By John Okeke
An American based Nigerian entrepreneur, Prince Ugoeze Frank Uwakwe, has vowed to rally support for Donald Trump in the oncoming US presidential election. Ugoeze, whose life has been tremendously transformed by the philosophies and policies of President Donald Trump, has demanded that Nigerians and Africans in America should vote for Trump.
In a statement made available to The Authority, through his Media aide for Abuja, Dr Success Nkongho, he catalogued the policies, programmes and policies that defined the Trump administration and should serve as a recipe for his return. Ugoeze said ,”It is important for Christian believers to have an understanding of the time. It’s time for the sons of Issachar to rise to their responsibility to demand the re-election of our 21st Century Jehu, Donald Trump.”
According to him, “anyone who votes for Donald Trump has taken side with God. This man is unstoppable, this man is game changer, this man is mover and shaker, Vote for Donald Trump,” he emphasized.
He highlighted a myriad of reasons why Trump should be voted for a second term which among them are promoting free speech and religious liberty, protection of human rights and health coverage, etc.
He said, ” Though President Trump is not a career politician who has political choices of words to entice his audience like others do but he is a man sent by God, a Prophet of God, a deliverer and a restorer with an outstanding bravery who has kept to all his campaign promises despite the distractions and conspiracy theories by his political opponents who uses the mainstream media houses with fake news and false accusations to discredit him.
“From his first election to date, the administration of President Donald Trump has taken significant actions on issues of concern to social conservatives — life, family, and religious liberty: On January 23,2017, President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy, which blocks funding for international organizations that perform or promote abortion. This new program is known as Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), which now covers $8.8 billion in family planning and global health funds that go to organizations abroad (none of whom may perform or promote abortion).
On February 22, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Justice (DOJ) rescinded President Obama’s guidance that required public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and showers of their choice,” he said.
On May 4, President Trump signed an Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty (known as the “Religious Liberty Executive Order”), broadly setting forth religious liberty as a policy priority of the administration, and requiring all federal agencies to take action to protect it. The order also more specifically addressed conscience protections, forthcoming guidance from the DOJ, and religious liberty in the context of free speech.
On August 25, President Trump announced changes to the Obama administration’s Department of Defense (DOD) policy which had allowed military personnel to serve even if they openly self-identified as transgender. (A DOD study found the Obama administration’s policy to be detrimental to military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion).
On September 7, DOJ filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court defending the religious freedom rights of baker Jack Phillips in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This filing is representative of other actions defending religious freedom taking place throughout the Trump administration DOJ.
On October 6, DOJ issued guidance and an implementing memo (as instructed by the Religious Liberty Executive Order) to all federal agencies explaining religious freedom law and how religious liberty must be protected. This guidance laid out a broad defense of religious liberty based on multiple statutes and provided each federal agency with guidelines for protecting religious liberty.
Also on October 6, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed two regulations to deal with the Obamacare “HHS contraceptive mandate” that had for years violated conscience and religious liberty. These new regulations exempt organizations that have moral or religious objections to purchasing insurance that includes coverage of contraceptives and abortion-causing drugs and devices.
2018
On January 16, DOJ filed an amicus brief with the District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on behalf of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. The Archdiocese had wanted to promote a religious message during the Christmas holiday but, had been denied advertising space within the District’s public transit system.
On January 18, DOJ filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue defending the First Amendment rights of parents and students who attend a religious school, to participate in a private school scholarship program.
On January 18, HHS announced a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division within its Office of Civil Rights (OCR). This new division was established to enforce federal laws that protect conscience rights and religious freedom.
On January 19, HHS issued a new proposed regulation on conscience protections related to abortion. Specifically, the regulation proposed to implement 25 laws that protect pro-life healthcare entities against discrimination by federal agencies — or state or local governments receiving federal funds — due to their objections to participating in abortion, sterilization, and other morally objectionable procedures.
On January 24, Sam Brownback was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. In choosing Brownback for this role, President Trump demonstrated the administration’s commitment to religious freedom by choosing someone with gravitas and experience on the issue.
On March 23, 2018, the White House and DOD issued a new policy allowing existing personnel to remain in the military while preventing those who have been diagnosed with “gender dysphoria” or had undergone gender transition surgery from joining the military. Those who are transgender and stable for 36 months could join so long as they serve in accordance with their biological sex.
On April 26, Mike Pompeo was confirmed as Secretary of State. In choosing Pompeo for this position, President Trump chose someone who cares deeply about religious liberty and will make it a priority to see the issue advanced through this administration.
On April 30, during a press conference with Nigeria’s president, President Trump raised the issue of religious freedom and the killing of Christians in that country — bringing attention to an issue that had largely been neglected by other government officials.
