Who could think an African-American, black man from nowhere, could pull through the way he did? An African American black man, who has no political godfather; an African American black man, who has no financial muscle; an African American black man, who became the president of the strongest nation on earth at his first shot.

We can go on and on to reel out the achievements of President Obama. But come to think of it, did Obama just wake up one morning and become the president of America? The truth is that Obama went through what most of us would have gone through and have ready made excuses for failure. Let us go down memory lane, to discover his journey to the White House.

1961 Barack Obama Jr. is born in Hawaii on August 4 to 18-year-old American, Ann Dunham and 25-year-old Kenyan student, Barack Obama Sr. six months after they married.

1967 Ms. Dunham divorces Mr. Obama's father and marries Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian student. When Mr. Obama is six, they move to Jakarta, where he is privately educated.

1971 Aged 10, Mr. Obama is sent back to Honolulu to live with his white grandparents, Stanly and Madelyn Dunham. He gets a scholarship to Punahou, a leading prep school.

1972 Ms. Dunham returns to Hawaii with two-year-old daughter Maya, leaving her husband behind. Mr. Obama's father visits from Kenya. It is the last time he sees him.

1979 Mr. Obama attends Occidental College, Los Angeles. At the end of his second year, he transfers to Columbia University, New York, where he graduates with a BA, majoring in political science and international relations.

1982 Barack Obama Sr. is killed, aged 46, in a car accident. Mr. Obama decides to become a community organiser to confront the issues of race and poverty.

1983 First job after graduation is as a junior editor at a business publisher in Manhattan.

1984 Takes a job with a Chicago-based group called Developing Communities Project and successfully carries out several projects including schools reform.

1988 Before starting Harvard Law School, 26-year-old Obama visits Kenya to meet his father's family. At the end of his first year, a leading law firm hires him as a summer intern in Chicago. There he meets Michelle Robinson, a young Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer, and they started dating.

1991 He graduates from Harvard as a doctor of law with honours and begins to write an autobiography, "Dreams From My Father".

1992. After returning to Chicago, Mr. Obama starts working at the firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Gallard as a junior lawyer. He marries Michelle.

1995 His memoir, "Dreams From My Father", is published where he talks about his relationship with his absent father, his views on race, experimenting with drugs and travelling to Kenya. A few months later his mother dies from ovarian cancer, aged 52.

1996 Mr. Obama is elected to the Illinois State Senate as the Democrat representative for the 13th District, which incorporates the deprived and predominantly black Chicago South Side.

1998 Obama is re-elected to the Illinois Senate.

1999 After running for Congress and losing, Mr. Obama returns to the Illinois Senate.

2003 He becomes chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee. In January, he formally enters the race for the US Senate. During the primaries, his Democratic rival, Blair Hull, takes the lead but after a short while drops out when domestic abuse allegations surfaced.

2004 Mr. Obama is chosen to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, earning him worldwide recognition. In November, at the age of 43, he is elected to the US Senate winning 70 per cent of the vote. He becomes the nation's fifth African-American Senator and takes an active role in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

2006 Publishes his second biography "The Audacity Of Hope". It outlines his political dream and becomes a bestseller.

2007 He announces his candidacy for President on the steps of the old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln famously spoke against slavery.

2008 his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, dies from cancer aged 86.

2008 Wins the election to become American's 44th president.

Though Obama failed in one or two things he ventured into, the truth of the matter is that the young man was well prepared and took every opportunity that came his way to make a difference. Where there was no opportunity, he created one.

So many people hail Obama's oratory power and would want to emulate him, but many would not be willing to do what he did to get to that level. He read books. He practised his speech as often as possible. Many of us are so busy that we hardly have time to read anything, yet we want to get better.

No matter what one goes through today, God has a plan for us and nothing or nobody can stop that plan except us. We are our own enemies. Those who blame others for their failure still have a long way to go. It does not matter what people say about you. It does not matter where you are coming from. What matters is where you are going. Are you willing to do the things that will enable you get to your destination.

Now are you still afraid of failure? Show me a great man who has not failed? Failures become stepping stones for individuals to achieve greater heights. Even the Holy Book is full of stories of men who encountered failures and later keyed in into God's plan for them. If they can, you too can.

Prepare yourself so that you will be ready to take your opportunity when it comes. One of the things that announced Obama to the world was in 2004 when he was chosen to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. Imagine what would've happened if he was not prepared to take that opportunity.

Trust God. Believe in His plans for you. Be faithful to your own part of the covenant. Take your opportunities as it comes and see what the Almighty will do in your life.

To our success.