Until January 6th, 2020, we had assumed that democracy in America was unimpeachable. A man lost. He refused to accept that he lost. He picked up a phone to beg, pressure and threaten the Georgia Secretary of State for 11,780 votes for him to do his own magic of winning, African style.
He’s probably never been to Africa to experience our love, our hospitality, and our beauty, yet, he calls us shithole to masquerade his love for sh—t.
Somehow, when it was time to exit from the White House, he had to leave, all-be-it—grudgingly, kicking and punching.
Everyone wondered if this was the great America.
For some inexplicable reason, the American people thought he deserved a do-over. They made him President again. Now, people all over the world are bleeding cash from their pockets, unable to cope with the COVID-type inflation that now afflicts the world courtesy his “beautiful” style of governance by knee jerk reactions, arbitrary tariffs, kidnapping and wars.
If things were hard before, now, life is unbearable. Many people in countries without a safety basket have reached breaking point.
In America itself, homelessness is accelerating. In fact, this year, it is projected to rise by at least two million. San Francisco and Las Vegas top the list. People just can’t afford to live.
In Atlanta, the homeless population has taken over downtown, creating a problem for a city that’s struggling to assert itself. I was in Oregon recently. The homeless challenge there has surpassed epidemic proportions. America is too rich to have a homelessness problem of the dimension being experienced.
Many Americans, especially retired ones, are seeing the benefit in relocating to other countries with Europe and Africa becoming net recipients of reverse immigration.
While the abberations of POTUS 47 are numerous, the recent settlement reached by his Justice Department and his IRS in
a case of the release of tax documents of $1.7B takes the cake.
It is unprecedented in its brazenness especially as a Federal Judge put it,
there is no “adversarial relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff.”
November will soon be upon us for the midterms. We will find out whether the country is ready to self correct or go on barreling over a cliff.
AS BULLIES GO.
Two major superpowers are finding out to their utter dismay and consternation that the possession of a large array of Nuclear weapons cannot dictate the outcome of a conventional war. I guess it just gives bragging rights plus, it insulates any country that has it from needless bullying. If Iran had the bomb, Israel and the United States would never have attacked them. If Ukraine had retained its nuclear arsenal which was the third largest in the world after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia would never have attacked them.
America has stepped on the tail of a Cobra in its invasion of Iran. There’s a saying in those parts that goes like this—-“Lord Shiva, deliver us from the fangs of the Cobra, the claws of the Tiger and the vengeance of the Afghan.”
Even though it uses Afghan in the saying, it speaks to the mindset of shepherds. They give their lives for their Sheep. They have an inbuilt resilience wrapped in national pride that cannot be broken by an external aggressor. You could say they have a strong national ethos.
Trump has swallowed a bone. Can he get out of the Iran mess unscathed? For a man with 9 lives, he just might. Nothing is normal anymore when we are dealing with Trump.
PRIMARIES MAGIC
I’ve been a businessman since I was 19. The pursuit of success in an honest way was all we knew growing up. However, since I first voted in 1979, I have never been more unsure about the pathway to “success” than I am today. While businessmen hold the short end of the stick, criminals and politicians get the better of the rest of us. Many people having come to this conclusion, it is little wonder that they are ready to give their limbs and lives for a political appointment or ticket to contest. It is not surprising therefore that not even a single party in the lead up to next year’s elections has been able to conduct rancor free primaries. Those who cannot practice internal party democracy want to give us national free and fair elections that will free us of all our troubles and take us to Eldorado.
The 4-way fractured opposition is so debased that they have lost any moral high ground they might have had. This is what makes everyone so sad. It may be safe to predict that voter apathy will be the bane of the 2027 election.
Historically, we are not patient with our leaders. One can only hope that we will be patient with President Tinubu. A second term would be good for consolidation of reforms that he has initiated. It is in the interest of the country. Anything else would make the reforms stillborn whilst creating a handful of new abandoned projects. The first casualties will be the highly beneficial but much criticized Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Badagry-Sokoto Highway.
SECURITY CHALLENGES.
The most important antidote to insecurity is being tackled as the National Assembly has expedited action on State Police creation. The difference will be clear once this is done as State governors can no longer claim helplessness.
Dear Nigerians, as a writer, historian and senior citizen, I caution for us not to lose any sleep over 2027.
The naysayers have been at work for 65 years, yet, Nigeria stands.
If we survived Operation wetie;
if we survived the pogroms of 1966/67;
If we survived the Civil War;
If we survived the 500% inflation that came with the Udoji Awards;
If we survived the last year of a profligate NPN government and the massive rigging of the 1983 election;
If we survived the draconian years of the Buhari-Idiagbon regime;
If we survived the suffering that accompanied the Structural Adjustment Program, (SAP);
If we survived June 12, we will outlast the terrorists and bandits. They are but a passing phase in our growth and maturity as a country.
Nigeria will be fine.
Nigeria will thrive.
We must keep hope alive.
God bless us all and may God bless Nigeria.
