Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Wednesday,
stated that he will not destroy his United States’ residency permit just yet; while he warned that the
victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race could jeopardize U.S. support in Nigeria’s fight
against Boko Haram. In an interview with Newsweek, Soyinka stated that Trump’s ‘bunker mentality’
could see the U.S. withdraw support for counter-terrorism operations in West Africa.
Following the announcement of Trump’s victory, Nigerians took to social media to question Soyinka
about whether he would honour his pledge. In response, the report quoted Soyinka as saying that he
is biding his time until Trump is inaugurated in January before deciding on his next steps. “Why don’t
we wait until Trump actually takes office? I am just going about my normal commitments, but
definitely not getting into any more commitments. Let’s put it that way for now,” he said. According to
the report, under the administration of Barack Obama, the U.S. has provided financial support and
military training to West African countries fighting Boko Haram. The U.S., it said, provided $71 million
worth of equipment, logistics and training to five countries—Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and
Benin—that together formed a joint task force in 2015 to fight the militants, according to a February
fact sheet from the U.S. State Department. Obama also approved the deployment of up to 300 U.S.
military personnel to Cameroon in October 2015 to carry out intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance operations in the region. “One should expect that level of collaboration to diminish.
Trump’s mentality is one of, ‘What are we doing there? What business do we have over there?’”
Soyinka stated. “I foresee Trump dismissing that kind of expectation offhand and closing in,
shrinking, becoming smaller in terms of the U.S.’s presence in other parts of the world,” he added.
The report said Soyinka is based between Nigeria and the U.S., where he is affiliated to several
universities. Excerpt of the interview with Newsweek The victory of Donald Trump in the U.S.
permit just yet, despite a pre-election pledge to “cut” his green card, which is afforded to immigrants
granted permanent residence in the country. Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka takes part in a
debate in Berlin, Germany, July 3, 2012. Soyinka pledged to cut up his green card if Donald Trump
was elected U.S. president.ANDREAS RENTZ/GETTY IMAGES FOR GREY GOOSE Trump, the
Republican party candidate, shocked pollsters by defeating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in
Tuesday’s vote. The businessman and former reality television star secured victories in key swing
states, capitalizing on an anti-establishment feeling among voters to win out against his more
experienced rival.
Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, launched an armed insurgency against the Nigerian
government in 2009, killing thousands and displacing more than 2 million since then. The group also
pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in 2015, though it has recently split into
factions following the appointment in August of an ISIS-approved leader. Under the administration of
Barack Obama, the U.S. has provided financial support and military training to West African
countries fighting Boko Haram. The U.S. provided $71 million worth of equipment, logistics and
training to five countries—Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Benin—that together formed a joint
task force in 2015 to fight the militants, according to a February fact sheet from the U.S. State
Department. Obama also approved the deployment of up to 300 U.S. military personnel to Cameroon
in October 2015 to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the region.
“One should expect that level of collaboration to diminish. Trump’s mentality is one of, ‘What are we
doing there? What business do we have over there?’” says Soyinka, speaking to Newsweek from
New York. “I foresee Trump dismissing that kind of expectation offhand and closing in, shrinking,
becoming smaller in terms of [the U.S.’s] presence in other parts of the world,” he says. Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari extended his congratulations to Trump on Wednesday, saying that he
looked forward to working with the president-elect “to build on and strengthen relations between
Nigeria and the U.S.” Trump had little to say about U.S. foreign policy towards Africa in general and
Nigeria specifically during his presidential campaign. While he has vowed to pursue ISIS in Syria and
Iraq, the Republican has made no mention of whether he intends to persist with or discontinue the
country’s support for counter-terrorism efforts in West Africa. Newsweek contacted the Trump
campaign for further comment but received no immediate reply. An analysis by South Africa-based
thinktank the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) suggested that Trump could become “the single
most effective recruiting tool for terrorist organizations across the globe,” including in Africa. The ISS
cited Trump’s hardline rhetoric towards Muslims, his advocation of the use of torture and expressed
desire to target the families of militants all as potential factors in Trump being used by militant groups
in recruitment drives. Trump’s campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
has already been used in a propaganda video by Al-Shabab, a Somali militant group aligned with Al-
Qaeda. Soyinka is based between Nigeria and the U.S., where he is affiliated to several universities.
In a recent discussion with students at the University of Oxford in the U.K., which was shared in a
video on October 27, the author vowed to destroy his green card should Trump be declared the
winner of the election. Following the announcement of Trump’s victory on Wednesday, Nigerians took
to social media to question Soyinka about whether he would honor his pledge. The Nigerian author—
who was the first African to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1986—says he is biding his time until
Trump is inaugurated in January before deciding on his next steps. “Why don’t we wait until Trump
actually takes office?” says Soyinka. “I’m just going about my normal commitments, but definitely not
getting into any more commitments. Let’s put it that way for now.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment