President Muhammadu Buhari’s Address to the American People on the Eve of their 2020 elections (First Draft)

My dear American people,

On the eve of the 2015 elections in Nigeria, President Barack Obama addressed the Nigerian people from the Oval Office. Following that tradition, I want to say a few words to you.

Most of you may not know me. My name is Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general. I am the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, with its largest economy. I address you today concerning your 2020 elections, taking place on Tuesday, November 3.

Your experiment over the last four years has been fun while it lasted. It has also been exhausting for the world. While I was a postgraduate student at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the America that I knew then has not been recognizable in the last four years. You have an opportunity to change the course on Tuesday. I hope you all will utilize that opportunity. You, Americans, belong to everybody, and you belong to nobody.

The truth about the myth of American exceptionalism is that there is nothing like American exceptionalism. Since the beginning of time, empires rise and fall for the same old reasons. In every case, the people in the empire either do not see the signs or are handicapped to stop the decline or slow it down.

My concern is that we need America to stand firm…