As the first African country to transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, Benin has been hailed as a "beacon of democracy" by the British Broadcasting Corp. and has attracted admirers worldwide.

The Beninese have former President Mathieu Kerekou to thank for that.

Kerekou, who assumed power in 1972 and governed for more than 20 years, became a Muslim, a born-again Christian, changed his name twice and founded a Marxist-Leninist government there. Then in 1989, he helped convert it into a democracy.

Given his long tenure, many Benin citizens were surprised that he didn't change the constitution, allowing him to stay in power.

Neighboring countries' residents were surprised, too. That's because in recent years, many African leaders have changed constitutions, allowing them to reign indefinitely. For example, in Chad, President Idriss Deby changed the constitution to allow himself to run for a third term, and his country has a reputation as one of the most corrupt in the world. It's been plagued by internal conflict and warfare over election issues.

"If I compare my country to other countries like Kenya and other parts of Africa, there has never been war in my country," said 16-year-old Nick-Aurel Houessou, a Cotonou resident.

Two years before Nick was born, this West African nation adopted democracy, ratified a constitution and established a Parliament, modeled after France.

Observers say they see potential in the young democracy.

"My impressions of the country is that yes, it's a developing country. Yes, it has traditional problems of development, low education rates, poor health infrastructure, high mortality rates," said Ambassador Gayleatha Brown, the U.S. ambassador to Benin, who was appointed in July. "But what has impressed me most is that this is a really budding democracy."

Elections are further evidence of that. Twenty-six candidates ran for the presidency in Benin's fourth election this March. More than 3.2 million of 4 million voters cast a vote in the first round, or 80 percent. (Contrast that with the 2004 U.S. presidential election, in which about 61 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.)

The current president, Yayi Boni, a former banker, received 74.5 percent in the second-round voting. (He didn't have enough votes to win in the first round.)

"We had a lot of kinds of presidents -- some had been president for one day, some for five years -- but now we have a new one whose name is Yayi Boni, and he is trying to make change everywhere," said Nicolas Akpakpo, 18, an orphan since 2 who lives outside the city of Cotonou.

One of the most evident changes in the burgeoning democracy is freedom of speech.

"With democracy, everybody is free to express their ideas, and it wasn't the same before because before, when you saw something bad and you said something about it, they could kill you. But now, you can say what you think about it loudly and truly and nothing will happen to you," said Hospice Akpaki, a 19-year-old high school senior from Kilibo, a village about four hours north of Cotonou.

Though strides have been made, young people think much "walking" has yet to be done.

"If you take your baby before he will walk, he needs to be helped. It's the same thing -- we need help at the beginning," said Fabrice Houessou, a 23-year-old medical student from Cotonou whose family is from a small northern village.

"What I want for my country is that we try our best to develop ourself without help, without waiting for help," he said.