believe our difference in ideology can be our strength. But I do believe great achievement come at great cost and sacrifice. What I don't know is if Nigeria and Nigerians are willing and ready to change and effect change.

Nigeria must create a antion where Nigerians can afford to dream and where drean can come to reality. For now Nigeria is the cemetery of dreams. Dreams must be ressurrected. Yes We Can!

I hope the men and women in Abuja who control the dream of the nation are watching the Obama phenomenon. I hope they understand the significance of Obama's victory. I hope they are willing to do thesame to the people they claim elected them to those nice glittering offices in Abuja. I hope they are ready to help those who helped them fulfil their dreams as senators, house members, governors and president dream real dreams. Today I have a dream that we can change and whether our politicians like it or not somethings cannot be stopped. I hope in my life time I will see this change. Yes We Can!

Robot  Villager

# 1 I hope the men and women in Abuja who control the dream of the nation are watching the Obama phenomenon. I hope they understand the significance of Obama's victory. I hope they are willing to do thesame to the people they claim elected them to those nice glittering offices in Abuja...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 08.11.2008 05:03