The Learner

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 ...