Historic! Obama next US President

Eventually Democratic Senator Barack Obama is elected the first black president of the United States.

He won with a provisional results of 51 per cent of the total vote cast with 338 electoral college votes.

As soon as he polled 270 electoral college votes, it was all over for the war hero, John McCain.

Young supporters went berserk chanting Obama's 'Yes we can' slogan.

In his concession speech, Senator McCain described the elections as historic.

He said "America is far away from the cruelty" of the past which made the country highly racist.

"Let there be no reason for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship," Mr. McCain said.

He said Obama had achieved something great for himself and for America.

Accepting responsibility for his defeat, Mr. McCain said "we fought as hard as we could and the blame for the defeat is not yours but mine".

He thanked his family, supporters and running mate, Sarah Palin for the support given him.

The failed presidential hopeful appealed to all his supporters to join him in supporting Mr. Obama to solve the myriad of problems confronting the nation.

At this juncture, it was time for the historic victor, Illinois Senator (now president elect) Barack Obama to speak.

He said his electoral victory was a signal to the rest of the world that America was indeed a different place and a land of opportunity.

"I will never forget who this victory belongs to, it belongs to you".

Mr. Obama said the election was not the change Americans yearned for but a chance to bring about the change.

The man who has just been given the most important job in the world said "America we have come far, we've seen so much but there is much to do".

Appearing frank and modest, Mr. Obama said reminded Americans of challenges ahead of them.

He appealed for support from those who did not vote for him to support him to deal with the country's problems.

Story by Malik Abass Daabu