The inauguration of US President Donald Trump has sparked concerns among the nation’s political parties, who believe that his flurry of executive orders may have had an impact on Nigeria and other African nations.
Trump has stated since taking office on Monday that Washington could slap tariffs as early as February 1 on China, Canada, and Mexico, among other important trading partners.
Additionally, he withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords.
Speaking on the topic of gender surgery, among other things, Trump declared that his administration will only recognize the two genders of men and women officially.
His broad executive orders and immigration pledges have begun to elicit conflicting responses, with major parties analyzing their implications and potential effects on Nigeria.
Ladipo Johnson, the National Publicity Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party, responded by predicting that the price of oil might drop globally.
“For instance, Trump believes in drilling. He wants to drill and increase production. So, it is expected that oil prices will crash. That, of course, will impact the world, including Nigeria.
“The man has an isolationist view of the world. Trump believes that others are not equal and that Americans are superior.
“You will observe this in his utterances and the way he has been going about things. But I always say whenever any of the Western powers believe that they are better than us, it is a wake-up call to our leaders.
“This is because we have the natural resources, but we lack the leadership and managerial resources.
“Again, when you look at his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the WHO, it shows that Trump will not give much cooperation. During the Biden era, America showed some leadership in fighting COVID.
“So, when you now have a president who is there to break alliances and threaten Neighbours and those who are considered allies, it is not too good for the world.
“The lesson here is that we must realize that we need to elect leaders who will hasten the growth and development of Nigeria. We cannot continue to go cap in hand to the Western world or even to the Chinese or Russians like they have begun to do now. We can’t continue to beg. We have all it takes to be rich and prosperous.”
Nigeria can learn a lot from US policy, according to Bala Ibrahim, National Publicity Director of the All-Progressives Congress.
He stated, “The lesson for Nigeria is for every citizen travelling to America to ensure that he has the prerequisite requirements so that he will not get there and find himself becoming a nuisance or a victim of the policy.
“So, the lesson is to make sure that whatever they are going to do, they do it according to the books. Nobody should seek to be in America illegally or illegitimately. As long as Nigerian immigrants into America are law abiding and meet the requirements, America does not molest them.”
Nigeria will continue to maintain its non-alliance stance, the APC spokesman emphasized.
Kehinde Edun, the Labour Party’s national legal adviser, agreed, saying that Trump’s “America first” policy should serve as an example for all countries, emphasizing that the security and well-being of their people should come first.
He stated, “The man is putting America first. Of course, you cannot fault him for doing that. You cannot just be going to their country and not be making efforts to make things work in yours. Some people are out there just roaming the streets and constituting a nuisance.
“Now that he (Trump) is taking steps to deny illegal immigrants’ citizenship and birthright, other Western countries in the world are taking a cue from America.
“They are making it more difficult for people to come to their country. These include some Nigerian elite who are seeking escape routes for their children after spoiling this country.”