Against popular expectations in Nigeria, Donald Trump has won the US election leaving many Nigerians shocked. Not many Nigerians expected Trump to win. They rooted for Hillary Clinton, with many posting on their social media “I am with her” banner, openly expressing their support for Clinton.
Trump’s unpopularity with Nigerians stemmed from his open anti-immigration stand. With many Nigerians seeing US as a their dream relocation destination or having relatives resident legally and illegally in the United States, Trump’s anti-immigration stand did not make him popular back home. Trump has also been quoted as having threatened to deport Nigerians if he becomes president.
He has said that he will target about 11 million undocumented immigrants in America, a number of whom, are Nigerians. The millions of Nigerians leaving in America, whether documented or undocumented, remain a huge source of about US$21 billion received from Nigerians in Diaspora every year. Deporting these Nigerians will not be good news if Trump makes good his threat.
Sadly, for many Nigerians, he is now president and Clinton is not and now Nigerians are wondering what next.
However, Diplomatic sources say Nigerians have nothing to fear. America has very strong institutions that work “most of the time.” Diplomatic sources believe the strong institutions will curtail the excesses of a President Trump. So Trump is not going to send security forces deporting every Nigerian he sees on the street. That will not happen in America.
But his win is a sign of the rise of nationalism, which is spreading around the world. Capitalism is creating its discontent in the form of the rising number of those excluded from the vast wealth being created by capitalism. Capitalism has worked so well for so long but it now seems to be working for just a few people and the many excluded are getting angry and expressing their anger through the ballot box. Half of the world’s wealth is now in the hands of just 1% of the world’s population.
This has created anger against the older order and anyone associated with the old order. The many poor are looking at whom to bear the brunt of their anger against the current system, which rewards a few at the expense of the many. Trump came out promising to be a saviour to the underdogs and turn the table against their oppressors. That made him popular.
It is the same Trump rhetoric that worked in Britain led to the exit of the United Kingdom from Europe. Brexit was born from nationalism, fuelled by the fear of the average Briton that the current world order was not working for them in a wider Europe and the need to take their country from Europe and most importantly prevent UK from being overwhelmed by immigrants.
Trump victory has sent most stock markets around the world crashing. It is the advent of a new order, which many are not sure in what direction it is going to go. In his victory speech, Trump was bit more sober than during is fiery campaign days. But he nonetheless made a statement that will get most world leaders further concerned about a Trump presidency. He said that the US would cooperate with countries that will cooperate with America. In other words, America will not go out of his way to be friendly.
There will also be concern about a new US and Russia alignment in a Trump presidency. Trump is known to be a strong admirer of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Russia having been accused several times of trying to influence the US election with its deliberate hacking of mails of the Democratic Party. Will a Putin/Trump friendship be beneficial to the world or create new risks? The world has been used to a world where both super powers act as counter balance to each order. How would the world fare in a world where both super powers are now close friends?
For Nigerians, the big question is what does a Trump presidency mean to us as a country. President Buhari enjoyed the support of the Obama Presidency and had an almost open invitation to the white house. That closeness seem to have been built on the fact that some of Obama’s closest people worked with the All Progressive Congress (APC) to get Buhari elected. Nigeria has also enjoyed a good relationship with Democrats generally.
So now there is a President Trump who seem not to hold Nigeria and Nigerians in high regard. It is doubtful if Nigeria will enjoy the same level of access to the white house like it had under Obama or that he would have had if Clinton had won. This may have some implications on the war against Boko Haram in the North East, which the US has been largely supportive of since Buhari came to power. It is also likely to have an impact on how Nigeria deals with the Niger Delta issue where America’s interest is represented in ExxonMobil, one of the major operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas sectors. Trump has said America’s interest will be uppermost in his policies.
For now, the world and Nigerians will have to start learning to accept that there is a President Trump in the white house. It was difficult to imagine, but it is now real.
