🚨🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo: “I thought about RETIRING from international football after the World Cup”.
“But I spoke to the President, Coach and I am still here. I am an asset, I can help”.
I do not hold a brief for the First Lady, and I remain unapologetically and unequivocally opposed to the practice of FGM. The physical, psychological, and human rights implications of the practice are too serious to be trivialised or excused under the guise of culture or politics.
That said, the cancellation of a speech by an organisation solely on the basis of the First Lady’s perceived position on the issue should also be viewed within a broader global context. Time and again, the international community, powerful organisations, and even states have rolled out red carpets, standing ovations, and prestigious platforms for leaders and officials linked to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and grave democratic abuses.
We have also repeatedly witnessed public officials from Sierra Leone travel abroad to deliver polished speeches on democracy, the rule of law, accountability, and development while, at home, those same values are steadily undermined through action, silence, complicity, and institutional failures.
Furthermore despite grave public concerns surrounding the tolerance or protection of individuals linked to the destructive drug crisis devastating communities and causing immense human suffering, the same public officials continue to be afforded international platforms from which to preach governance and accountability.
The inconsistency is difficult to ignore. The First Lady was simply unfortunate to find herself on the wrong side of a line that many far more powerful actors have crossed without consequence.
The point therefore is not that criticism of FGM is misplaced. It is not. Nor is it that public figures should be immune from scrutiny over their positions on harmful practices. They should not.
The real issue for me is the selective and uneven application of moral outrage in international spaces, where some actors are isolated and condemned, while others, often far more implicated in far graver conduct, continue to enjoy legitimacy, prestige, and applause.
They may be the richest and most powerful people in Sierra Leone today, but in the eyes of God, they are the poorest.
They know so little, yet pretend to be the smartest among us.
But give it ten years — time will reveal the truth:
They were never wise, only deceiving. The evidence will show they were, in fact, the most misguided. Just a thought not a sermon
Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff, has played an outsize role in immigration—and amassed more power than almost anyone else at the White House https://t.co/G4aoW89WfY
The Pentagon detailed Operation Midnight Hammer, the "largest B-2 strike in U.S. history," targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities with seven stealth bombers. https://t.co/GHFo80blDr
Flight-tracking data shows multiple B-2 bombers took off from a Missouri Air Force base, though US official says Iran operation is not imminent. https://t.co/ogsOxoMLmw
Whoopi Goldberg just claimed being black in America is "no different" than living in Iran.
Seriously?
In Iran, you can be jailed, tortured, or executed for speaking out. Women are beaten for showing hair.
Protesters are gunned down in the street. There is little to no free speech or civil rights.
In America, you can protest, vote, sue the government, start a business, run for office, and get paid millions to say stupid things on national TV.
Enough with the victim olympics.
While Donald Trump has issued a sweeping call for mass evacuation from Tehran, signalling the spectre of an all-out regional war and governments across Europe and Asia scramble to comply, the response from Africa has been notably restrained. https://t.co/qUWAlLP5ne
He went off-script—and exposed everything.
At the G7 in Canada, President Trump made sure every second counted—dropping major revelations on trade, foreign policy, and the future of mass deportations.
But the biggest truth bomb?
He called out Obama and Trudeau directly—for pushing Russia away and triggering a global realignment.
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