HAS THE CONTEST FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF AMERICA BECOME A REALITY TV SHOW?

This time eight years ago, very few people gave Donald J. Trump a beggar's chance of getting anywhere near the White House. The pundits said that he was a joke. The media wrote him off. The polls said he was dreaming. No one who worked hard to make his money would have bet a cent in any of Trump's failed casinos across America that Donald Trump would become the 45^th President of the United States of America.

In November 2016, what looked like a joke became reality! Donald J. Trump was announced President-elect of the United States of America, the most powerful office in the world. Surprise! Surprise! The American people, deploying their fairy-tale electoral college system told the world that they had elected as their president the trash talking man who spews obscenities as much as he openly sprouts divisions and cultural wars.

The former United States First Lady, former New York Senator and former U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton received about three million more votes from the American people than Donald Trump in the elections but come and see 'America wonder', a guy who was that badly worsted at the polls, a guy who has run his companies four times into bankruptcy and has been married to three different women was announced winner of the election.

Imagine if that had happened in an African country, Donald Trump would have immediately picked up his smart phone and gone to his Truth Social platform and fired off messages to deride the country as a 'shit hole country' with no respect for the basic tenets of democracy - majority rule.

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump moved into the White house and it was unending chaos. In four years, he was impeached twice. After losing the 2020 Presidential elections, he took every crazy step to hold on tightly to the White House. Clutching fiercely to his refusal to concede, he went to practically every court in America and lost and lost and lost. On January 6, 2021, he unleashed his supporters on the US Capitol in an unprecedented insurrection to disrupt the constitutional process of vote counting required to hand over to his successor, Joe Biden. The world watched in horror as the violent chaos unfolded in Washington DC.

With the problems in Nigeria, you may wonder why I write so much about America. I have always been fascinated by America. For much of my lifetime, America has been seen as the moral compass of the world, promoting democracy, human rights and fighting autocratic regimes, evil, hunger and disease across the world. I doubt if there is any family in Nigeria which does not have an important bread winner living in America. People around the world have looked up to America to show us the way. America used to be seen as the leader of the free world. What happens in America concerns me.

I have always known that some Americans can be "one kind" but I never thought there were so many 'crazy' people in America who would crown Donald Trump as the leader of the free World. The amazing thing is that many of those who propelled Donald Trump's journey to the White House are the bible quoting Christian conservatives. How could this group consider this man whose behaviour is so unchristian, to be one of them and accept him as promoting their values? This is the same man whose own niece, Mary Trump with a Doctorate in Psychology, refers to as the most dangerous man in the world.  

Donald Trump has shown us the power of Reality TV and the smart phone. In the world of Reality TV, there is no bad news. Bad news is good news. Donald Trump, the star of NBC's Reality TV show, "the Apprentice" understands that in the crazy Reality TV world, all you need is to be in the news. And so, the Donald swears, curses, and wagers his fingers at everyone and if you are not discerning, you are captivated! He is not just in the news all the time, he is the news and many not quite discerning Americans clap and cheer. They may think that they are watching Reality TV. What they may not understand is that if this weird fella to whom nothing is sacred and who is lashing out at all the institutions that have made America stable, is not challenged, it will be hard reality for their children and grandchildren to continue to have a nation that they will be proud of. The entire world would have lost America, the important world leader.

In November 2024, Americans will go the polls again. Almost every poll says that Donald Trump will once again be the presidential candidate of the Republican party.

As I write, Donald Trump is facing 91 criminal charges across the states of Florida, New York, Georgia and Washington DC. If he is found guilty in any of these charges, he could be sentenced to many years in prison. He is also a defendant in a civil suit in New York in which his company has already been found to have engaged in fraudulent activities. In the suit, New York State is claiming $250,000,000 from the Trump Organization. The organization could also face the closing down of its operations in New York.

In May 2023, a jury in New York found Donald Trump liable of sexually abusing columnist, Jean Carroll, and ordered him to pay the sum of $5 million as damages to her. Meanwhile about 400 Trump supporters who took part in the January 6 insurrection have been convicted and sent to jail.

None of the above has slowed down the overwhelming support of millions of the grass roots of the American Republican party, for Donald Trump. I do not know that it will make any difference if Donald Trump is found guilty of committing murder.

The American Presidential election is turning out to be a reality TV show. Incumbent American president, Joe Biden is not a good showman. He has found himself playing in the turf of the master of Reality TV. How will the battle end?

See you next week.     

IS DECEMBER REALLY HERE?!

Truly… truly… is December really here? Yesterday, my phone was full of 'Happy New Month' messages from friends and well-wishers, all announcing that December has arrived. Ordinarily, December should be the month of happiness, the month of celebrations. It used to be the month to count one's blessings and give glory to the Almighty.

Before the cellphone revolution and the emergence of sms, and WhatsApp messaging, mail men everywhere would by now be busy delivering greeting cards to one and all. I used to have friends in the design and printing business who used to make a killing at this time of the year, designing and printing greeting cards and calendars of all colours. Now, they are killing nothing. Instead, digital technology has killed their hustle.

December is the month when the whole world goes on leave and celebrates Christmas. Usually, the quarrels and bickering in the world are put on hold. No… no, not this December! Yesterday, on December 1, the Israelis and Palestinians halted their one week old truce and 'pause'. They resumed the carpet bombing and slaughtering of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza, not far from Bethlehem where Jesus was born!

Lest we forget, the Russians and Ukrainians remain at each other's throat and in Sudan, the rattling of firearms continues unabated. Instead of the December sound of beautiful carols in the air, the common people are tortured by the never-ending horror of rockets and missiles. The exchange of messages of goodwill has been replaced by the exchange of bullets and bombs!

Last December, the traumatized people of Nigeria, my homeland, held their breath. The suffering was almost unbearable. Those who can fast, fasted; those who can pray, prayed; those who can mobilize, mobilized and those who can campaign, campaigned. Like East African marathon runners, the Nigerian people sought to find that extra strength to get to the finish line. We said to ourselves, "After all, there would be elections in February 2023 and the Nigerian people would then have the chance to start digging the country out of the deep hole it has fallen into". We looked forward to the hopelessness of December 2022 giving way to hope by December 2023.

Very few people in Nigeria can tell you that they understand what happened to the country in 2023. Very few can explain how the hopelessness of December 2022 turned out to become despair in December 2023. Suddenly, nothing seems to make sense.

One of the features of the Nigerian society is that every December, millions move from the big cities to their villages where they celebrate with their kith and kin. How is that going to happen this December 2023? Transportation costs have spiraled out of control and security on the roads and in the villages has gone from bad to disastrous.

It took only a few words from the declared president of the Nigerian nation for the price of petroleum products to quadruple in a few days. That development has practically shot the cost of everything in Nigeria super sky high. Aided by the foreign exchange volatility, things have clearly fallen apart and the center can no longer hold. It is now so dangerous and expensive to travel to any destination in Nigeria. If you are driving, you have to have good money to fuel the car and enough to give to the ubiquitous men in uniform flagging you down practically every kilometer on the way. If you don't like that, you have to cough out the outrageously high cost of air travel in today's Nigeria. Head or tail, you lose.

One other feature of the Nigerian society is that every December, no matter how rich or poor you are, you are able to cook a good pot of rice supported by some bouncing chicken for you and your family to be part of the celebration. It is difficult to state what percentage of Nigerians can comfortably afford that now except for those with some pipe connected to government coffers. If you can buy the rice at the crazy price and buy the chicken, you also have to find the big money to buy the kerosene or gas to cook the food. I am sure that for many Nigerians, if they had their way, they would ask that this December be postponed!

Last December was challenging for me. I had a frightening battle with my health that dragged to much of the first quarter of 2023. For about three months, I was either in hospital, a diagnostic facility or a theatre for surgery. There were those who were not quite sure whether I would make it. Here I am, the guy who drives on a full tank of faith. It is another December and by God's grace, I am not in any hospital.

December had always been a special month for me and my family. My birthday is celebrated on December 22. Madam's is on December 24. My family's December celebrations begin on December 4 when Stephanie, my youngest daughter, was born. By now, you may be a little more familiar with Stephanie, my daughter who is in every way special and ready to give of her time and immense talent for the good of everyone.

If you cannot travel this December, please my friend, do not fret. If you cannot afford the kind of food you would have loved to eat or acquire the clothes you want, still do not fret. My prayer is that the Almighty will give you many better Decembers.

This December, I send felicitations to my friends and those who have not been so friendly. I particularly thank the thousands of members of the COSON family. May our tomorrow be better than our today. I beg Nigerians not to lose hope. I am certain that soon, we will have a December that we will remember with joy in our hearts. Warmest wishes to all of you who join me every week to partake in Saturday Breakfast.

See you next week.