08 Nov 2008 |
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God Bless America Funmi Njoku-Marcel Once again, America has taught the world what democracy is all about – getting to pitch your ideas to the nation and getting the buy in of fellow citizens. This victory does not belong to Barrack Obama alone, it belongs to all Americans who voted according to their perception of the candidate’s ability to lead their nation. It is very important to also note that although the ruling party (oops sorry about that, I am from Africa) lost, but because of a long tradition of adhering to the people’s choice, the current leaders and the main opposition candidate willingly submitted to the people’s will. Let’s face it even at party levels, we all saw what happened with Senator Hillary Clinton. She fought very bravely for nomination, but stepped down gracefully when the members of the party spoke. Probably left to the party elders, seniority and age would have made them to prevail on the younger candidate to step down, after all Hillary is no spring chicken (no offence meant) and her chances keep diminishing with time, while Obama is still young enough to have a shot at the post many times over in the future. Also all Obama has only had one stint as a state senator and his second stint in public office was only half way through before he launched his bid for the White House. But again the choice of the people prevailed over such considerations. “The people have spoken”. This election was about the people’s desire for a better deal in life and since government is at the centre of it all, the people decided to look for the better alternative between the two mainstream parties. This election is also about a man’s personal vision and desire to pitch in and help make things better. It is significant that he has invited the people to come along with him. This is very important because leadership is not a one man show, it is about team effort. He has seen a lot of the deprivations that people go through right from his early days as a community worker and I’m sure he has ideas about how things can be better done. These are the things that propelled him to make this bid. By letting people know he’s been there and can help he caught the imagination of millions of Americans especially the younger generation who are already facing a bleak future as the recession bites deeper. Obama showed how far he could tap into the grassroots when his campaign continued to raise million of dollars from regular citizens all over America. He even turned down federal funding. This action could be read to mean either or both of two things – “if the people want me, they’ll support me”, or “if I can raise the cash, the federal funding can be kept or used for other things”. Obama is also a “world citizen” in a way no other person can claim: Mother an American Father an African Grew up partly in Indonesia Name same as of a town in Japan That’s connections right across the world! No wonder the world looked on in awe and admiration. Only in America would this have been possible. As much as it is possible to be proud of another nation, I am proud of America and Americans because they have shown once again that they can take their destiny in their own hands and chart their course for the stars. Someone reading this may think that I am too generous with my words but when you come from a country where all that our “leaders” want is to take their own share of the “national cake” without even leaving crumbs for the people, you will appreciate what I mean. I will talk about this later, in the meantime God bless America!
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