By Abubakar D. Sani

A word of caution:
Lest you are fooled
By the title
Of this epistle-of- sorts

It’s not about Lawrence Tureaud
The famous ‘80s American thespian
Better known
By that moniker

No.It is none other than
A certain President of the United States
Whose surname
Begins with that letter

That’s right:
Donald John Trump
As controversial as they come,
Ever up for a fight
Man of many firsts:
First billionaire American President;
The oldest when elected –
And to lack prior military/government experience

His victory in 2016
Against Hillary Clinton
Defied all odds
And went against all predictions

When he took office, he promptly set about
Re-casting America in his own image
Unfortunately, his message
Was undermined by its lack of clout

Which -in turn
Was fuelled by his failure
To galvanize the public
To his America First policy.

To be sure, however,
His recordprior to assuming office
Not to mention his persona,
Was largely his undoing
Seeminglyloathed and loved
In equal measure
He comes across
Asa highly divisive figure

To those enamoured
Of his Make America Great Again mantra
He is the Messiah
They have been waiting for

However, large segments of the population
View him with suspicion
Or worse – he is their worst nightmare
With him, they simply feel unwanted

Name them:
Immigrants, Blacks
Same-sex proponents,
Muslims, Trans-genders

Little wonder, then
That they were the first to celebrate
When his re-election bid failed
And he lost to Joe Biden
Unfortunately,
True-to-type,
He has refused to accept defeat
And, instead, is flying the kite

Of an election fraud
Even after he was serially
Laughed out of court
Into which he was goaded bythe likes of Rudi Guiliani.

Those verdicts surely resonated
As they seemed to re-echo
His famous catch-phrase
From his erstwhile reality show:

The Apprentice, that is:
“You are fired!”
How life imitates art – But not for our protagonist

As he continues -still
To propoundhis alternative reality;
That his loss is a massive conspiracy;
And the biggest fraud in American history
The saddest part
Is that many Republicans
Seem to believe
This fantastic spin –

Regardless of its consequences
On history
And future elections
Not to mention the rule of law –

And a whole host
Of other undesirable outcomes
In God’s supposed own country
Surely America’s standing –

As the bastion of democracy
And international best practices
Is at risk
Nay, in jeopardy

If such infantile/immature
Challenges to the most basic
But fundamental institutions
Of States are allowed to persist If such a misfit
Can be allowed to sleep-walk his way
Into the highest office
In this corner of the Milky Way –

What hope for the rest of humanity?
How shall we respond
To autocrats and despots
When next they sit tight and insist

That they- and no one else
Won elections– which, though free and fair Was won by their opponent(s)?
Who will blame them?

In other words, any prizes
For guessing What Mr. Trump’s legacy Will be?

Certainly not-
Suffice it to say that it is best summed up
By President Roosevelt’s famous reaction To the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour:
That is to say – His tenure will certainly
“Live long in infamy”
Who can deny this, except the most blasé