Emma Emeozor ( E[email protected] )
On September 20, 2017, United States President Donald Trump hosted African leaders at the New York Palace Hotel. The occasion was the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. The controversial US leader was cheerful, interacting with his African guests. He poured encomiums on Africa, calling African leaders ‘partners’ and said six of the world’s fastest growing economies were in Africa.
His words: “I’m greatly honoured to be joined by leaders of Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Namibia, Senegal, Uganda and South Africa. In particular, I want to thank President Condé, who is representing the African Union. In this room, I see partners for promoting prosperity and peace on a range of economic, humanitarian and security issues.
“We hope to extend our economic partnerships with countries who are committed to self-reliance and to fostering opportunities for job creation in both Africa and the United States. Africa has tremendous business potential. I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. I congratulate you.
“They’re spending a lot of money. But it does . . . it has tremendous business potential and representing huge amounts of different markets. And for American firms, it’s really become a place that they have to go, that they want to go.
“Six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa. Increasing American trade and investment across diverse industries, including agriculture, energy, transportation, health care, travel and tourism will further transform lives throughout the continent.”
He did not end his speech without raising the hopes of the leaders, saying “Africa, I have to say, is a continent of tremendous potential. The outlook is bright. I look forward to hearing from you and your advice during the meal.”
That august meeting changed the negative perception of many Africans and friends of Africa about Trump and his administration. The impression then was that Trump had Africa at heart, after all. But on Thursday, January 11, 2018, he threw a dark veil over that meeting, sending shock waves across Africa with his vulgar description of the continent as “shithole.”
Trump had reportedly described Africa and Haiti (the tiny African-Caribbean nation) as “shithole countries” during a meeting on immigration with some lawmakers at the White House. According to US media, “Trump is said to have asked why the US should keep accepting immigrants from ‘shithole countries’ like Haiti and African nations and wondered ‘why people from countries like Norway’ don’t migrate to the US as much.”
Besides the White House officials who were deployed to diplomatically douse the tension created by the President’s ranting, his former wife, Ivana, added her voice to defend the President. The 68-year-old mother of Trump’s first three children may have revealed the downside of the US President when she said he could easily be confused. While reacting to the dust generated by the President’s “shithole” remarks during a visit to London, Ivana told UK’s Good Morning Britain TV show that Trump could be confused with all the differing messages from his communication staff.
“He has so many people telling him left and right what to say and what not to say, and things like that, and sometimes may be it gets confusing,” she said.
According to the report, Ivana believes Trmp’s tweeting may be a solution to the problem, as it allows people to see the real unfiltered Donald Trump.
“If he tweets, it’s out of his mouth. Sometimes, maybe it’s not clear, but at least it’s exactly what he thinks,” she said. But curiously, she admitted that “sometimes he says things that are silly.” Even as she said “he is a stable genius, definitely. He’s very stable, very focused, very organised.”
Following the sharp criticism that trailed the US President’s remarks, he vehement denied that he was racist. And he wants the world to believe him. Trump told reporters at a dinner photo opportunity in Florida last week Sunday, “I’m not a racist. I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed.”
Though he has denied ever using the word “shithole” even as two US lawmakers, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham present at the meeting insist he said it, the ugly report reveals the workings of ‘inner mind’ of Trump about Africa just as it serves as a warning of what Africa should expect from his administration.
The revulsion Trump’s derogatory remarks triggered brought to the fore the legendary African-American funk musician James Brown’s hit “Say it Loud, I’m black and proud,” 50 years after the hit was released, as an American leader has tacitly thrown a challenge to African leaders.
Africans and their leaders must unite to defend and protect the continent’s heritage. In the 21st Century, Africa can no longer be taken to the cleaners by anybody, not even by an US President. But this can be achieved only when the human and natural resources of the continent are properly harnessed for the development and growth of the nations of the continent.
With the present level of economic development across Asia, it would be inconceivable for Trump to describe Asia as a “shithole.” Ironically, the Asian Tigers overtook African countries in the development relay. Africa’s undoing remains the lack of visionary leaders. How can it be explained that in the 21st Century, Africa is still a toddler, begging for aid from America, Europe and Asia?
The ‘shithole’ episode throws a challenge to American elder statesmen and experienced diplomats who are in a better position to help to fine-tune US-Africa relations, guided by the spirit of equality and brotherhood. Of course, they have the task of taming the US President, if America must retain its enviable status in the comity of nations.
Trump came to the White House with pre-conceived ideas about some regions of the world, including Africa. He demonstrated this amply during his presidential campaign. For example, during a rally in Wichita, Kansas, he lampooned Nigerians and threatened to send them packing from the US when he becomes President. He had accused Nigerians and Mexicans of stealing jobs meant for Americans. Describing Nigeria as a corrupt nation, he said: “Nigerians and Mexicans have taken all the jobs meant for honest hard-working Americans.”
Hear him: “Why can’t they stay in their own country? Why? I’ll tell you why. Because they are corrupt. Their governments are so corrupt. They rob the people blind and bring it all here to spend and their people run away and come down here and take our jobs.
“We need to get the Africans out. Not the blacks, the Africans. Especially the Nigerians. They’re everywhere. We can’t have that! If I become president, we’ll send them all home. We’ll build a wall at the Atlantic shore.
“Then, maybe, we’ll re-colonise Africans because, obviously, they did not learn a damn thing from the British. I went for a rally in Alaska and met just one African in the entire state. Where was he from? Nigeria! He’s in Alaska taking our jobs. They’re in Houston taking our jobs.”
Now, he may have begun actualising some of his ideas on how to ‘quarantine’ Africa and Africans. His choice of nasty words to describe third world countries and poor nations raises a question mark over the American Constitution: “In the wake of the Civil War, three amendments were added to the US Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery (1865), the Fourteenth Amendment made freed slaves citizens of the United States and the state wherein they lived (1868), and the Fifteenth Amendment gave the vote to men of any race (1870).”
The US Constitution on human rights (Bill of Rights) clearly states that: “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Moreover, the US is a founding member of the United Nations. The UN Declaration on Human Rights says: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Trump might have devoted all his time to celebrity shows not to have studied and understood the right interpretation of both the US Constitution and the UN declaration on the rights of man. Perhaps, this explains his penchant for the use of verbose expressions to describe people from (poor) regions he has distaste for. During his campaign, he once described Mexican immigrants as “criminals, drug dealers and rapists,” among others.
He also queried the political correctness of America: “We have become so politically correct that we don’t know what the hell we’re doing. We don’t know what we’re doing. I don’t frankly have time for political correctness. And, to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either. Political correctness is killing our country. Political correctness is part of why we can’t protect our country.”
At the time, he told Americans that, “We need somebody who can take the brand of the United States and make it great again.” He insisted he was that right candidate to make America great again. But, so far, his sense of nationalism, driven by Far Right ideologies, could drag America into the mud and isolate it eventually in the comity of nations.
Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama regarded Africa as a great partner of America and promoted policies to advance progressive relations between the two.
Bush introduced the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in 2003 to assist Africa in the fight against the deadly disease. He and his wife, Laura, were great friends of the continent, visiting some African countries. Clinton launched the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Obama launched the Power Africa initiative in 2013 “to try to double access to electricity across sub-Saharan Africa using renewable sources.” He laid emphasis on trade as against aid to Africa. He reportedly said, “People are not interested in just being patrons or being patronised and being given aid, they’re interested in building capacity.”
It is not clear yet if Trump would emulate his predecessors and come up with a special programme for Africa. Watchers of US-Africa affairs are not too optimistic about improved relations under the Trump administration. In an article posted on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations, titled “The Trump Administration and Africa So Far,” the writer noted that “throughout his entire tweeting career, before his inauguration and after, President Trump has mentioned Africa only a handful of times, so it is safe to say that Africa appears to be far down on his agenda.”
He buttressed his argument by drawing attention to a number of issues: “Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s public involvement with Africa appears to be minimal. There is still no permanent Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, and it wasn’t until early September that Don Yamamoto was appointed as an interim. Similarly, filling Africa-related positions on the National Security Council was a very slow process, though it is now largely complete.”