What Trump’s Impeachment Trial could teach Nigeria

After a long wait, the jury has come out with a verdict– President Donald Trump would not be removed from office. This brings to end months of nightmares for Trump who faced a major onslaught to boot him out of office. Lucky for him, his Republican-dominated Senate acquitted him on all charges leveled against him and wrote-off his impeachment by the Democrats dominated House of Representatives.

For three weeks, the US Senate entertained fierce arguments from House of Representatives managers and Trump’s counsels on what turned out to become a divisive issue in that country politics. The Democrats are adamant that Trump “abused office and obstructed Congress” from its legitimate duty and threw its numerical advantage at the House of Representatives to impeach him from office.

But that victory was short-lived as Republicans queued behind Trump at the Senate and ensured that the president was not removed from office. It was not unexpected given the partisan line in which the votes at the House of Representatives followed. Democrats wanted Trump gone but Republicans said no, he’s staying.

That shows the intricacies of US politics and how the two main parties are pushing hard to be at an advantage in an election. Even though the impeachment trial ended with Trump’s acquittal and continuous stay in office, the process that threatened his office offers some lessons to Nigeria.

But first, we need to go back to how it all began. It began with a whistleblower, whose identity is still largely unknown, filing a complaint against Trump concerning his interactions with Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Probably scorned by some lines in the exchanges between the two leaders, worried about the implications on the country’s electioneering process and driven by a sense of duty, he turned in the information to his superior. Suggesting how ‘urgent’ his concerns were in “accordance with the procedures outlined in 50 U.S.C. §3033(k)(5)(A),” the whistleblower divulged to House Chairmen Richard Burr and Adam Schiff “information from multiple U.S Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S election.”

That is something unthinkable! The whistleblower was faced with two choices– to conceal whatever he believed was an abuse of power in the conversation Trump had with his Ukrainian President or turn in the information as demanded by his oath of office– but he chose the latter.

Well, that’s not something unusual in the US, yet, it is the thing I find most interesting in the whole impeachment brouhaha. Many reasons abound for my interest and I would try to point them out bit-by-bit. The sense of duty shown by the whistleblower is encouraging and the push by Democrats, even when they are well aware they stood no chance, is another courageous move.

So true that presidents, not to talk of a US president, wields enormous power but the difference which the US has shown with the scenario that ignited the impeachment of Trump at the House of Representatives and the strong attempt for his removal at a later trial in the Senate, is their accountability mechanism.

This is a rare feature in most African countries, including Nigeria, where leadership is hardly questioned. Oftentimes, we’re treated to scenarios where those who should ensure accountability shielded elected leaders from scrutiny and make them somewhat ‘invisible’. In fact, what you consistently see here is struggle to please the president and a sharp disconnect from the duty to the country.

While a President is considered the head of a government, he’s not above board and has a set standard he must not cross. That was the understanding shown by the whistleblower when he filed a complaint against Trump. The whistleblower was convinced that Trump acted wrongly by trying to pressure a foreign country to probe a potential rival in November’s election.

That it could not result in the removal of Trump is something entirely different because the most important objective was served. The trials, right from the House of Representatives to the Senate, passed a strong message to Trump that his excesses could no longer be ignored. Even more important is that the process posed as a strong check to Trump’s mistake of immunity for ‘invisibility’.

Though Democrats failed in its objective to remove Trump, it succeeded in passing “a pretty big lesson” on the president as mentioned by Senator Susan Collins. She was certain “that the president (Trump) has learned from this case” and went on to point out that “The president has been impeached”– a development she “believes that he will be much more cautious in the future.”

From the whole episode, one thing is so clear and that’s American dedication to duty. We saw that with the whistleblower, who against all odds, fulfilled his duty by reporting the information; we saw it with Congress exerting its constitutional power to put the president on trial, and we saw it with the press dedicated their airtime to keep citizens informed.

Oke Umurhohwo is a Political Analyst and Strategist. He tweets via @OkeStalyf and can be reached via oke.umu@gmail.com

Urchman200:
while u ass lick Mr clueless?

Slawormir:
Damnnnnn niggarrr
Who cares
Donald trump and Americans can go fuckkk themselves

Patrioticman007:
That Dumb Trump has scaled his scandals

AnonPoet:
https://ourdailywire.com/what-realdonaldtrumps-impeachment-trial-could-teach-nigeria-by-oke/

solmus:




For trump who couldnt win popular vote against Hilary Clinton even with all her scandals and had to depend on electoral collage, now that Pelosi had succeeded in painting him black and opening his yansh to the world, i wonder how he would rig himself in against sanders or bidden, with Democrats winning more states at the midterm election to clinch majority in the House

not to forget he has issues with the chinese comuinity , the Arabs , the Africans especially Nigerians, the muslims , the blacks, the feminist, people on welfare system that he wants to cut

.

ClintonNzedimma:

This is 2020, Trump doesn’t need to be woke to win

CHIZZYCOMPLEX:
I LOVE YOU DONALD Trump

Nathdoug201:
Stop writing rubbish..
It will tell Nigeria nothing..
The north keep dragging us back everyday