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In the fearful months and years following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, Western democracies faced an unenviable dilemma. Their citizens demanded protection from an enemy that recognised no borders, wore no uniforms and deliberately targeted civilians.
The War of Independence followed on from the unsuccessful Easter Rising in 1916. While the Rising had little support from the Irish population, the British crackdown hardened public opinion against British rule. Subsequent events such as the Conscription Crisis helped Sinn Féin, an Irish nationalist party, to a landslide victory in the 1918 general election. Establishing their own parliament, Dáil Éireann, they declared independence while the Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought a guerrilla campaign across the island.
For decades, we were instructed to nod politely at global summits while elites proclaimed that the rule of law is universal. Except, like a discount gym membership, universality apparently comes with fine print, blackout dates, and VIP exemptions reserved exclusively for nations backed by Western firepower.
Start with the constitutional oddity sitting in plain sight. The Board's Charter names Donald Trump personally not the office of the President, not the United States as a state party, but Donald J. Trump as inaugural Chairman, with a term that survives his presidency. He can only be removed through voluntary resignation or a unanimous vote of the Executive Board finding him incapacitated, and he alone selects his successor. No sitting president inherits the chair by virtue of the office; a future occupant of the Oval Office might find themselves outranked, within an organisation their own government helped charter, by a private citizen of their predecessor's choosing.
The performance requires a villain. Africa has been performing that role for free, and at some cost to itself for considerably longer than it should have.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 