Alhamdulilah And Trump Leaves Office By Ojo Aderemi

“He is either exceptionally brilliant, or is incredibly stupid” – paraphrasing Fareed Zakaria.

President Trump reminds me of Otto von Bismarck, the “Iron” Chancellor of Germany who unified Germany in a way that only he could have done. If you pick up another lens to view the historical phenomenon popularly known as the German reunification, you would likely have a picture of a fool acting under the influence of strong wine. Trump started out that way. Obsessed, intense and intentional, he loves his America and acted accordingly.

I did not follow the Trump presidency as keenly as I did Obama. I was not so interested in the elections after Senator Bernie Sanders was forced out of the race to give way for Hillary Clinton. I saw no difference between the two major candidates. Thenceforth, I only read reports of each popular actions of the POTUS, wondering where he was headed. What I noticed was that there was a burgeoning conspiracy against the man. Even I was swept by the widespread hatred for the man I knew not. A war hawk, racist etcetera etcetera. I was scared to death for reasons I could not explain. I wrote in 2016 “Donald Trump is scary”. Immediately after the elections, a violent riot broke out in the USA. I knew this was not about greater good or anything of that sort. It was a conspiracy. Four years afterwards, a similar incident occurred. I will like to briefly talk about it too.

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Capitol Hill riots
I am not an American but I have a liking for democratic values. I respect democracy and I — in as much as enough people agree with this principle — will protect it with my life. There is nothing more that I respect about America than democracy. It is a system that checks the animal in anybody with power. It gives you that freedom to be whatever you want to be without systemic constraints. Consequently, the most democratic countries of the world are also the most resourceful. Please check.

Therefore, it is hypocritical to ridicule the system you ordinarily covet. Nigerians at home — notwithstanding their standing in society, and irrespective of level of patriotism — would prefer to have been born in the USA.

When the riot happened, many commentators voiced their sentiments against PDJT online. Jaundiced, ill-informed and prejudiced as they may be, they only exercised their democratic rights to speak. However, I may disagree with what you say but I will defend your right to say it.

Many people berated 250+ years of American democracy. They are either bereft of proper knowledge of history or are simply doing so because it was ‘cool’ at that moment. It was not the first electoral/political crisis in the history of that country. Not even in recent history. James Polk and Abraham Lincoln? The American Civil War? Free Speech Movement of the 1960s and early 1970s? The Civil Rights Movement? Anti-Iraq War of the early 2000s? The Occupy (Wall Street) Movement of 2010s?
The Antifa Riots of 2016 (in which the election of DJT was vigorously — and violently — challenged)? The rallying cry was “Not-my-president!”. The protesters attacked businesses of people thought to be Trump supporters. They looted shops and destroyed properties both publicly and privately owned. They published the list of supporters of Anti-Abortion laws leading to the firing of some from their jobs and the bullying of others. Beyond prejudice, nothing could have erased the comparison of Pro-Trump-riots to Antifa/BLM-led riots of 2016. But then, Trump is the most disliked, and politically (in)correct politician to have occupied the oval office. I don’t really care. I am not an American. I am not an Nigerian and I know for sure that if unarmed protesters go near a presidential motorcade in Nigeria, they will be mowed down with machine guns.
Were Shiite Muslims not killed that way simply for staging a peaceful protest and (perhaps coincidentally) blocking the route predetermined for use by the Nigerian Army Chief?! Oyigbo is still seething with charred bodies of unarmed victims of Army brutality.

Some have even likened Trump (who fiercely debated to become POTUS and has addressed his countrymen countless times) to Buhari (who prefers not to speak to his countrymen until it is time to speak against them). The ruling party All-Progressives Congress — APC — asked Trump to “emulate” Buhari. You may ask how exactly do they mean? To butcher ordinary people in their hundreds as Congress for Progressive Change thugs did in 2011 when Buhari ordered them to do so?
Some raised their comparison to late Mugabe as if the USA lacks a working system like ours. I could understand the joke.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan took to twitter to join in the ‘cool’ rant over his ambition “that was not worth the blood of any Nigerian”. He said it like FRN, where hundreds die during elections, is the USA where the slightest violence grabs media attention globally to the chagrin of every viewer. At every election in FRN, there is always a threat of war or secession either by the North or Biafra. Had Nigeria’s democracy been as mature as the USA’s, GEJ would have challenged the election results of 2015.
He is still a hero for not doing that and (as a Nigerian) I would have done the same because the result of a contrary decision would be catastrophic. As an American (to assume that I am one), I may want to behave politically correctly and concede. At the peril of democracy!
I am not saying we should not “catch cruise” but let us know when to stop joking about democracy unraveling. It is a dangerous joke.
While we take notes that there are real issues with the email system, and that there are facts available to a president than the ordinary Twitter citizen, the actions of PDJT symbolizes the needless concealment of an open secret: that no election is immune to rigging. That is why constitutions of countries grant the right to challenge the first count. Challenging the technical (or overall) integrity of an election is never a crime (or an invitation to crime). You may disagree. It is a democratic choice. Meanwhile, we should stop to think about how far his supporters should have gone with their claims. Storming the Capitol Hill so violently that people died? It is fair that the President was picked up and punished with an impeachment by a malignant Congress under the leadership of an equally stubborn Nancy Pelosi. His body language suggests complicity in the riots. You may prefer the word “insurrection” if you watch CNN well, that is another battle on the field of politicized English.

Democratic Party (USA) members are hypocrites to have condemned the same stance they had taken until a few months ago — challenging Trump’s victory (claiming that Russia meddled). It is politics. I do not take them too seriously. Perhaps they knew there were no foreign meddling but they needed to sustain their political base with a big lie (about Russia’s interference).

Some leaders of countries that are dead to human rights yelled like buffalos at the USA — a still towering example of democracy — including Narenda Modi and Ali Khamanei. Both of these leaders see the Capitol Hill but do not see the constant political violence (and they actually happened) in New Delhi or Tehran.

You see, democracy can be in two ways; political or personal. You can decide to assert your rights or let it go. The difference is that you don’t get to decide as an Indian, Nigerian or Iranian. The oppressive establishment and general immaturity called ‘norm’ decide for you.
Again I am not an American. I cannot die in a their war.

Reasons to like, or dislike
Many have reasons to hate Trump. He took an unconventional stance on the LGBT question. More Americans spoke their minds freely. Some said he had a different view initially. What does that matter?
He killed General K. Souleimani the Iranian GOC of the Quds Force that supervised operations in the region and taking the lives of service men and women of American, Saudi and Israeli origins. An unpredictable personality, he also authorised the negotiations with the Taliban. Organised the biggest and most successful negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict till date with approval from Jordan and Egypt, the historical archenemies of Israel. Anwar Sadat tried, Bernadot too. The died trying. Sadat was killed by Islamic extremists, Bernadot was killed by Jewish extremists.

Very unpredictable! The same President I thought would have gone to war on his very first day in office invited Kim Jung-un — the butcher of North Korea — to eat in Washington. An odd phenomenon. Since the meeting and consequent standoff, North Korea never shot its missiles over Japan – it has not happened in years.

COVID-19 struck the USA terribly. Trump named the virus “Chinese”. It was never reported that the Indians and Japanese called it by that name too, and that it triggered an economic war with China. Japan insisted on Chinese culpability. In retaliation, it transferred more than 990 billion dollars out of the Chinese economy. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who suspended a state visit by the Chinese President-for-life Xi Jinping, ordered firms to relocate out of China (they are moving into neighboring countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Laos).

The worst of all, Trump put the United States of America on a retreat from the frontline of the global stage by withdrawing American troops from countries where they have been for decades. Berlin inclusive.
Trump’s use of the social media is also a thing. His posts continuously shocked the public into laughter or more hatred.
In all of these daring actions, what he stands to gain personally remains a futile guess for now.

He is gone now. What’s next?
Some of our friends are hasty to put the tag of ‘redemption’ on the incoming Biden-Harris administration. I laugh in violent-protest. Perhaps I should do a separate write-up on political expectations on the administration that may put civil liberties on a reverse motion, steer the USA in an open confrontation with Russia, strengthen China and jeopardize peace in the Middle East. It is obvious that Biden is a dull President. Dull does not mean peace. Except we are referring to peace on Twitter. This particular inauguration is symbolic. Hundreds of thousands of people will not gather to see a POTUS sworn in. It could mean that the people’s era is over, or that the allusion to the beginning of a new order is worth examining. We are all witnessing history and playing our part in it.

It is still unclear whether Trump is incredibly stupid or just exceptionally brilliant. Today begins that realisation.

Ojo, Aderemi
Ibadan,
Nigeria.

Twitter @oj_deremi
ojderemi@gmail.com