US President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed a parade by his supporters in Nigeria, describing it as a great honour.
Trump made this known when he shared a video of the parade on his Twitter handle with a caption, “A parade for me in Nigeria, a great honor!”
The video shows a procession by men and women singing different victory songs amid intense drumming, all in support of the Republican candidate in today’s US election.
The video also shows the supporters waving American flags and placards with different inscriptions including, ‘Trump 2020’.
Americans head to the polls today to decide the next President between Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden but Nigerians are as much interested in the outcome of Tuesday election as Americans.
Yet, going by various social media posts, Nigerians are divided on their support for candidates in the election. While some want Trump to win, others prefer Biden.
A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, wrote, “All eyes are on America for the presidential election. The outcome will shape the events of the world for the next 50 years and will affect every single one of the 7.5 billion people on earth. I pray for Donald Trump. America needs him and the world needs him.”
A social commentator, Gimba Kakanda, however, tweeted, “As a Nigerian, I feel utterly embarrassed by this circus. This is not a reflection of Trump’s popularity in Nigeria, for those curious.”
Meanwhile, the verbal attacks continue with Trump blasting Biden. “A vote for Sleepy Joe Biden is a vote to give control of government over to Globalists, Communists, Socialists, and Wealthy Liberal Hypocrites who want to silence, censor, cancel, and punish you,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Biden, however, fired back, “If we give Donald Trump another four years in the White House, our planet will never recover.”
Americans are more divided and angry than at any time since the Vietnam War era of the 1970s and fears that Trump could dispute the result of the election are only fueling those tensions.
Despite an often startlingly laid-back campaign, Biden, 77, leads in almost every opinion poll, buoyed by his consistent message that America needs to restore its “soul” and get new leadership in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people.
But Trump was characteristically defiant to the end, campaigning at a frenetic pace with crowded rallies in four states on Monday, and repeating his dark, unprecedented claims for a US President that the polls risk being rigged against him.
After almost non-stop speeches in a final three-day sprint, he ended up in the early hours of Tuesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan — the same place where he concluded his epic against-the-odds campaign in 2016 where he defeated apparent frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.
Despite the bad poll numbers, the 74-year-old Republican real estate tycoon counted on pulling off another upset.
“We’re going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow,” he told the Michigan crowd on Monday, which chanted back, “We love you, we love you!”
“We’re going to make history once again,” he said.
‘A great honour’ — Trump thanks those who marched for him in Onitsha
by The Cable
Loathe him or like him, President Donald Trump remains one of the most popular leaders in the world — and he derives joy in acknowledging that.
On Tuesday, he took a break from his presidential race to thank a group of Nigerians who recently held a campaign rally in his honour.
“A parade for me in Nigeria, a great honour,” the US president wrote as he reposted a video of the rally.
In far away Onitsha, Anambra state, the group held the pro-Trump rally during which they mobilised support for Trump who is battling Joe Biden in the ongoing election.
Wearing white and blue uniform, they waved the United States flag alongside banners and placards with various inscriptions such as, “Make America Great Again”, “President Trump: America Needs A Man Like You”.
As they marched through the streets, the group — mostly women and youth — chorused victory songs for Trump whom they said deserves another term in office.
Ironically, another term for Trump might mean another nightmare for Nigerians, if the US president continues with his immigration policies which have often targeted Nigerians.
Only a month ago, the Trump administration proposed guidelines that could restrict some international students, including those from Nigeria, from admission of more than two-year period.
Earlier in the year, the US president imposed a ban on immigrant visa — issued to those who planned to relocate to the US — on Nigeria and six other countries.
His immigration policies notwithstanding, pro-Trump sentiments have rapidly grown in Nigeria since he became the US president in 2016.
A recent survey once found that more than half of Nigerians have confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs.

By Kayode Oyero