Dear Donald Trump, we are not apes By Muhsin Ibrahim We could not sleep one night in 2008. Instead, we sat in front of the TV, watching and praying for ‘our’ favourite candidate to coast to power and be declared the winner of the election. We wanted to witness history, not of any relative winning any election in Nigeria, but of Barack Obama winning the United States presidential election. Of course, we witnessed the history of the first non-white man becoming the president of the most powerful country in the world. We were delighted. We thought that, henceforth, black people would be more respected globally. Henceforth, our race would not be associated with backwardness. Henceforth, we would have more opportunities not only in the US but far beyond. We also thought President Obama would do more for Africa (where his father came from) and for Muslims (his father’s ‘relatives’), especially in the Middle East. Again, his association with towering academics, such as Edward Said and Rashid ...
Voters go to the polls in Uganda today. Their sitting president, Yoweri Museveni, 81, has been in power since 1986 and is now contesting a seventh term. According to one report, “Nobody doubts that he will be declared the winner, no matter how Ugandans vote.” The situation is hardly unique in Africa. Paul Biya, 93, his Cameroonian counterpart, has held power since 1982 and won re-election last year. Even Biya is surpassed by a single person as the longest-serving leader on the continent and in the world: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 84, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979. Yoweri Museveni Despite Nigeria’s many shortcomings as a democracy, I respect our elected executives for one crucial reason: they have largely honoured constitutional term limits. Only Olusegun Obasanjo attempted to extend his tenure beyond the constitutionally permitted two terms. He failed. The rest did not even try. They all vacated their offices when their terms ended.