With the United States more or less unraveling today over President Donald Trump’s eccentric governance style, a statement by his opponent in the 2016 polls, Hillary Clinton, surely comes to mind: “A man who is quick to tweet is not to be trusted with the nuclear button at the Oval Office.”
Tweet after reckless tweet, President Trump has undoubtedly managed to reduce himself to the butt of jokes both at home and abroad today.
Well, in Nigeria, one man who must feel vindicated now is the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. Uncomfortable with Trump’s bigoted rhetoric during his race for the Republican ticket and in the countdown to the November 2006 polls, Kongi had declared that he would voluntarily rip his American Green Card in the event that Trump won. True to his word, Soyinka ripped the “almighty” Green Card shortly after the Republican candidate was declared winner.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s response at that moment was however different. Despite the widespread cynicism that greeted Trump’s victory, the former Nigerian president penned a rather flattering, congratulatory letter to then U.S. president-elect, offering “to work with you to move Africa forward.”
But in case Baba Iyabo thought that would fetch him an express VIP invitation to Trump’s inauguration later in January 2017, he got a pleasant surprise as not even President Muhammadu Buhari could make the event.
It is safe to assume that no one had bothered in Trump’s fumbling camp to reply OBJ’s earlier unsolicited “offer”.
It, therefore, did not come as a surprise to many recently when OBJ, never known to forgive a slight, openly bad-mouthed Trump.
According to him, Trump’s conduct has diminished US’ rating globally.
He quipped: “God made Trump president in order to humble America.”
All told, one is thing is clear: Kongi is the man who saw tomorrow.
