LIKE AN OBJECT IN THE MIRROR, TRUMP IS CLOSER THAN HE APPEARS
Ask many people in and outside America they would tell you they thought Donald J. Trump was joking about wanting to be president of the greatest nation on planet earth. There's a sense in which we could argue that even Mr. Trump thought his was a big April Fool's joke. Now, after two clear primary election wins, Trump, like an object in a car's mirror, is closer to the White House that he really appears.
This is definitely no longer a joke. Chinua Achebe says when a handshake reaches the elbow, it becomes a wrestling match. Trump's bid to be president of Obama Land is definitely now something that looks very likely. So let's imagine what the world would look like on the morning after the declaration of Trump's victory. And we base our comments entirely on what the guy himself has been saying during his campaign thus far.
1. *A WALL on the border with Mexico - *We note that Trump is not talking about a fence, rather a WALL. A fence is neighbourly. A wall is a little hostile. In fact Trump says Mexicans "bring drugs...they are criminals". So why not build a wall? It makes a lot of sense. In fact, Trump believes Mexico would pay for a wall that would definitely affect their economy and their self-esteem. We are waiting to see that happen.
2. *No Visa for Muslims -* We don't know how strong the Muslim vote is in America, but we absolutely believe that they would do Mr. Trump no favours when they go to the polls in November. He doesn't seem to bother, at least from what we see on TV. But in what would look like a tight race, Trump would need every vote. And there are no hanging or dimple chards anymore. Even in Miami Dade county.
3. *Catholics must relocate to Rome - *Trump may have tried to pull back from his aggressive posture with the Pope but we believe that his campaign strategists must have told him not to risk open confrontation with the billion-member strong Catholic church. Maybe all Catholics in US should consider heading for the Vatican.
4. *Greedy and corrupt Africa leaders* *-* As far as this group is concerned, we couldn't care less what Trump does to them - or even with them. Look at Pierre Nkurunziza, Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museveni, Denis Sasso Nguesso and a few others now showing such terrible tendencies. We plead with Mr. Trump to remember to evacuate ordinary people from the line of fire when he decides to send in the Navy Seals to take those leaders out.
5. *Journalists - *Trump's presidency would be a field day for journalists who like to have juicy quotes in their stories. Obama says Trump cannot win. We shall see. In Sierra Leone, we say *Play Play Kill Bod. *Loosely translated: It is by jokingly throwing a stone at a bird that leaves it dead.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF 24-HOUR ELECTRICITY IN MAKENI*
Let's be honest, De Pa's electricity is looking very shaky in Freetown. Very shaky because many parts of Freetown are now in pitch darkness. Those who manage to get electricity experience outages as frequently as the twinkling of Christmas lights. But in the Seat of Power, otherwise known as Makeni, there's no such thing - it's a continuous flow. Well done, Makeni!
So guys, we have to take advantage of the prevailing situation in the Seat of Power. Let's make Makeni the nation's industrial base. We want to drastically cut overheads and reduce prices on the average consumer. So here we go:
1. All welding shops must relocate to Makeni WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT - as De Pa sacks his minister. There they will work non-stop and meet production targets. Isn't that a brilliant idea?
2. We say the same for barbing shops and hair-dressing saloons. Special buses would be provided for the weekly visit to such facilities by people from all over the country - especially from the opposition heartlands which seem to have bene relegated to the back burner. But everybody would provide their own food and accommodation.
3. Bring all your freezers to Makeni. Those running restaurants should make sure they take all but one of their freezers to the Seat of Power. Special vehicles would bring stuff to Freetown as and when required.
4. For the National Stadium which cannot use the full beam of their floodlight, we will talk to the Mayor of Makeni to send a special power line from her town to the stadium. Let's end this disgrace of local football matches being played in near darkness, or not played at all because of BLACKOUT.
5. We add this for good measure - those who feel like cruising around in their Ferrari, Pontiac or any of those expensive cars we see around today by the nouveaux-riches close to power and contract, no worries. The roads are good and more work is being done on the few bumpy ones. Makeni, here we come!
BEHIND THE STADIUM WALL IS A SEA OF MESS BUT WHO CARES?*
Pope John Paul is quick to ban people from the stadium. All he requires is for anybody to tell him to be fair with those who disagree with some of his warped policies and pronouncements. Many have been banned on paper but the Pope knows he has no capacity to enforce a ban but he announces them anyway.
While he is doing all that, can we call his attention to the disgraceful sight behind the walls of the stadium near the gate leading to the Ascension Town cemetery. The huge gutter near the stadium wall is full and is overflowing across the street, into the cemetery. And close by, somebody has abandoned a bus since God knows when. All vital parts of the bus have been cannibalised. So who does the owner expect to clear up his mess!?
This is a growing trend in Freetown - people dump their rotten cars on the streets with no consequences. And even in the Pope's backyard, a rotten bus and overflowing dirty water tell a story of an abandoned public facility.
What's all this noise about the national stadium when we can't even keep it up to standard? Even the mess left behind by flood victims and their criminal invaders are still around in different parts of the place. Come on Pope, take control of this place.
SLRA NEGLECT: DEATH TRAP NEAR FBC PRIMARY SCHOOL
We don't like bringing bad news. We also don't like to say WE TOLD YOU SO. But it's looking increasingly likely that this may happen soon. The condition of the road from the cutoff point of Rue De La Paix at Kortright, to the bridge on the lower part of FBC, is unimaginable. It's beginning to look like the road between Bo and Mattru Jong. Things are worse in front of the FBC primary school. The road is very bad and we challenge all the big guys who pass through that place on a daily basis to tell us we are wrong.
We want to sound a warning to SLRA that any death resulting from the condition of that road will open them up to lawsuits. They will have blood on their hands and people will never forgive them even if the judiciary unsurprisingly lets them down.
We have seen SLRA vehicles speeding through what is easily one of the worst stretches of roads in all Sierra Leone; we have seen senior civil servants, ministers and other big time politicians driving through FBC. Can't they see and feel the death trap created near that primary school simply because the SLRA think they can do anything and get away with it.
When any life is lost in the place, we will not accept and technical explanation from SLRA. We will ask for the law to be applied for criminal neglect. We have called attention to this death trap many times but as always, we have been ignored.
We will keep the pressure on until this road is done. Work in De Pa's so-called Works yard has ground to a halt.
(C) Politico 23/02/16
