Re - Incitatus
Cornelius Hamelberg
Stockholm
Sweden
Peoples’ Planet
2nd January, 2026
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” ( Romans 12:19)
Some of the Bible-thumpers say this with their lips, say and mean these words that may be etched on some of their hearts, especially Nigeria’s over 100 Million strong section of the 2.4 Billion worldwide Christian flock , the largest religious flock in the world, and Jesus is said to be the Good Shepherd .
( BTW, I’m not sure of that since according to the Gospels Jesus is reported to have said “I have only come for the lost sheep of the House of Israel “ - long before Saul of Tarsus, the self-proclaimed “Apostle to the Gentiles” proclaimed, “There is no Jew or Gentile. There is no slave or free person. There is no male or female. That's because you are all one in Christ Jesus”)
OK, so, “ Vengeance is Mine” says the Almighty. Does the Almighty also say, “ Judgment is Mine” ? In that case vengeance and judgment are interchangeable, synonymous, and it would seem that the Christians - especially lapsed Christians are looking forward to the much advertised Judgment Day with some trepidation , just as Muslims have also been taught to fear the Qiyamah , on which day nobody will be cheated…
One has to be careful , because there’s also the saying, “ Judge not, that you be not judged"
Before last night, I would have said that I'm confident that I’m on the right side of history, to the extent that even at the risk of being charged with argumentum ad verecundiam, I daresay that very few of the ignoramuses reading this can write like Professor Bernard Porter , “I’ve been trawling through history – or as much of it as I know – to find if there has ever been a madder, more stupid and more corrupt national leader anywhere in the world, than Trump. Any ideas? (Most other fascist leaders have been brighter; and Caligula’s horse probably wasn’t corrupt enough.)
I said “ before last night” because last night I spoke with an old friend, in Nigerian English, a “highly educated “, highly musical ( a concert pianist), highly theological, and highly political Eastern Orthodox Christian for the better part of 41 minutes and it was towards the end when it was getting clear that he and I didn't see Donald Trump in the same light, didn't see him as the scoundrel that he is ( with the Epstein Files hanging like the sword of Damocles over his head, with eight Epstein survivors calling for Trump's impeachment ) it was was then, when he started praising Trump and suggesting what I suspected he was hinting at - Trump as some kind of “defender of the faith” , Trump as not only the friend and lord protector and tax-exempter of billionaires, and when he chose to interpret Trump’s “shithole countries” as Trump meaning countries mired in corruption and mismanagement, it was then that I knew I had to bring our conversation to a close, so as not to regret that it would soon be either mine or his foot came through the line
Whenever some contemporary politician, wannabe statesman or scoundrel, is about to be given a reprieve, there’s always his apologist/ admirer/ hagiographer / sycophant / disciple/ paramour/ or confessor priest that prefaces what he / she is about to say, with this recurring phrase, “History will be kind to” whichever great or not so great personality is the specimen entity or microbe under the microscope, for intense scrutiny and about to be condemned for mistakes made, high crimes and misdemeanours committed, in some cases even crimes against humanity
So, only someone other than truth-sayer Wole Soyinka could ever, without batting an eyelid possibly embark on a train of thought that begins “History will be kind to Sani Abacha….” - but then again, there are periodic sentences such as “ Mazi Chidi Anthony Opara’s poetry will be read long after Shakespeare is forgotten, but not before”
Winston Churchill is alleged to have famously said, “ For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all Parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself".
Has Professor Porter factored that in, that just as Brother Obama served us with “A Promised Land “ in which he mostly gives an accounting of his two terms stewardship as President of the United States, so too Trump could do ( but please spare us the boastfulness…)
On the day of his final departure, will it be JD Vance mourning
“O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well! “
Or
“His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, “This was a man.”
Yup,
“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time”
(A Psalm of Life - by Longfellow)
And who’s going to compose his In Memoriam ?
Yep, “a week is a long time in politics” and if all goes according to Trump’s wishes then ahead of us we have a roller coaster 159 weeks of Trump as commander-in-chief at the steering wheel.
In this his second term, Trump - America’s oldest president ever, has only been in the saddle for less than a year and truly, only God knows what else Trump is gonna do for the remaining 1,113 days of his presidency which ends on 20th January , 2029
Between now and then can the good people of the United States and the world imagine what’s in store from Trump during the remaining 1,113 days of his presidency? Four days from now it will be the anniversary of the 6th of January storming of the capital by Trump supporters , further down the line, his military adventures in West Africa, and about resuming his role as Chief Justice, International Police and Sheriff of the Middle East, Trump is already threatening to go and kick some ass in Iran if Iran touches peaceful protestors - he might even make a similar threat concerning Nigeria, if he ever smells something like a repeat of the Lekki tollgate event brewing…
At this point, how would Trump like to be remembered ?
There’s Trump and his yo-yo tariff policies. What's their likely trajectories between now and January 20, 2029 ?
In alphabetical order,
There’s Trump and the Alliance of Sahel States
There’s tit for tat : Mali and Burkina Faso ban American Citizens
There’s Canada (and Trump
There’s CHINA
There’s IRAN
There’s Gaza
There’s Greenland ( and Trump the Emperor wants to grab her
There’s NORTH KOREA
There’s RUSSIA
There’s Venezuela
Where is the EU? UK?
Requiring our understanding and compassion are the realities of Donald Trump and his health - he is not getting any younger
Also requiring our understanding and perhaps too - as Biko Agozino would say, our forgive-ness all the water that has as flowed under the bridge ,knowing that what’s done - such as according to him, “the obliteration” of Iran's underground nuclear research facilities, cannot be undone , in tune with Donovan’s What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid
Biko will probably want to inspire the Mullahs to demand reparations…
Forgiving the unforgivable is akin to believing the unbelievable
Last word, from First Tempter to Bishop and to Trump
“Then I leave you to your fate.
I leave you to the pleasures of your higher vices,
Which will have to be paid for at higher prices.
Farewell, my Lord, I do not wait upon ceremony
I leave as I came, forgetting all acrimony,
Hoping that your present gravity
Will find excuse for my humble levity.
I f you will remember me, my Lord, at your prayers,
I’ll remember you at kissing time below the stairs.”