Posted by By Simon Ateba on
Hundreds of Nigerians who gathered at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, for an all night vigil on the outcome of the US presidential election, this morning, broke down in tears as Barack Obama was pronounced the president-elect of the United States of America.
Hundreds of Nigerians who gathered at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, for an all night vigil on the outcome of the US presidential election, this morning, broke down in tears as Barack Obama was pronounced the president-elect of the United States of America.
Among those who could not control their joy were Engineer Rauf Aregbesola, the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate for Osun State in last year's election; Hon. Adewunmi Onibiyo Adelabu, President of the Obama Nigeria Initiative, Lagos and Chairman, House Committee on Local Government Administration of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
There were also hundreds of ordinary Nigerians and some lawmakers in the state who watched as the results trickled in state by state. There were jubilations each time the American voters gave it to Obama.
As early as 6 p.m. yesterday, over 800 Obama fans gathered at the Oranmiyan Hall of the Airport Hotel and began to view the election proceedings from three giant screens mounted at the venue, for the purpose.
The three giant screens were alternated between Fox News, CNN, BBC and Sky News. But at a time, when Nigerian fans realized that Fox News was not supporting Obama, they decided to tune permanently to CNN.
There was music to entertain the fans. Free drinks and snacks were also distributed to the supporters. After the declaration of the results, Hon. Adelabu told P.M.News that he was happy to be alive to see the emergence of the first black U.S. president. Engineer Aregbesola, on his part, advised Nigerians to learn from America's free and fair electoral system.