Lessons From America

By Zayd Ibn Isah

The buildup to the forthcoming elections in the United States of America has once again exposed deep fault lines. Tensions have reached fever pitch between the two major political parties of this foremost democracy, and the present state of things is ominously reminiscent of W.B. Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming,’ where the falcons can no longer hear the falconer.

As the Presidential candidate of the Republican Party, Donald J. Trump’s second foray into American politics has been unsurprisingly marred by crises and controversies, and what we are witnessing now is anarchy in ‘God’s Own Country.’ And yet, no one could ever have correctly predicted that an assassination attempt would be made on the 45th American President. As it is, only time is fit to tell if this significant event will be the last straw that truly breaks the camel’s back.

If you’re reading this, you should be aware by now that Donald Trump narrowly escaped death during a campaign rally at Butler, Pennsylvania. If the assassin had not missed his target by a mile, Trump would certainly have met the same fate as other assassinated US leaders like Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.

The gunman who fired shots from a semi-automatic AR-style rifle has now been identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Although Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper present at the rally, one wonders how an event of such magnitude could have unfolded in America of all places. As our people often say in pidgin, God forbid bad thing o, but if this had happened in Nigeria or another third-world country, many would have been quick to say that such a thing would never have happened in America. Now that it has happened, what do we call it?

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If there is anything the ongoing political crisis in America has revealed, it is that it has demystified some of the widely held beliefs about America as myths. The US is often referenced when discussing our country’s shortcomings in meeting 21st-century standards. I won’t blame us for such references. America is one of the oldest democratic countries in the world. In fact, the US President is unarguably the most powerful person in the world. As such, it is normal for a developing country like Nigeria to be encouraged to borrow a leaf from America’s book on democracy and governance.

But while we are encouraged to do so, we should not lose sight of the fact that America is a country and Americans are human. They are flawed people often blinded by narrow interests and liable to disagree on even the clearest of issues. They are not infallible at all. No country in the world is perfect. Even now, following Donald Trumpʼs revelation in a social media post that the assassin’s bullet only pierced the upper part of his right ear; and President Joe Bidenʼs public condemnation of the heinous act against his rival, many Americans have begun stirring up conspiracy theories to drive the narrative that the entire assassination attempt was staged.

While this case is still being actively investigated by the relevant authorities, I think it is ultimately telling that not everyone in America believes that someone genuinely wanted Donald Trump dead. This exposes just how deep the divisions run in America, that even clear facts are subject to scrutinizing doubt and rude dismissal.

In the hours following this pivotal moment in US history, I have taken my time to read comments on social media from Americans about what they think of their country in the wake of the attack on Trump, which claimed one life. No American has called their country names like “zoo.” The country is not severely divided along ethnic and religious lines. Trump’s loyalists are not threatening fire and brimstone if anything happens to him, although they are quick to tear down anyone who thinks the assassination attempt was a staged affair. Although emotions are high, it is safe to believe that true Americans are surely disappointed by the unfolding events, even though the love for America trumps all, no pun intended. Now, this is how you define patriotism.

There are many lessons that we, as Nigerians, can learn from this American incident and its aftermath. One is that the love for our country should supersede our primordial sentiments. We can disagree on several fronts, but always do so with love for the country we call home. Secondly, we should not give up on our country and its nascent democracy.

If America, with a democratic system that dates back to 1776, can still be struggling to get on its feet, yet its citizens trust its process, why shouldn’t we trust ours while engaging our leaders constructively? Our institutions should be allowed to get it right, even as our leaders should always be held to the highest standards. People who consistently proclaim that Nigeria is beyond redemption are not only destroying hope for our nation, but hurting our image even worse than certain criminal elements.

This does not mean that no one should criticize government policies or draw attention to undeniable realities. Rather, our criticism should always be fair and constructive, and our mindset should not always be rooted in unyielding pessimism. Nigeria will work in our lifetimes. Nigeria will work for all of our good. And the Nigerian Dream will require all of us to stay awake with our eyes on the same goal: the restoration of Nigeriaʼs glory in all ramifications.

At this point, one would wish African leaders would serve America a taste of their own ‘travel advisory’ medicine in the face of the ongoing crisis in the country. It is now obvious that the country is no longer safe for foreigners there. But away from this, another lesson to be gained from the unfortunate incident is the realization that harmful rhetoric can sometimes guide or galvanize dark intentions. It is yet to be ascertained the motive which drove a young man to seek Donald Trump’s death, but one can only imagine that he must have harboured a deep hatred of the Republican candidate before putting his nefarious plans into motion.

On social media platforms dominated by young Nigerians, there is often the possibility of coming across certain individuals who openly wish for the death of our able leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Why these people so fervently wish for the death of their president cannot be understood, because the assassination of a nationʼs leader often serves as the precursor to significantly terrible events in that nationʼs history. In extreme cases, the debilitation of the nation often begins in chaotic progressions towards civil war, anarchy and total state failure.

Considering this, I don’t believe any sane Nigerian would wish for our beloved President to be harmed. But the world is a cruel system of things, and the best way around this is to never be surprised, but to always be on the alert. Henceforth, the Department of State Services must always be on the lookout for certain inflammatory outbursts capable of inciting violence to destabilize our national democracy. Freedom of speech is not an avenue to spew vicious hate. The democracy of our nationhood supersedes any individual or group, and nowhere is that democracy firmly invested than in the constitution, the citizenry and the captainship of Nigeria.

For all our divisions and differences, we should always gravitate towards the strongest pillars of our unity as a nation, because these strong pillars and foundational truths are the very things that will ensure Nigeria never fails, and that we will keep getting closer to the realization of the Nigerian Dream.

Zayd Ibn Isah can be reached via [email protected]