LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -They came in droves, men, women, young, old. Mothers with babies strapped tightly to their backs, pregnant women, the elderly, some who could barely walk unaided.
They waited patiently for sometimes seven, eight hours in the scorching sun. In parts of the country where it poured down with rain, they stood, barely shielded under makeshift umbrellas.
It was one of Africa's biggest elections and it didn't disappoint. There was high drama, violence and tensions but most of all an electorate determined to exercise their democratic right to vote. In northern Nigeria, women turned out in large numbers.
Some polling stations in Lagos opened on Saturday at around 8 a.m. and a queue of eager voters quickly formed. There was a palpable air of excitement.
"I'm voting because the stakes are too high. If I don't vote, then I can't complain when things don't change," said Akin Ojo, an accountant and tax practitioner in Ikeja, Lagos.
"This election is important," he added. "People are starting to ask questions of their government. We need to hold them accountable."
Mueez Akanni Adepoju, 38, brought his two daughters to the polling station in the Oshodi ward, Lagos Island.
He said: "I want Nigeria to change. I don't want Nigerians to have to travel out of the country. We have everything here that anyone needs to survive but our government is not good."
Complex task
Navigating and orchestrating Africa's largest population of nearly 180 million in an election was never going to be easy.
Polling day was beset with administrative inefficiencies that threatened to derail the process. The much-vaunted card readers that were supposed to help combat election rigging failed to work in many areas and President Goodluck Jonathan was its highest profile victim.
In areas where the card readers did work, observers said they had a long battery life and many people were accredited without problems.
There were also widespread reports of people waiting for hours across the country for officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to open up polling stations. There was also a shortage of ballot papers in some parts.
Voting was extended through Sunday to make up for these shortcomings.
Yet, Nigerians were not deterred and turned out in their millions and waited patiently, sometimes long into the night, to cast their votes.
There was a party-like atmosphere at some polling stations, with one enterprising soul setting up a barbecue stand, known locally as suya.
At another, one man even proposed to his girlfriend, sending the Twittersphere into a frenzy. Although tempers boiled over at many from frustration at long periods of waiting in the blazing sun with no food and little water.
Human rights and peace activist Chitra Nagarajan lives and works in Abuja and was an independent observer at Saturday's elections in the capital.
She said she was struck by the enthusiasm for voting.
"Overall the voters were excellent. I spoke to many voters and many of them had been waiting for six, seven hours, maybe more.
"They were in high spirits, saying how much fun it was. They told me: 'We are performing our civic responsibility. We are happy to wait and are treasuring the moment. It's not everyday we get to do this,'" she said.
"For me it was lovely to see how people took voting, and their rights very seriously. Some people were there from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. People tend to focus on the negative overall, but voters should be commended."
Journalist and activist Chude Jideonwo described the elections as a "joyful time."
"Nigerians want democracy," he said. "They are thoroughly engaged with the process and it was not like 2011 when we were begging the elites to come out to vote. They all queued with us to vote.
"Most of the people who didn't vote was because of INEC's inefficiency. The police were professional and very cooperative.