By Sunshine Anifowose
In the words of Toba Beta, a renowned Indonesian Writer and Economist, Men hear loud voices, but they listen to strong words.
The November 9th 2016 Presidential elections in the United States of America won by an astute business man, Donald Trump has proved that today, the political parlance is geometrically progressing into a state where the electorates listens to the strong words of vision, direction and reality before taking decisions rather than humbug, cant and outright lingo that used to characterize the political struggle of the developing nations.
Prior to the election, Trump’s main challenger, Hilary Clinton and her Political party, The Democrats had used the instrumentality of the media to turn the people against Trump, the candidate of the Republican Party.
The media, during the electioneering campaign described Trump as an aberration to governance. In fact, identifying with Trump outside US especially in the Developing Countries was seen as supporting the number one enemy of the Black Movement.
The campaign was characterized by mudslinging. But I knew the media were telling not the truth. Take for an instance; I observed that while Hilary was saying things that electorates love to hear while trump was confronting the electorates with what they should hear. Trump was realistic, frank, bold, factual and sincere with the people while Hilary was speaking the language of the past and playing to the gallery.
The media was filled with many negative stories about Trump thus reducing his good will among the opinion shapers and international political actors. Trump was accused of calling all the Africans in the United States “Criminals and also threatened to deport all Islamic worshippers out of the States; cease sending aid to developing countries and jail perceived political enemies if he wins.
Furthermore, for daring to be open-minded and blunt in his articulations, Trump was decayed and termed an agent of the devil sent by the Satan to neo-colonize the west and the developing countries. It is worth-mentioning that Donald Trump lost all opinion polls conducted prior to the election in the media.
“I will build a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. Mark my words. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. And some, I assume, are good people.” Trump said.
Thus, for promising to protect his people against unforeseen future attack from Mexico and the unfettered access into the US by the people of Mexico through land transportation, Trump was called a threat to global security.
And not intimidated by the cacophony of diatribes against his person in the media, Trump fired another salvo:
“I think the only difference between me and the other candidates is that I’m more honest and my women are more beautiful. The only card Hillary Clinton has is the woman’s card. She’s got nothing else to offer and frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5 percent of the vote. The only thing she’s got going is the woman’s card, and the beautiful thing is, women don’t like her.” He said.
For daring to expose the weaknesses of her main challengers, the Republicans described Trump as a threat to the survival of women race. However, the Valiant Trump was undeterred. In his response to the media war against him, Trump said “You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass (referring to his woman).”
To the Republicans, Trump is a setback to universal morality. Nevertheless, despite the gregarious media war unleashed against Trump, the Billionaire Business Man on November 9th 2016 presidential election triumphed, defeating Hilary, the candidate of the West to a distance second via the Electoral College.
In the meantime, while a wild jubilation erupted in the United States over the victory of Donald Trump, a graveyard silence enveloped the medially-hypnotized developing nations over the loss of Hilary Clinton. But is Trump truly a threat to global security as being portrayed by the international press? My position is no! Those that own the media and other instruments of measuring public opinion and the agents of the agenda setting theory that succeeded in turning the lowly educated people in the developing nations against trump but who were rejected by the highly sagacious people of the United States are the losers.
Now coming to Nigeria; today, when you talk of Donald Trump, you remember an Ayo Fayose, the incumbent Governor of Ekiti State. Like Trump, Fayose is a frank, factual, blunt and a courageous man who defeated the elites in his state and triumphed against the politics of the agenda setting to become the leader of his people against all odds.
The Architect of Modern Ekiti, as Fayose is fondly called by his people, has changed the face of governance in the state. A populist who sets pace for the philosopher kings, Fayose tarred 95% of all the major roads in Ado-Ekiti, and he’s today, constructing the first flyover bridge in the history of the state.
Justice like Trump vs Mexico drama, the instrumentality of Judiciary and the media had been used to attack Fayose just for enacting a law aimed at protecting his people against external aggression by criminals masquerading as herdsmen.
Today, virtually all Nigerian opposition leaders have embraced silent, refusing to criticize the APC led federal government despite numerous reasons to do so but Governor Fayose has been speaking gallantly in support of the Nigerian people not minding whose ox is gored.
As the opposition against Fayose would say, the Afao-Ekiti born successful entrepreneur has demystified the once “sacred” office of the Governor of Ekiti state; the governor has been bold in following through with his believes, damning all consequences and addresses issues with conviction.
And the sterling leadership of Fayose qualities reminds us of the Donald Trump methodologies which has today thrown the world into frenzy.
As per Fayose, truth must be told always hence in December 2015, the governor addressed a press conference in Ado Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State where he predicted that in 2016, there would be a removal of fuel subsidy and that petrol (PMS) would sell over and above N140 per litre, leaving the masses in more serious hardship. He further said the Product would not be available and long queue in petrol stations would persist throughout the first quarter of 2016 and beyond.
Fayose said power generation would drop to the lowest ebb. Still, Federal Government will increase tariff in 2016 and also Millions of jobs will be lost in 2016 as against the three million jobs promised by the Buhari’s administration yearly.
Speaking further, Fayose said most private owned middle-class businesses will fold up because of bad economic policies of the Buhari-led government and that Naira would continue to have a free-fall which will take it to as low as N320 to one Dollar.
The Governor said God told him to tell Nigerians to pray against those predictions from coming to reality but no one listens to him. Pained by the predictions of Fayose against the APC led administration at the central, the Deputy National Chairman of the ruling party in Abuja and former Ekiti State Governor, Segun Oni labeled Fayose a “Tragedy”.
But like a man who sleeps in the night hoping that it would take twenty years before another day could come, all the predictions of Fayose in December 2015 came into reality before June 2016. To Nigerians, had they known, they would have listened to Fayose when he (Fayose) told them God was speaking through him.
Just like the expressive Donald Trump, Fayose has become a selling point for all news agencies in Nigeria. Trump remains committed to his vision despite heavy media blackmail, same goes to Fayose. Just like Trump, Governor Fayose has confronted the incumbent and earned himself several names not worthy of mention. Just like Trump’s interest is centered on the original indigenes of America, Fayose is a pan-Ekiti anytime, any day. Trump refused to play to the gallery, and this reminds me of Peter Ayodele Fayose.
In conclusion, while I say congratulations to President Donald Trump on his inauguration as the 45th President of the United States, I want to say explicitly that Trump and Fayose’s politics of realism’s approach to leadership and governance is the solution to Nigeria’s many quagmires. What Nigeria needs is a leader who is truly sincere, courageous, honest, charismatic, frank, and factual and tells people what they are supposed to hear and not what they love to hear. The new President of the United States, Donald Trump has proved beyond all argument that the electorates in his country not only listen, they also see and act according to the pains of the true voters.
Sunshine Anifowose is the Personal Assistant to Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose on Administration and Stomach Infrastructure.