By Francis Wache & Denis Mwambo In Washington
Barack Hussein Obama, Tuesday, January 20 made history by becoming the first black President of the United States of America.
In front of over two million people who braved frigid temperatures to witness the official inauguration at the National Mall in Washington DC, President Obama called for a new era of responsibility in the US.
Obama took his oath of office a little after noon, Tuesday, in the presence of out gone President George W Bush, former Presidents Carter, George Bush Senior, Clinton and the top brass of the US political system.
Holding the swearing-in Bible used by President Lincoln some 148 years ago was wife, Michele Obama and Obama's two daughters, Sasha and Malia.Obama, who becomes the fifth youngest US President in history, almost stumbled while repeating the wordings of the man who administered the Oath of Office - Justice John G Roberts Jr. But, apart from that little awkward moment, the inauguration went on hitch free.
Conscious of a world audience listening to him, Obama used the occasion to call on a new order in relations between nations, especially relations with the Muslim world. "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." With those words, Obama signalled a fundamental departure from the policies of his predecessor, George Bush.
In direct reference to poor nations, Obama said: "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds."
Much of Obama's speech, however, was directed at US domestic policies. The US is currently facing the greatest economic crisis, similar only to that of 1929. On this, Obama promised his fellow citizens that they would eventually overcome the difficulties. But, to do this, Obama said all Americans must make the necessary sacrifices.
Largest Inauguration Crowd Ever
The inauguration was characterised by glitz and glamour. There was pomp and pageantry. There was ecstasy and euphoria. There was soaring and electrifying eloquence; the applause, at times, was sky-splitting.
Indeed, as Theodore H. White once put it, "There is no ceremony more splendid than the inauguration of an American President."It is now estimated that over two million people descended on to the national Mall in Washington DC to witness the historic swearing in ceremony. Despite the freezing temperatures, millions of people thronged from across America and other countries of the world to the US capital for the event.
Presidential historians have described the crowd as the biggest of any swearing-in ceremony in the US. The biggest ever crowd was in 1964 during the swearing-in ceremony of President Lyndon Ben Johnson with 1.2 million people.
Conspicuously present at the National Mall in Washington DC was a huge crowd of African Americans who came out to see the first black President take office. Most civil rights activists who fought for civil liberties in the 1960s sobbed and cried as Obama spoke.
The 2009 inauguration, according to officials of the Washington DC Council, was also the most expensive in US history.
Bush Heads Home
At noon, on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, George W Bush officially became a former President of the US. Immediately after Obama's inauguration, Bush was taken off by a waiting helicopter called 'Executive One' heading for his home State of Texas in southern US.
Before the ceremony, while waiting to surrender power to Obama, President Bush had packed out his belongings from the White House.It would appear many Americans did not miss the departure of their 43rd President as most people hold him accountable for the current economic crisis and their diminished status in the world. His approval ratings had dropped to below 20 percent in the last year of his Presidency.
Bush is expected to invest his time in his Presidential Library in Dallas, Texas. In a few interviews before leaving office, he said he would also invest time with his family.
Tough Times Ahead
The entire world joined in celebrating the coming of a new President, but the tasks ahead of him are enormous. Obama is inheriting a declining economy - the worst unemployment figures in recent US history. He is also inheriting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While most of these issues started during Bush's era, they will soon become Obama's problems. And Americans are looking up to him to solve them.Obama has already introduced a huge stimulus package of about $850 which would be discussed in the US Congress in the days and weeks ahead. Should it pass, economists in the US have argued that it may create over 4 million jobs.
President Obama has already signalled that he would close the controversial terrorists' detention centre of Guantanamo in Cuba.What happened on January 20 was the historic transfer of power.
In his book The Making of The President, Theodore H. White says the transition between an outgoing President and the President-elect symbolises "the most awesome transfer of power in the world - the power to marshal and mobilise, the power to send men to kill or be killed, the power to tax and destroy, the power to create and the responsibility to do so, the power to guide and the responsibility to heal - all committed into the hands of one man."
Yes, stupendous power, indeed. Barack Obama is, arguably, the most powerful man on the planet.He has already gone to work wielding that power.
On Wednesday he swung into action in the Oval office. He met with his economic advisers and military officials, probably indicating his priority areas: tackling the economic crunch and confronting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The backwardness of Africa is something that has often been blamed on the legacy of colonialism. This is a notion that have set the pace for laziness, deceit, cheat and lack of will for African countries to be innovative Cameroon inclusive. We have failed in all ways yet we fail to realize it. The fact is that we only sit with our arms folded and cry when things are hard. We however fail to understand that it has taken years of hard work and sacrifice for societies with a lot and from which we beg for a bail out. We have all we need in this blessed country of Cameroon that one could possibly ask for in a country but leadership have failed us from time immemorial. If we don't change i am afraid generations to come will continue to live in the state of malaise in which we find ourselves. God Help Cameroon and give us the will and desire to think and believe like Obama did.
Posted by: MOTABENAMA | Saturday, 24 January 2009 at 06:46 PM
Please this is for the writer of this information. OBAMA did not stumble, please verify your facts. Judge Roberts made a mistake not him, and he did not want to embarrass the judge. He is a constitutional professor and knows it very well.
Thank you
Posted by: Jake | Saturday, 24 January 2009 at 11:28 PM