Following the 3rd November, 2016, shock election that threw up Mr. Donald John Trump as 45th President of the United States of America, analysts on CNN (my favourite global cable television) concluded that the country needed to listen to the 62 million citizens who had voted him in. Penultimate weekend, after five days that looked like eternity, when former Vice-President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. emerged President-elect, President Trump’s turn came to also listen to the 78 million plus who have voted him out. To be sure, this writer is not a citizen of Trump’s country. Plus, in spite of and despite, this Nigerian has no intention of ever naturalising elsewhere.
Yet, as a citizen of a world that considers the USA its number one superpower, policeman and model, I reserve the right to be concerned about what transpires in that country. I worry about when and how the world would recover from the consequences of the last four years that the testiest adult alive ran the country. President Trump’s slogan, make America great again, notwithstanding, the man has ended up making the nation so small at home and also in the eyes of the internationalcommunity. This must be why an unprecedented number (a first in the country’s history) have hired President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to help the country win back its global pride of place, glory and relationships!
Even those who were away on the moon, for a greater chunk of the Trump years, could not have missed the deafening emptiness, the shameful unpresidentiality and the puerile speech mannerism of this leader of the free world. Since 20th January, 2017, the United States has walked alone more like a selfish clown and beleaguered traitor. Mr. Trump descended too, too low the way he carried on with his warped nationalism agenda. He mocked people he should have encouraged, divided races that hungered for unity and walked away from global bodies and stage, directly weakening the world while indirectly strengthening tyrants.
Look at climate change. Because it sounds like rocket science to him, Mr. Trump whose life is all about soft targets and low-hanging fruits poohpoohed it. Look at North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a 1949 security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe. Mr. Trump preferred to play politics by rubbishing NATO’s essence of safeguarding Allies’ freedom and security via political and military means.
Of course, the man knew what he was doing. His tactful tactlessness on NATO was intended to embolden his personal allies, Russia and North Korea. Within his country as well, President Donald Trump has been more destructive than constructive. For instance, he has been desperate to decimate Obamacare.
Nothing seems wrong with that on the surface, except that he has no known alternative. Also, he continues to talk down on women, children, the press et al. He uses rhetoric unbecoming of his age and office. Everything must be about and for him, or he condemns it.
That’s so unamerican. Mr. Trump himself is so unamerican. Check out how he has crudely brought his family into government. Check out how he has corruptly enriched himself by slanting government patronage to his business empire.
As an African, it is now nearly impossible for me to recognise the United States of America. It suddenly looks like the new Africa or rather, an emerging Third World country. Imagine the very neanderthal reaction to the 3rd November, 2020 ballot by the GOP, Mr. Trump and his base. The man who came to ‘make America great again’ has finished the country!
What remains of what we thought was the world’s El Dorado? Is it its mature democracy and sweet democratic culture that the rest of the world craved? Is it the freedom, the hope, the sanity, the balance and allied values it used to bring to the global table? Just what part of his country would President Trump leave better than he met it?
As I write this, he has hired crowds to flood the streets of Washington DC to demonstrate against only God-knows-what. Even his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and other top government and party officials have publicly spoken of his back to back second term. It leaves you wondering if this is the same good old United States where losers made the most beautiful concession speech? Just when and how did the US transmogrify into Africa which everyone used to ridicule as the electoral dispute headquarters of the earth?
Sadly, the damage being perpetrated by Mr. Donald Trump and Co. far transcends his country and continent. By generating and distributing untold darkness in words and deeds and inaction, the outgoing president has betrayed Africans like me and indeed other continentalists who always trusted the US to be a leading light worldwide. The world must hold Mr. Trump accountable if we record an upsurge in electoral violence and disputes subsequently. More importantly, the so-called strong institutions of the country which have so far not called Mr. Trump to order must do so forthwith in addition to rallying round President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris.
As I see it, that is the first step to rehabilitating the United States. No effort should be spared to make America America again. The country didn’t need to be ‘great again.’ It still doesn’t.
Going forward, I think it might be necessary for Congress and all 50 states to consider a 28th amendment. Not sure whether it already exists, but the constitution needs to empannel and authorise an apolitical organ of state (eg. Council of Past Presidents) to intervene at critical national moments such as now when one man seeks to derail the country. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump must be made to pay for the shame he has brought to his country and our world. There must be enough deterrent to dissuade future occupants from deploying the White House as the devil’s pulpit to motivate racism, white supremacists, corruption, dictatorship, violence, etc.
Finally, while I congratulate and celebrate with the new man and new woman on their clean victory, I note with joy the fact that they had since hit the sky flying rather than whine over Trumpish antics. As president and deputy, Mr. Biden and Mrs. Harris (both of whom were senators) must upon swearing in sweep the Augean Stable, dedramatised government (we have seen enough governmental drama these four years to last us ten lifetimes), bring their combined armoury of Washington experience to bear on their style and time, purse global peace as well as ensure healing, justice and democracy everywhere. That’s the United States of America the world always knew. And, that’s the United States of America we want now and forever.
God bless Nigeria, my own country!
PDP, PDP, PDP: How many times did I call you?
For sometime now, news of Peoples Democratic Party’s Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi State crosstituting to All Progressives Congress has been everywhere. It now seems real. One report last week said he was moving because the party that has given and made him everything is considering retrying a certain northerner for President in 2023.
The party shan’t, can’t and shouldn’t get that desperate. The right thing is either to allow South-South complete our eight years or the South-East to start theirs. Better to be fair and courageous and fail than to do otherwise and win.
As for Gov. Umahi, I shall wait for him to leave first. Anticipatory criticism is injustice. For now, though, I also pray to see the day the powers-that-be in APC would love the Igbo more than the PDP have since 1999!