Editorial
Enough Of Trump’s Macabre Dance
Since Joe Biden was declared victorious in the United States of America’s presidential election on
November 7, 2020, the country has been entrapped in crisis with no functional president. President Donald Trump appears to be on AWOL, letting America to auto pilot to January 20, when Biden will assume office. His profound loss at the polls is driving the US hard into the precipice which has shaken the foundation of the world’s greatest country.
The American president was perhaps farsighted, though for the wrong objectives. Before the elections, he anticipated a fictitious electoral fraud scheme to set the stage for a prolonged legal battle in event of his loss. He did so mainly to suggest arrogantly that his political defeat could only be attributed to massive electoral fraud. In other words, he believed that he could not lose to anyone, certainly not Biden whom he considered an ignoble opposition.
Put in an irreparable depressive and psychotic state by his loss, Trump’s erroneous sense of political gallantry has moved him to the horizon and taken America to the ridge. The idea has caused a powerful riptide that is threatening America’s democracy. As a political commentator put it, “Trump has become the greatest threat to America’s democracy.”
That depiction is unremarkably earmarked for known incurable enemies like Russia, communist China, Iran and North Korea. It is deeply problematic when the threat is not a nation-state, but the president of the United States who has the means at his disposal with the singular interest of reversing the will of the people. This danger has led to a whack of baseless lawsuits to overturn the votes of Americans.
Trump had proceeded to pursue the illusion of an electoral victory, as he continued to press the Justice Department to discredit the election. His Attorney General, William Barr, honourably resigned but Trump was not finished. A record 62 legal challenges were instituted in less than 60 days, questioning the integrity of the election. But America’s democracy proved sturdy even as the Supreme Court judges appointed by the president sided with the constitution.
What appears to be a finality of his shockingly repellent dance is the unprecedented violence his supporters (prompted by him) wreaked on the US Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, spurring a wave of global criticisms. Lovers of democracy and liberty watched in horror as his misguided proponents invaded the US Capitol in a bid to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote affirming the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The US, revered as the bastion of democracy, was twitched to its foundation as rioters danced to the tune of a rabble-rouser notorious for advancing lies, hatred and primordial sentiments. In the aftermath, five persons died, while several others were injured in the entirely avoidable violence. Three improvised explosive devices were reportedly found: one on Capitol grounds, and one each at the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee offices.
Trump is one with controversy. His entire campaign was actuated by racial pronouncements and disharmony reminiscent of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. He encouraged propaganda and described any information that was not favourable to him as “fake.” Also, he debased the Paris Climate Agreement after naming climate change a farce. The number one American citizen became so desperate for power demonstrated in his vicious posts on the social media that Twitter, Facebook and Instagram blocked him for his excesses.
Basking in his segregative tendencies, he executed a systemic travel ban on Muslims from other nations and adored authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin of Russia. Trump went dangerously far to halt the funding of the World Health Organisation (WHO), placed a travel ban on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigating American troops for possible war crimes and isolated the US from its long-standing allies.
All through his campaigns, the American president de-emphasised the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and encouraged his supporters to attend large gatherings in violation of the COVID-19 guidelines as the death rate continued to soar, killing over 360,000 Americans. No wonder, he suffered an overwhelming defeat in the hands of Democratic Party supporters who exploited the early voting and mail-in ballot system.
In a last round of desperation, Trump publicly nudged his Vice-President, Mike Pence, to repudiate the Electoral College polls. Pence is the ceremonial President of the Senate, who was tasked with the job of ratifying the Electoral College votes at the joint congress. The vice-president had hitherto been loyal to his crooked principal, but finally exhibited bravery when it mattered most by siding with the people.
History has it that empires can grind more easily from internal shortcomings than external forces. That is the case with the US. The inability of the haughty Presidency of Trump to humiliate America is evidence that strong institutions are the assay-mark of stable democracies. Democracies are bolstered by the continuous emergence of statesmen, not powerful men, hence, the significance of electing the right leaders.
Shamefully, the Republican Party exacerbated matters as it clearly supported Trump’s contorted narrative for political survival. It betrayed public trust. The party, known for producing great statesmen like Abraham Lincoln, deviated from its core values to welcome Trump’s unlawful acts in order to retain power. Apart from Senators John McCain (late) and Mitt Romney who candidly differed with the ogre, most continued to condone his malfeasances. This party must be jointly held liable for Trump’s onslaught on democracy.
The US must reinvent its democratic values and ideals and bring to justice Trump and his allies. His recent declaration to be committed to a smooth transition, regardless. Though no US President has ever been tried, including Richard Nixon, indicted for the Watergate Scandal, the country must lead by example by prosecuting presidents who breached their oath of office in the same way Israel and Brazil did. This will deter future American presidents who may choose a similar path. America cannot punish foreign leaders who compromise elections and look the other way when it happens on its soil.
The prolonged suffering of Rivers State pensioners who have remained unpaid since retiring in July 2025 demands urgent executive and legislative intervention. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rightly put its finger on the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as the root cause of this crisis. The state government must now bite the bullet, dismantle this failed experiment, and bring the pensioners’ protracted ordeal to an end.
Since July 2025, the affected retirees have been left high and dry, their monthly pensions unpaid, and their dignity worn away. The NLC, under the leadership of Comrade Alex Agwuanwon, has also linked this deplorable situation to the political storm that engulfed the state, while expressing cautious optimism that the prevailing calm will pave the way for the payment of outstanding arrears. The Tide shares that optimism. However, optimism alone will not put food on the table for men and women who gave the best years of their lives to the service of the state.
The genesis of this crisis is not shrouded in mystery. The CPS was introduced in Rivers State in 2012 under the administration of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, pursuant to the Rivers State Pension Reform Law of that year. The scheme was ostensibly designed to bring the state into line with the federal Pension Reform Act of 2004, which had established a contributory framework for retirement benefits across the country. What was sold as a progressive reform has, in truth, become a millstone round the neck of the very workers it was meant to protect.
The CPS has failed in the state, and it has failed spectacularly. Its fundamental flaw lies in the government’s chronic inability, or unwillingness, to honour its counterpart funding obligations. The arrangement was meant to be a joint endeavour: employees contribute a portion of their salaries, and the employer matches it. But the state has consistently failed to keep its side of the bargain, leaving the pension fund anaemic and unable to meet its obligations. The result is as predictable as it is unconscionable. Retirees are left with only their own contributions to fall back on, a mere pittance that cannot see them through their twilight years.
The human cost of this institutional failure is staggering. Men and women who devoted decades to the civil service now find themselves cast adrift, their legitimate expectation of a secure retirement shattered. The psychological toll of such betrayal is beyond measure. A pension is not an act of charity. It is a contractual obligation, a deferred wage for services already rendered. To withhold it is to break a sacred trust. The authorities must understand that every delay in resolving this crisis costs lives, both in the literal sense as elderly retirees struggle to pay for healthcare and sustenance, and in the figurative sense as the social contract between the state and its workforce wears thinner with each passing month.
This development does not show the government in a favourable light. For a state to allow people who served it with dedication and integrity to languish in penury after retirement is morally indefensible. It sends a chilling message to serving civil servants that loyalty will be repaid with abandonment. This is precisely why organised labour must not rest on its oars. The NLC’s call for the termination of the CPS is not mere grandstanding. It is a necessary corrective. The scheme, as presently administered, is irredeemably broken and must be done away with.
The most damning indictment of the CPS since its inception is its one-sidedness. The government has failed to pay its counterpart funding, reducing the scheme to a hollow shell. Of what use is a contributory arrangement when only one party contributes? Retirees cannot be expected to live on the meagre sums they themselves set aside, sums which have been steadily eroded by inflation and administrative charges. Workers have been short-changed, left to carry the can while the government looked the other way. It is a quiet expropriation of their future.
The time to put this right is now in the interest of justice, equity, and fairness. The NLC should push harder for the swift implementation of its committee’s report to Governor Siminalayi Fubara. That report contains a sensible and pragmatic recommendation: that the CPS should apply only to those employed in the year it was enacted, thereby allowing existing civil servants to remain under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) to which they were originally entitled. This is not a radical proposal. It is a reasonable compromise that recognises the legitimate expectations of long-serving workers and rights the wrongs of the past.
The authorities must act with dispatch. Governor Fubara should, without further ado, send a draft amendment of the Pension Law to the House of Assembly for passage into law. With such legislative intervention, those who retired from July 2025 to date would be returned to the DBS, receiving pensions calculated on their terminal salaries and years of service rather than the paltry sums available under the failed contributory arrangement. The NLC, for its part, should keep its foot on the pedal through dialogue, advocacy, and, if necessary, peaceful protest. Pensioners deserve not just fine words but concrete action.
Rivers State cannot lay claim to be progressive while its retirees are forced to go cap in hand for their rightful entitlements. The measure of any civilised society is how it treats its elderly. By that yardstick, the present situation is a blot on the state’s escutcheon. The government must clear the backlog of arrears, scrap the CPS for the category of workers it should never have applied to, and restore the DBS in full. Nothing less will suffice.
The recent public health disaster in Ondo State, which claimed 48 lives and left 182 people severely ill, is a gloomy reminder of the dangers posed by unregulated beverages. According to NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the victims consumed contaminated local alcoholic and herbal drinks in communities in Odigbo Local Government Area. The drinks contained high levels of industrial methanol, while 11 of 15 samples also contained Cannabis indica. The substances were linked to organ failure, neurological deterioration, and permanent blindness. The tragedy should serve as a warning to the entire country.
The incident underscores the wider problem of unregulated and adulterated drinks across Nigeria. From roadside kiosks and motor parks to informal markets, unverified alcoholic and herbal products are readily available, often marketed as cheap alternatives or medicines. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 25 per cent of alcohol consumed globally is unrecorded. Such products operate outside formal regulatory control and may expose consumers to toxic substances and serious health risks.
The problem is compounded by deliberate evasion of regulatory requirements. Products under NAFDAC’s mandate must be registered and subjected to regulatory checks before manufacture, distribution, or sale. Yet some producers ignore these requirements for profit, while others falsify NAFDAC registration numbers and markings and use them on substandard products. Such practices deceive consumers and undermine public confidence in the regulatory system.
The reported arrest of 15 suspects linked to the Ondo distribution network is an important first step. Those found responsible should be prosecuted and, where convicted, appropriately punished. However, enforcement must go beyond responding to tragedies. NAFDAC should strengthen preventive measures through regular post-market surveillance, random testing at transit points, and intelligence-led inspections of informal production centres.
Consumers also have a responsibility to exercise caution. Economic hardship, high inflation, and declining purchasing power have created opportunities for unscrupulous producers to market cheaper but potentially dangerous products. Consumers should, therefore, avoid unlabelled drinks, suspiciously cheap products, and goods sold through unverified outlets. Public education and consumer vigilance can help deny unscrupulous traders the opportunity to put profit before human life.
The danger extends beyond alcoholic and herbal drinks to medicines. Counterfeit and substandard medicines have entered both formal and informal supply chains, causing treatment failure, poisoning, and avoidable deaths. The WHO estimates that at least one in 10 medicines in low and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified, although the prevalence varies. Ensuring the safety and authenticity of medicines is essential to protecting lives and maintaining confidence in the healthcare system.
Food safety is another concern. Poor practices in food handling, processing, and preservation expose consumers to serious health risks, particularly when commercial interests override safety. Concerns over the improper use of chemical agents such as calcium carbide to accelerate the ripening of fruits further demonstrate the need for stronger monitoring throughout the food-supply chain.
These challenges expose weaknesses in Nigeria’s regulatory system and reinforce the need to strengthen it. NAFDAC faces the enormous task of monitoring products across all 774 local government areas. Meeting this challenge requires greater operational capacity, reduced bureaucratic delays, and modern systems capable of tracking regulated products from production to the point of sale.
Inadequate personnel, laboratory facilities, equipment, and logistics remain major obstacles. NAFDAC field offices, especially those serving remote communities, need modern testing equipment, reliable screening tools, and adequate transportation. The Federal Government should provide sustained funding to recruit specialised personnel, upgrade laboratories, and deploy technologies capable of rapidly detecting dangerous substances such as methanol.
Preventing the spread of adulterated products also requires coordinated action by federal and state governments. The Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC, and other relevant agencies should intensify operations to remove unregistered alcoholic and herbal products from motor parks, transit centres, and informal markets. The National Assembly should review existing laws and strengthen penalties for deliberately producing, falsifying, or distributing toxic and unregistered food, beverages, and medicines.
NAFDAC should expand its digital verification systems to enable consumers to confirm product registration before purchase. State ministries of health, local government councils, and community institutions should intensify grassroots education on the dangers of unlabelled drinks, unsafe food practices, and counterfeit medicines. Traditional, religious, and community leaders can also help identify and report illegal production and distribution activities.
The Ondo tragedy must not become another statistic that is quickly forgotten. The loss of 48 lives and the permanent blindness suffered by some survivors are devastating and unacceptable. Nigeria must respond by strengthening regulatory institutions, providing adequate funding, enforcing the law, and educating the public. A sustained, coordinated effort is essential to protect the nation’s food, beverage, and medicine supply chains and prevent another tragedy caused by products that should never have reached the market.