Stingl: 'Trump Up America,' says Nigerian immigrant

His song, Charles Okereke swears, is not political even though it's titled "Trump Up America."

Still, the Milwaukee man would love it if Donald Trump played the rousing tune at his inauguration Friday.

Nobody is promising that, but Trump apparently became aware of the song and on Aug. 12 tweeted a link to it. He did not praise the song, but then again he didn't pan it with his favorite Twitter words like overrated and sad.

This is not a song about building walls or kicking out immigrants. Quite the opposite actually. It trumpets liberty and justice for all. The subtitle is "America Solidarity Anthem."

"No man is lord over you. Illegal deportations, thumbs down," says one verse.

"We are rainbow nation, of ethnic equality, racism unconstitutional... Bigotry and injustice, trump up these evils? No!" says another.

Okereke himself is an immigrant and, since 1995, an American citizen. Born in 1956, he grew up in southern Nigeria and as a boy witnessed the terrible civil war that ravaged his country and killed more than a million people.

He came to the United States at age 19 and earned a bachelor's degree at Oregon State University and then a masters in agriculture at the University of Arkansas. He returned to Nigeria in 1982 to work and share his knowledge, but corruption and a military coup made life difficult.

In 1987, Okereke moved permanently to the United States, accepting an invitation from a friend to live in Milwaukee. He is married and has two children. He runs a Kleen-Tech business, providing residential cleaning and home improvement services. He also operates Nigeria Masterweb, a website of news of his native country and around the world.

Okereke has written other songs, including "God Bless Africa" and "All Hail Biafra."

Strange as it sounds, "Trump Up America" traces its roots to fake news. A video was circulating on the internet last year saying that presidential candidate Trump vowed to force all Nigerians to leave the United States if he were elected.

As the bogus report spread, Okereke's phone began to ring and ring. Worried Nigerians here and Africans across the globe wanted to know if it was true. He tried to assure them that Trump made no such threat.

"This went on until I woke up one morning in January (2016) with the song on my lips," he said.

At first he called the 2-minute song "Trumpet America," but changed it because the false Trump reports had inspired him. He hired freelance vocalist Lisa Muehlbauer of Oconomowoc, and in April they headed to Tanner-Monagle studio downtown to record the song and video, which is filled with flags, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, fireworks and other patriotic images.

Muehlbauer thought from the title that the song was a Trump tribute, but then she read the lyrics. "Most of the words in there are exactly how we feel about our country," she said.

It might surprise you that Okereke is a Republican, though he did vote for Barack Obama the first time. He voted for Trump in November, responding to his business acumen and the showmanship that got his message across.

And he is confident that America is strong enough to resist any effort to erode our freedoms. "My mind-set is that nobody can get up here and do the things Hitler did. The United States is not a one-man affair," he said.

Okereke has done his best to get the song out there, even pressing a copy into the hands of Trump's son, Eric, when he met him last year. He also has contacted Sen. Ron Johnson's office for assistance in getting the song played at the inauguration.

It's probably a long shot. Based on Trump's public statements during the campaign, the song's strong melting pot message may go too far for him. And it was too Trumpy for the Democrats he pitched.

But the price is right and Trump may need some entertainment. Even the Bruce Springsteen tribute band has pulled out of the festivities.

"Since I granted them the rights to play it without paying any royalties to me, they might decide to play it without telling me," said the ever hopeful Okereke.

Contact Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or jstingl@jrn.com. Connect with my public page at Facebook.com/Journalist.Jim.Stingl