MY POINT OF VIEW

I can't remember an election in the history of mankind that took the whole world hostage and kept people glued to their TV sets while anxiously waiting for the results, as it was the case last night. Americans, Europeans, Africans, Assians and you name the rest, all wanted to be part of this historic moment.

Polls from the last few days of the election consistently projected Obama as the favourite, but the margin was never expected to be this wide. Winning 368 electoral votes as against 160 for McCain only tells how disgruntled people are with the entire American system. But thinking of electing a black man through this wide margin is hard to believe. It is not even 50 years when black people were still beaten and even lynched while trying to protest for their right to vote. If Martin Luther King Jr. was here today, he would say "this is the day. This is the mountain top I told you about"

Two months ago, the race was so tight that neither the Obama camp nor the McCain camp could tell with certainty what the outcome would look like. With a 70% turn out of people under 30 years old, and a large number of first time voters, it was hard to get the polls right. But for sure one man was certain and confident of this grass root effect. That man was Barack Obama.

Every other thing else being equal, the economic down turn seem to have been a decisive factor in the last days, and as expected, it could only be of advantage to Mr. Obama, who showed profound leadership in the midst of the financial crisis.

People wanted a change in direction, and even the financial system wanted change, and finally today, CHANGE HAS COME, but there are mountains to climb, and a rough terrain to cross. So fasten your belts and put on climbing shoes. The journey has yet just begun.