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Food for Living: Congrats Joe Biden – President Elect of the United States of America
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It’s always a thing of joy to watch the United States of America’s presidential election. Every four years, US citizens go to the polls to elect their leaders in the House of Representations, Senate, and Presidency. The world is always at standstill every four years as the United States citizens go to the polls to elect their leaders. The presidential election always draws attention because of its effect on the global world.
This year’s election saw a new twist because the Coronavirus pandemic made many citizens, especially the Democrats to vote by mail as opposed to the Republicans who preferred to vote in person. The rave, crave and anxiety which is normally associated with the Presidential election wasn’t felt this year because many of the citizens weren’t “fired up”, however, Americans experienced a new dimension in the 2020 presidential election due to the way they voted.
Before the election, the polls saw Joe Biden winning with a slight margin in all the swing states. However, Democrats were not ready to leave any stone unturned, they did their best to ensure that they reached out to all voters, especially in the swing states to vote by mail, but President Trump encouraged his base to vote in person.
In the past, election results were usually known on election night or the early hours of November 4, but this year’s election took a new twist because most of the citizens preferred to vote by mail in an effort to curb down the spread of the virus. Before the election, journalists, politicians, and political analysts have opined that the results of the election will not be known until after a week or more because all mail-in boxes need to be counted. These pundits were right. On November 3, there was tension in the land and globally as all eyes were glued to the television waiting anxiously for the results to trickle in.
As the results of the election began to trickle in, Republicans and supporter of President Trump felt very happy and confident they will win the election. President Trump wasn’t left out of this euphoria. On the other hand, Democrats on the other hand were a little bit uneasy because it appears the Republicans were winning with a high margin especially as it relates to the swing states votes which will decide the election.
It’s important to mention that, in the American presidential election, the president is elected via electoral College. Any presidential candidate that secures more than 270 electoral votes is automatically declared the winner. This electoral college has been condemned by some schools of thought as been flawed. Schools of thought that support the electoral college do it because it gives all Americans a sense of belonging as opposed to using the popular vote which merely determines votes of each state. Proponents of the Popular vote do it because it defines democracy (government of the people for the people and by the people). This school of thought didn’t factor in what will be the case if a State with a great population like Texas, Pennsylvanian, Illinois, Virginia, and New York all vote for a candidate while States with smaller populations like North. Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming vote for a candidate and their votes don’t carry much, they might be shortchanged, especially when the states with small population vote for a more credible candidate.
It’s instructive to note that Democrats and Joe Biden encouraged their voters to vote by mail to reduce the spread of the virus, but Republicans on the other hand encouraged their voters to vote in person. President Trump even told his voters to vote in person because the virus is not real.
As the results began to trickle in, all eyes were fixed on the swing states. (Pennsylvanian, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada). President Trump appears to be leading with a decent margin. When it became clear, the election will be a very close one, all Americans were anxious about who will win the election. As the tension was increasing Joe Biden came out to address the citizens assuring them to remain calm and wait for the election results. He also added he’s optimistic he will win the election when all the votes are counted.
President Trump on his own part stated he’s winning and announced that the counting should stop. He went on to say he has won the election, that Democrats were trying to rig the election with mail-in votes. The election began to get interesting when Democrats woke on November 4 to see that they have hope in the election seeing the change in election results. Reality began to set on President Trump when Joe Biden began to pick up votes in the swing States.
As citizens were anxiously waiting for the results to come in, President Trump began to make accusations, saying that the election was rigged and there was a fraud. After four dates of waiting for the election result, CNN projected Joe Biden as the winner of the election which was the result Joe Biden needs to have become the President-elect of the United States of America
Immediately after Joe Biden was announced the projected winner of the election, President Trump refused to concede the election. He rather assembled a team of lawyers to contest the election results on grounds of fraud. But each time he goes, the court dismissed all the claims for having no evidence.
President Trump also stated he won’t invite Joe Biden to the White House as usually done by the previous President. This singular decision attracted top Republicans who are in a position to call the president to order. Another group of people that love Donald Trump are Nigerians. In fact, Nigerians love Donald Trump and adore him like an idol. If asked why they love Trump and hate Joe Biden, their response will be he’s a Christian and against gay and abortion. Some even said, he queried president Buhari over killing of Christians? These interesting Nigerians didn’t realize that not all Democrats love Gay and some Republicans are gay.
For instance, apart from being a Democrat, I am also an ordained minister of God, and does that mean I support gay and abortion? NO! And for supporters of Trump who support on his morality group, I have one question for you. What do you say to a person who says “when you are a star, you can do anything to a woman, “you can grab women by the pussy”.
One begins to wonder if this is a rational way of supporting a leader. It should be noted that most Nigerians are emotional, religious, and sentimental. Once they perceive you as someone who doesn’t play their card, they write you off. These interesting Nigerians fail to look at the ideologies of each party and the personality of each candidate.
Once an election result is called, it is generally expected for the losing candidate to call the winner, but this didn’t play out as President Trump is learning how to lose. President Trump has refused to call Joe Biden, the President-Elect. He even refused intel brief for Joe Biden. According to sources familiar with Trump, he has no plans of attending the inauguration.
You may be wondering what led to the loss of the President Trump. Well, we shall discuss a few topical reasons why he lost. When you juxtapose President Trump’s personality and morality stand, you begin to wonder how and why some people support a man who has little or no sympathy and human empathy. This is because, under this watch, more than 243,000 people have died from COVID-19, while there have been more than 10 million recoded cases all because he didn’t take it serious.
Furthermore, the social uprising and George’s Floyd’s death has really awakened Americans because the Black race does not seem to matter to President Trump and White Supremacy. This act also influenced the minds of many voters to vote against an incumbent. After George Floyd’s deaths, systematic racism was given life by President Trump’s admirations.
President Trump’s claim of fraud is baseless because this is one of the ‘most secured’ elections in American with the highest popular vote in US history. As a matter of fact, Tom Ridge, a former Pennsylvanian Republican Governor said, as a lifetime Republican, this is the first he’s voting for a Democrat. He said that President Trump’s claim of fraud is shameful, baseless, and unsubstantial.
When it comes to American politics, it’s literally dicey because it’s always heavily contested and very close. It’s quite unfortunate people who don’t have insight about the election and are not even on the ground to know what’s happening base their understanding and opinion on hearsay evidence and half-baked truth from bloggers who spread false information just to appeal to the sentiment of gullible minds.
Americans were truly fed up with President Trump’s style of leadership and as such, they came out in an unprecedented manner to vote for Joe Biden. It’s interesting to note that Joe Biden made history by having the highest number of votes in the US presidential election. Also, Kamala Harris made history by being the first woman to be elected Vice President in the US.
As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris prepare to restore the soul of America, I pray they succeed and hope they’ll unite the divided country. I, therefore, call on loving and good people to support them.
On behalf of the Global Empowerment & Mentoring Imitative Inc, I, Henry Anyaehiechukwu Ukazu join other world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their victory as the 46th President- elect and Vice President-elect of the United States of America.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a self-discovery expert and works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
Glo subscribers who use Palmpay app to recharge their lines are in for an exciting time as winners have begun to emerge in the ongoing second edition of the “Recharge and Win Bonanza”, a collaborative promo between Palmpay and Globacom.
The promotion rewards Glo users who recharge their lines via the Palmpay app with a chance to win premium prizes, including the iPhone 15 Pro, Infinix Hot 40, and several other exciting giveaways. According to a joint statement from both companies, the initiative is designed to encourage seamless digital recharges while rewarding customer loyalty in the process.
So far, winners have been announced from the latest draws, with several participants winning brand new Infinix Hot 40 smartphones and other prizes. Among the lucky winners are Basirat Mayowa Opatunji from Osogbo, Osun State, Wisdom Anayo Uzoma, Afeez Akanfe Muraina, and Oyedikachi Herbert.
To ensure convenience, winners outside Lagos will have their prizes dispatched to the nearest Palmpay office for pickup.
Participation in the promo is open until August 8, 2025, and is as simple as recharging a Glo line with ₦500 or more via the Palmpay app. Each qualifying transaction automatically enters the subscriber into a draw for a chance to win. In addition, a daily social media challenge offers more opportunities to win cash prizes.
Palmpay users also enjoy up to 6 percent cashback on Glo airtime and data purchases during the promo. Even better, customers who haven’t activated a Glo data plan in the last 90 days are eligible for a 100% bonus on their recharge.
One of the winners, Basirat Mayowa Opatunji, couldn’t hide her excitement after winning an Infinix Hot 40 smartphone. “I’ve always recharged my Glo line through the Palmpay app, but I never imagined I’d actually win a phone,” she said. Currently studying at Ekiti State University through the Osun State College of Education, Ila Orangun study centre, Basirat added that she would be picking up her prize in Osogbo.
To participate in the ongoing bonanza, Glo subscribers can simply visit: http://bit.ly/PalmPaySms
The Federal government has responded to the United States’ recent visa rules that reduce how long Nigerian visitors can stay in the United States and limit them to one entry per visa by calling on Washington to reconsider its new visa policy.
The U.S. Department of State had recently updated its non-immigrant visa policy for several countries, including Nigeria, on Tuesday.
Under the new rule, most non-diplomatic and non-immigrant visas issued to Nigerian citizens will now be valid for only three months and allow just a single entry into the United States.
The changes took effect immediately.In a notice published on its website, the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria state: “Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore, that as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.
“The Federal government responded to this by describing the new US directive as “misaligned with the principles of reciprocity, equity, and mutual respect” that ought to govern bilateral engagements between friendly nations in a statement released on Wednesday through Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson.
The Federal government said it views this development with concern and keen interest, particularly given the longstanding cordial relations and strong people-to-people ties between our two countries.
“The attention of the Federal government of Nigeria has been drawn to the recent decision by the United States Government to revise its visa reciprocity schedule for Nigerian citizens, limiting the validity of non-immigrant visas including B1/B2, F and J categories to three months with single entry,” it stated.
“The Federal government views this development with concern and keen interest, particularly given the longstanding cordial relations and strong people-to-people ties between our two countries. The decision appears misaligned with the principles of reciprocity, equity, and mutual respect that should guide bilateral engagements between friendly nations.”
It also claimed that this restriction places a disproportionate burden on Nigerian travellers, students seeking academic opportunities, professionals engaging in legitimate business, families visiting loved ones, and individuals contributing to cultural and educational exchanges.
The government also said it understands that every country has the right to make its own immigration rules, but it hopes the U.S. will “reconsider this decision in the spirit of partnership, cooperation, and shared global responsibilities.”
It also added that diplomatic engagements are ongoing, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains committed to pursuing a resolution that reflects fairness and upholds the values of mutual interest.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has assembled a team of 97 lawyers to challenge what it describes as the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s ‘fake lawsuit’ against its interim leadership, including former Senate President David Mark and former Minister Rauf Aregbesola.
The legal team, led by Barrister Mohammed Sheriff, made this known in Abuja on Tuesday, accusing the ruling APC of filing a suit using the names of individuals who are not members of the ADC.
The latest development follows a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja between Senator Mark, who is now the ADC’s Interim National Chairman, and the party’s Kogi State chapter.
At the meeting, Mark assured Nigerians that under his leadership, the ADC would operate with total transparency and would not favour any presidential aspirant.
“I don’t own this party more than any other member… All Nigerians must come together and take ownership of the ADC,” he said.
He, therefore, urged party members to set aside their differences and focus on building a united political force, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could fail if citizens remain passive.
The ADC chairman also criticised the APC, saying the ruling party should focus on fixing its own policy failures rather than targeting individuals.
“If they admitted that insecurity was bad and promised to improve it but instead made it worse, should Nigerians continue to support them? The answer is no,” he said.
The ADC alleged that the APC had fabricated names in its lawsuit against the party’s interim leadership.
According to the ADC, investigations showed that the supposed plaintiffs in the suit were not registered members of the party in either Kogi or Nasarawa State.
“It smacks of desperation that a party entrusted with leading 200 million Nigerians would engage in such dishonesty,” the party said.
Mark used the occasion to call for national unity and encouraged Nigerians to support the ADC’s vision of a reformed and people-centred democracy.
“Let us work together to rebuild this nation for future generations,” he urged.
Barrister Sheriff, head of the ADC’s national legal support team, confirmed that 97 lawyers have volunteered to take up the case.
“We are fully prepared to defend the ADC and its leaders against this politically motivated attack,” he said.
