By Ichie Tiko Okoye
There certainly was more outrage in his voice than the
sadness he professed to feel at being forced to “give up the best office in the
world,” when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson read out his resignation letter
in an address to the British people last Thursday (06 July 2022). His
resignation announcement came right after it finally dawned on him that a
sizeable number of top government officials and Tory MPs were no longer
interested in buying into the distracting conjuring tricks he was deploying in
response to a recent slew of ethics scandals.
*Boris Johnson
To all intents and purposes, Johnson has been the
English equivalent of America’s Donald Trump. Both are charismatic front men
with a knack for manipulating the media. Just as Johnson crystallised a
decisive electoral victory with the memorable tag line of “Just get Brexit
done!” Trump equally mesmerised American voters with his campaign psychobabble of
“Make America Great Again!” – MAGA for short.
Johnson and Trump are perceived to be born-winners
with a cult following and mammoth fan bases. But truth be told, their
popularity is more the result of political sleight of hand than genuine
political pedigree. Both men are incorrigible liars, whether it is unabashedly looking
their fellow citizens in the eye and spewing lies in furtherance of their own
personal interests and agendas or momentarily succumbing to the malady of
selective amnesia whenever convenient or spreading falsehoods about a “stolen election.”
