Article written by Reuben Abati:
I do not share the view of those who assume that by some kind of
miracle, in the shape of electoral-college defections, Hillary Clinton
would still, on the strength of winning the popular vote, supplant
Donald Trump as US 2016 President-elect.
We might as well begin to live with the reality of a Trump
Presidency, sad and traumatic as that outcome may be. And coming to
terms with that, despite our disappointment, calls for a forward-looking
approach on the part of the Nigerian government.
The United States remains Nigeria’s most strategic partner. More than
one million Nigerians live in the United States and a significant
percentage of that immigrant population has distinguished itself in
academia, the health sector, public service, and other aspects of
American life. Nigerians are perhaps the most visible and the most
influential set of immigrant Africans living in the United States today.
It is indeed possible to argue that there is no neighbourhood or
community in Nigeria today that does not have at least one
representative in America.
I know many families who have never been to Abuja but who talk about
America with such frightening familiarity without ever seeing the inside
of an aircraft. Their claim to such glory is the presence of a cousin, a
son, a daughter, an in-law or other relatives, in the United States –
it doesn’t matter if the fellow is a failed husband or wife, or he or
she is washing plates, or doing security guard work, a jail term, or
struggling to survive as a human being, or he or she is permanently
trapped in America because coming home could be a vote for shame.
Nigerians love America, thus. The British colonized our country and
Britain still remains a second home of choice for many middle class
Nigerians, but America holds more than a special attraction for many
wannabe Nigerians. America is Nigeria’s land of golden dreams, the
country that our youths want to flock to. Many of our politicians have
Americans passports. The only Nobel Laureate that we have also holds an
American Green card. Churches and mosques across Nigeria hold special
prayer sessions for that Green card and when you have a child living in
America, you are free to assume that the Living God has answered your
prayers.
In terms of trade, Nigeria is America’s foremost partner in Africa.
The United States through the auspices of the Nigeria-US Bilateral
National Commission and similar diplomatic commitments in the African
Union and ECOWAS and through other international protocols is actively
involved in Nigeria’s health, security, agriculture, financial and human
rights sectors. We are in addition, a big market for America’s exports
in Africa and a stabilizing force for global security within the region
and the continent. Where the problem lies and where a foreign policy
challenge needs to be addressed, is the emergence right now, of an
incoming President who has expressly declared that African Presidents
are thieves and that Nigeria is particularly a problem, because its
leadership is both “corrupt and insensible”.
Person-to-person diplomacy is perhaps more relevant than
government-to-government relations because the former impacts greatly on
the latter, and any student of international relations can only ignore
this at great cost. We have, despite our cultural, diplomatic and trade
relations with the United States, an in-coming American President who
hates immigrants, Muslims, and who considers Nigerians a threat to the
US working population.
Whatever the situation might be, Nigeria has a duty and a
responsibility to defend the interest of Nigerians doing business with
the United States in one form or the other. Our residual interest in
American politics and its outcomes should go beyond individual
interests, and political emotions and rest on Nigeria’s corporate
interest. Strategically, what does Donald Trump’s victory mean to us?
What are the implications for Nigeria’s relationship with the United
States? What are the plans in place or in process, to protect Nigerians
and Nigerian Americans who may suddenly find themselves in a threat
situation under a racist and isolationist American Presidency? What can
or should the Nigerian government do to protect Nigerians in the US
diaspora from the uncertainties of America’s transition?
I have seen a couple of congratulatory messages here and there and a
lot of casual commentaries on the subject, but what we need is far more
strategic thinking at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
officials should wake up and realize that it may no longer be business
as usual with Washington. Our last ambassador to Washington DC,
Professor Ade Adefuye was a well-educated diplomat and scholar with vast
international exposure and a robust, aggressive personality. He brought
that to bear on his job, and he achieved results. Right now, we don’t
even have someone of his rank and stature in Washington. The Senate is
busy still staring at the list of ambassadorial appointees, and no one
knows when many of the critical vacancies will be filled. We need a man
or woman in Washington post-haste: an ambassador who can represent
Nigeria’s interest, and who can settle down, even without presenting
letters of credence, long before Donald Trump’s inauguration, and who
must be the right man or woman for the job. The Trump Presidency is
interested in America only; every other diplomatic post in that country
must look out for its own interest. America is too important to the
world, too tied to the global network of interests to be allowed to
disconnect.
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