Wow! the US elections have come and gone, now it's time to move on. But I must say twas quite a remarkable election considering all the drama, attack ads and stump speeches. I learnt quite a few 'americanese' along the way- you know, 'battleground states, bellwether states, blue states, red states, Alaskan Moose, 'you betcha!' and a whole range of 'weird statistics!

Man, America is truly the greatest country on earth, (If it ever crosses my mind to have a 3rd child, i'll definitely have him/her in America! just kidding...)

As excited as I was that Obama won, I was a bit surprised at the depth of the race issue in America, I didnt really realise America isnt that a colour-blind society. No wonder blacks voted overwhelmingly for Obama - 96%!

Ok, now that Obama has won, no black man should ever use the colour of his skin as an excuse for underachievment, seriously, and all this issue about 'affirmative action' is nonsense. Obama's success wouldnt have been so phenomenal if it had been tempered with affirmative action. In naija, it's called 'quota system'. You dont 'mechanically' qualify people for positions or privileges, they have to earn it, black, white, rich, poor, north, south, east or west. You dont raise the bar for some and lower it for others, that's the 'ultimate bridge to nowhere' if i could borrow Joe Biden's expression!

On a more serious note, Obama's victory set me thinking ( not racially like most Americans) that I must be prepared to go through the school of 'hard knocks' without tearing down my opponents or judging those who dont share my world view. That I must be focused and still be gracious in the face of adversity or uncertainty. I'm truly inspired by the way he ran his campaign, cuz I believe he just raised the bar higher for whoever will step into his shoes when his season is over.

I do hope Sarah Palin has learnt the hard lesson of what goes round, comes round? She attacked Obama so viciously, I was beginning to wonder why she left her faith behind or whether she was born again at all! It was a great opportunity for her to 'show' John McCain the example of how to run a godly campaign, yet she funked it so bad. The Obama she was attacking ran a more gracious campaign, remember when Palin's daughter's pregnancy became public knowledge, Obama never used it to judge her, he simply said 'people's families should be off limits'.

Now it seems the tables have turned and she has become the butt of silly jokes like her not knowing Africa is a continent and not a country! etc and she's not finding it funny at all!

Ok back to my schl of thots, now that Obama has won, it's saddening to see how much idolatry people can display, the way things are going, Obama is almost being revered as the messiah and Moses combined! Thank you Tony Blair for asking people to stop putting the young president-elect under enormous pressure, the expectations are just too high!

I quite understand the transformational victory but all this 'Obama-worship' is scary-scary stuff! Kenya went as far as declaring public holiday in his honor! haba! That's taking it too far, and I thot to myself that it's the beggarly mentality at work. We in Africa always look to the west for economic prosperity and not in our God-given potentials and resources. If we are truly inspired by the Obama-Biden victory as we claim, we should look inwards, not west-ward and create our own awe-inspiring success story as well.

For as long as we 'patronise' others for favours, we will forever be subservient to them. Let Obama be Obama and as for the rest of us, let's take a cue from his victory to look inwards and search out the meaning of our lives so we can leave a positive impact in our little corner.

I leave you with a text message sent me a couple of days ago by my mentor Julia Oku-Jacks:

''The audacity of hope. The energy of dreams. The potency of patience.

The clear sightedness of vision. Powered by unwaivering faith in God and

the force of an idea, a belief, a directive whose time had finally and undeniably come.

Obama has done it for himself and for America.

He's also revealed just how puny and frail our excuses for failture and stagnation are.

It wont be easy or immediate. but if you believe it then you can do it.

YES YOU CAN...you in your own corner and I in mine. Let's go change our world.

Goodluck,

Julia.''