Trump’s Inaugural Address The worst I Have Ever Heard –Akinyemi

A former minister of foreign affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has described United States president, Donald Trump’s inaugural address yesterday, as the worst he has ever heard.

Professor Akinyemi, a renowned diplomat, stated this on the set of Politics Today, a current affairs programme of Channels Television.

“The worst inaugural address I have ever heard in my life is the one I heard today”, he said, adding

“This was not an inaugural address; it was more like a rabble-rousing speech to a mob in the United States”, Prof Akinyemi said.

President Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, and was expected to deliver a blueprint of his administration in the inaugural speech.

Taking an overview, Professor Akinyemi said it was more of a threat to the rest of the world rather than extending a hand of fellowship that some had expected it.

He also made a comparism of the Trump speech and the first inaugural speech he said he had listened to, that of John F. Kennedy’s 1961.

“It’s very strange to me that the first presidential inaugural address that I first heard in my life was President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address which turned out to be the best so far and which in a way energised me and gave me a vision of what the most powerful man in the world should stand for,” he said.

“There was nothing in his speech for the rest of the world—nothing that gives us hope or a vision of what to expect in the next four years.

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“In fact, the most specific thing he said was when he targeted Mexico, saying that instead of calling it the ‘Gulf of Mexico,’ it would now be called the ‘Gulf of America’.’”

“It was an address that stripped naked all the achievements of his predecessor while he was sitting there. It was such a cold speech,” he stated.

Professor Akinyemi also reflected on what the coming on the saddle of Trump would portend for Africa as a region.

“I know you want me to focus on Africa or what next Nigeria should look forward to, you are giving me a task I cannot do because I’m not really sure that if you ask Trump to spell Africa, or to spell Nigeria, or to locate where we are on the globe he will be able to do so.

“We are out of his focus, yes, he’s focusing on the Middle East because Israel is a United partner of His. “Yes, he’s focused on South America and what have you, but, the rest of the world, he doesn’t care.

“This was not an inaugural address; this was not calling on the world to join him in a venture or in an adventure to rescue the world whether it is on climate change.

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“In fact, all the things he was saying, is not the kind of language you expect from a president in an inaugural address?

“I know you want me to focus on Africa or what Nigeria should look forward to, but honestly, I don’t think Trump even knows how to spell ‘Africa’ or ‘Nigeria,’ let alone locate us on the globe.”

“The language he used today—was that the kind of speech you expect from a president at an inauguration? It was shocking and depressing for me.”