MONDAY ONYEKACHI UBANI, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, speaks on the second coming of President Donald Trump, implications for Nigeria and recent scathing remarks about the country made by Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader. Excerpts:
Former US President, Donald Trump has returned to the White House as the 47th president of the United States. What implications do you think his second coming has for Nigeria and Africa as a continent?
I am one of those who did not support the coming of Donald Trump as president. The only angle about him that I like is just the way he made Americans know that the foundation of the USA is based on God. The issue of their expunging anything relating to God in their national life is something that I also do not like. Of course, Trump exploited it, and by so doing, got so many people, both in Nigeria and the world, to support him during the election. Also, looking at the issue of transgender, a man turning into a woman, which the Democrats clearly supported. Trump, from the Republican angle, does not support that, and this has also made him to be accepted by the Christian community and the majority of Americans. Apart from that, there is nothing that will make me be in love with Trump given his utterances and the extremism he pursues, especially on immigration matters.
Now that he has been sworn in, I think we need to watch and see what his governance will imply for us in Africa. If we are waiting for Trump to relax any of his policies for illegal immigrants or citizenship by birth, I think it will be a long wait because now he has signed Executive Order banning all that. The implication is that Nigerians who are not legitimately living in the US or those who want to enter the country illegally will face hard times because of the stringent measures that will be put in place by the Trump administration.
I know that it is only for four years because Trump will not remain president forever. I don’t think any government will continue with this hardline policies and then get global support. America has been built by foreigners at a point. America is what it is today because of the assemblage of other nations who has made the nation great. America couldn’t have been what it is today if it is solely based on the efforts of the real Americans. In fact, the indigenous or native Americans are being marginalised. If you even trace Trump’s ancestry, his paternal grandfather, Frederick Trump is originally from Germany. Even Elon Musk who supported Trump has South African ancestry. The truth is, it is mostly outsiders that built America but we now have a president who thinks that only the people he believes are real Americans are the ones that can make the country great. That is where Trump may not enjoy the support of the world. He believes America is for Americans alone and they don’t need the input of other nations.
Also, it is worthy to note that there are many Americans who do not like the extreme views and position of Trump with regards to immigrants. Just like we saw in the movie ‘Coming To America’, America is a country where you dream and those dreams become a reality.
Do you think his government can help the federal government in solving some of the challenges we have in terms of insecurity and the economy?
Nigerians must be careful in believing that they can get any help from Donald Trump or the western powers. If we want to build Nigeria or Africa, we must not depend on the whites to do that. We will just continue to wait and then not achieve anything. Anyone thinking they will help us build our economy is just deluded. They will never allow you to rise to your full potentials. If they give you one head, they take two in return. There is nothing they give to you that doesn’t have a condition attached to it. If we are sincere and tenacious, we can build our country to the best standards that we desire if only our leaders can have a rethink. Trump was elected majorly by the white supremacists who believe in his policy pronouncements especially on anti-immigration. See how they massively voted Trump when he promised stricter immigration rules.
A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi has advised President Tinubu not to be confrontational with Trump. Many Nigerians believe the advice is unnecessary. Do you share that view?
The advice that Tinubu should try and avoid any confrontation with Trump is a very good advice. He should also not expect any assistance be it, security or economy from him. He should just concentrate his efforts on building our own economy. Our help cannot come from outside. Whatever we need to do for our nation in terms of developing our basic infrastructures, we can collaborate with the western countries and get the needed expertise from them but we should not solely depend on them to come and help us develop our economy. We have all the resources needed to turn our country around but there is something these western powers have entrenched to ensure that we don’t rise beyond where we are. They know that if we rise, we will turn Africa into world-class continent and start competing with them. They will not allow that. So, anything they can do to destabilise the continent in terms of leadership, they will do it so that we remain the way we are.
Kemi Badenoch is unrelenting in her remarks against Nigeria especially during her formative years before relocating to the United Kingdom. Do you think her remarks are justified?
As for Kemi Badenoch, she wants to channel her thinking in order to gravitate herself towards the whites, with the belief that if she continues saying those things, they will make her Prime Minister someday. Of course, they can only make her Prime Minister if she says things they want to hear and thinks like them. She is echoing the thinking of the British towards Nigerians and immigrants. The things they can’t say because they know the implications, they are using our own sister to be saying it. It is like the voice of Jacob but hand of Esau. It is a sentiment that suits them well and Kemi is just speaking on their behalf because of what she is aiming to get.
However, look at what happened in the last election in UK where they threw the best Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak out. They voted him out despite the fact that the man was putting the economy of Britain in the right direction. They knew he performed well but because he is originally from India and not British, they threw him out during the election. So, if the Conservative party wins and Kemi emerges because of her leadership position now as the party leader, she can never win an election in Britain. They can never vote for a Nigerian to be the Prime Minister of Britain. When the election time comes, she will realise that they will never vote any African or Nigerian to become Prime Minister.
Look at Trump for example. He gained popularity in the US when Barack Obama became president. He started criticising Obama and came up with the idea that Obama is not a real American citizen but from Africa. He started raising that sentiments and that resonates with white supremacists. Before then, Trump was unknown in American politics. He kept saying things the whites want to hear through continuous attacks on Obama and before you know it, these white supremacists believe he is the right man to protect their interests. That was how Trump rose in American politics. Many of these white supremacists were so sad that a black man emerged as president and Trump took undue advantage of that. Simultaneously, Kemi is also voicing the same sentiments for the British so that she can become the Prime Minister but she needs to realise that she can never be elected by the British.
