By Olawale Olaleye
An old Yoruba wisdom admonishes young intending couples to always make sure that their prospective spouses have who is called “olufisun”, in their respective families.
This is someone she or he holds in high esteem, and who they could always run to in times of crisis, knowing full well that when such a person steps in, the matter would be laid to rest, automatically.
Deriving from this is yet another wise Yoruba saying that a bad spouse is much better than bad in-laws, because a good spouse with bad in-laws is recipe for crisis.
Above all, the Yoruba frowns at a situation, where you acknowledge we are friends, yet, you don’t count me worthy and capable of advising you. It doesn’t add up. We are either friends or not.
There’s no question about the fact that defeat is a painful experience, reason it is dubbed an orphan, because you might end up dealing with the effect alone in the final analysis.
Why am I traveling this route? It was not difficult to notice the pain and heavy heart that Senator Hillary Clinton dealt with in 2016, a situation that even came with indignation in her case. Indeed, she bore the pain from November, when she lost the election till January, when Mr. Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.
Yet, it was alleged that it took just former President Barack Obama to convince her on the night the winner was projected to make that “all-important” call. And she did.
Did you think Hillary didn’t reckon the election might have been tampered with? Did you think Hillary could not have embraced some underhand options to undermine the US democratic culture?
How about the late Senator John McCain? He held his concession speech with pride and even went on to speak glowingly of Obama, because according to him, they sought the same goal: a greater America.
But, because there’s a tradition particularly the patriotic responsibility to always protect the system, they moved on like others before them so the winners could enjoy their presidency.
Unfortunately, now that table has turned, it’s a mess. First, there’s no one to talk to Trump to make the call. He is, perhaps, not approachable and that’s evident in his demeanour. Two, he does not give a hoot about how his choices could adversely affect the US as a country especially, the electoral system it has shielded for centuries.
This is the real Donald Trump, a contrarian, who typifies the age of anti-intellectualism and has exposed the dark side of the Almighty America. There’s always a time in history when opportunities are yielded to his ilk just so the world could see that there’s no perfect system anywhere. All they do is play down their inadequacies and manage the various tendencies therein.
Above all, “bibire o se f’owora”, so say the Yoruba. What this presupposes is that decent upbringing is not what you pick up from corner shops. Trump can say whatever he likes, this election is over and the winner is already announced.