The triumphant victory, against all odds, of Mr. Donald Trump as the 45th president-elect of the United States of America reminds us at Intersociety of the popular slogan of a leading wrestler in the World Wrestling Championship, Mr. Jack Swagger. Mr. Swagger’s popular slogan is: WE ARE THE PEOPLE! Trump victory, therefore, is an indication that power truly reside on the people or the masses and not on bourgeois and establishment class.
Mr. Trump’s triumphant victory also reminds us of the core foundational statement contained in the American Independence Declaration of July 4, 1776, authored and delivered by enigmatic Thomas Jefferson; who, in turn, was inspired by John Locke’s 1690 Book – the Second Treatise of Civil Government.
The immortal statement, which has remained till date the major thrust of US Statehood and liberty; holds as follows: We hold these truths to be self evident that all men (and women) are created equal and endowed with certain natural and inalienable rights, and most important being of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And to protect these rights, men set up government whose authority rests on their consent. And whenever a government ceases to do what it has been set up for, its citizens have a right to change it or its order and put in place a new government or a new order that will provide for their safety and happiness.
As we earlier educated in our public statement of 5th of July 2016, titled: In Solidarity With The United States At 240: To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected; the areas now called “Americas” (inclusive of the United States, North and South American Continents) were discovered through voyage expeditions between 1492 and 1504, with the first expedition undertaken by Christopher Columbus De Great, born in Genoa, Italy about 31st October 1451, lived for 55 years and died in 1506. Following his successful exploration, he later named the areas “the New World”, which also opened same up for European colonization and Atlantic Slave Trade for the purposes of agro-slavery and colonization.
But the mother of all explorations/expeditions to the “New World” was that undertaken by another great Italian-Spaniard sailor named Amerigo Vespucci; which extensively covered a long period from 1497 to 1504. Amerigo Vespucci De Great was born in Florence, Italy in 1454 and he died in 1512. Vespucci’s expedition was expansive and extensive covering the “South” and “North” Americas put together. The areas so discovered were later named after him following a historical suggestion made by a German humanist and cartographer: Martin Waldseemuller in his 1507’s Quattour Americi Navigatiniones or Four Voyages of Amerigo; in which he seminally suggested that “the newly discovered new world should be named ab Amerigo Inventore or the Land of Americus or America. In other words, the word “America” was invented in 1507 by a German cartographer (map maker) called “Martin Waldseemuller”.
The historical rewinding above is to remind all and sundry that “America” is created by God, but founded by THE PEOPLE of all races, which is why it will always be defined as: a melting pot where people from all walks of life get melted and turned into finished products of: Igbo Americans, Yoruba Americans, Ijaw Americans, Tiv Americans, German Americans, Indian Americans, Chinese Americans, African Americans, Christian Americans, Hindu-Americans, Buddhist Americans, Muslim Americans, Judeo-Americans, Mexican or Hispanic Americans, etc. In other words, every American citizen, dead or alive, is a visitor!
While we have congratulated Mr. Donald Trump for his Peopling Victory as the 45th president-elect of the United States; we must as a matter of conscience and godliness, pay special tribute to the duo of Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus in their hallowed graves; the two founders of today’s “Americas”, particularly the United States; a country of 50 States and Puerto Rico. Also remembered and commended in his hallowed grave is then King Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored Christopher Columbus maiden expedition that later gave birth to “the New World” and “Americas”.
It is also worth reminding all and sundry that though the Independence of the United States was proclaimed on 4th of July 1776 by 13 American Colonies led by John Adams and other leading pro independence activists, but the American true independence and statehood did not come until 30th of April 1789, a period of 13 years, following violent struggles against the American colonial masters particularly the Britain, leading to emergence of George Washington as the first President of the United States on 30th of April 1789, who left office on 4th of March 1797.
Since then or from 30th of April 1789 till date, the United States of America have produced a total of 45 Presidents including president-elect, Mr. Donald Trump. They generationally include two presidents in the 18th century, 23 in the 19th century, 17 in the 20th century and now three in this latent 21st century in the persons of George Walker Bush, 20th of January 2001 to 20th of January 2009, Barack Obama, 20th of January 2009 to 20th of January 2017 and Donald Trump, 20th of January 2017 to 20th of January 2021 or to 20th of January 2025.
Apart from the above mentioned the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, particularly see Trump’s triumphant victory as the return of world police and a red card to antagonists of international peace and security. Leading the way are the outgoing Obama Administration and the Buhari Administration in Nigeria. The Obama Administration may have commendably rescued the American economy from recession, but its foreign policy is totally genocidist and antagonistic of the international peace and security as well as the dreams of the founding fathers of the United States.
Until the Peopling emergence of Donald Trump, the Obama Administration had steadily provoked the peoples of Nigeria and promoted genocidal diplomacy and deepened ethno-religious divisions in the country. By sending its out-going secretary of state, Senator John Kerry, to embark on highly provocative and selective tour of a section of the country (i.e. north and its predominant Muslim population), the Obama administration had dangerously deepened the already existing ethno-religious divisions and rivalries. As if that was not enough, the Obama Administration selectively and provocatively invited 19 northern Governors to Washington DC, ignoring their southern counterparts with their predominant Christian population; by way of “arming the north against the south”.
Contrary to clear provisions of the Leahy Law, the Obama Administration has illegitimately gone ahead and co-armed the atrocious administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, which has over 1,500 state murders and scores of political prisoners to its disastrous credit. For purpose of clarity, the Leahy Law is a U.S. human rights law that prohibits the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. It was named after its principal sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
To implement and enforce this law, it expressly directs U.S. Embassies, the Bureau of Democracy, Labour and Human Rights and the appropriate regional bureau of the U.S. Department of State to vet potential recipients of security assistance and if a unit is found to have been credibly implicated in a serious abuse of human rights, assistance is denied until the host nation government takes effective steps to bring the responsible persons within the unit to justice. In this context, the Obama Administration has observed these sacred provisions in breach with reckless abandon.
It is on the ground of the foregoing that the Buhari Administration is emboldened and aided by the likes of Obama Administration to continue to commit heinous rights abuses and other regime atrocities with utter vehemence and reckless abandon. The Buhari Administration must have felt that “with the backing of Obama administration or the world’s most powerful country, it can kill and detain unarmed and innocent citizens in droves and at will and nothing will happen municipally, regionally or globally”.
Therefore, the triumphant emergence of Donald Trump may most likely have saved Nigeria from intractable brink and Nigerians from genocide of unquenchable proportion, aided and encouraged from outside through blanket diplomatic assistance; which was why we got shocked and alarmed when the spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari offered “congratulatory” message to Mr. Donald Trump over his triumphant victory at American Presidential Poll.
We see the said congratulatory message and its “offer of readiness to work with Mr. Donald Trump in many areas which include cooperation on many shared foreign policy priorities, such as the fight against terrorism, peace and security, economic growth, democracy and good governance”, as shameless, double-mouthed and a height of diplomatic prostitution. Agreed that the “world has become a global village”, making international isolation an impossibility; but we see the “Buhari’s Congratulatory Message” to the U.S. President-elect as irreconcilable and fundamentally defective.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry knows the gravity of diplomatic partisanship and hostility displayed by the Buhari administration towards Mr. Donald Trump and his Republican Party during their electioneering campaign. While we are not opposed to the Buhari administration working with the incoming Trump and Republican administration in the United States, but that can only happen where there is total policy reversal on the part of the Buhari Administration; particularly in the areas of regime image and communications (i.e. moving away from regime falsehood, deceit and propaganda); trade and investment; human rights, rule of law, good governance, security and criminal justice administration.
Such policy reversal must include unconditional release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and all other political detainees as well as de-criminalization and de-stigmatization of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Islamic Movement of Nigeria and their lawful activities. It must also include bringing to domestic or international justice those involved in various regime atrocities such as killing of over 800 unarmed and innocent members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and over 250 unarmed and innocent members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other Pro Biafra campaigners as well as over 300 wounded Pro Biafra campaigners and hundreds of members of IMN also wounded by the Nigerian Army. High profile regime atrocities’ perpetrators like Lt Gen Turkur Buratai, Retired IGP Solomon Arase and their then sub-commanders must be brought to justice.
Finally, by the triumphant emergence of Mr. Donald Trump as the 45th President-elect of the United States, a red card is going the way of African dictators and tyrants. Those who have remained in power for life and refused to vacate office in countries like Angola, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Algeria, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Republic, Togo, Tchad, Uganda, Sudan and host of others must be compelled to quit office or face international and diplomatic isolation, or better still, be edged out through International Peace Support Operations under the auspices of the United Nations.
Radical Muslim groups and their global sponsors must also be made recipients of Donald Trump’s Red Card. Freedom of Conscience, Thought and Religion must be globalized and those threatening it must be globally tracked and brought to justice in accordance with the Principles and Purposes of the United Nations. Muslims; likewise their Christian counterparts and other religious faithful, should be allowed access to global movements, provided they are not in conflict with international laws and norms or constitute threats to international peace and security. Robust U.S.-Russia relations are direly needed to end the bloody Syrian conflict that has killed over 260,000 people and generated over 9 million internally displaced persons and refugees since March 2011. To ensure this, the Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad and his atrocious lieutenants must be ousted and brought to justice.
Signed:
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Obianuju Igboeli, Esq.
Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program
Chinwe Umeche, Esq.
Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.intersociety-ng.org
