A couple of days before the last US presidential elections, while browsing the internet I saw pictures of a Nigerian crowd supporting president Trump’s re-election for 2020. The friend who shared the picture on his wall commented on it and wondered why Africans in Nigeria would march to support Trump who cannot do anything for their lives. I naturally clicked on the link to read more and found out that there were hundreds of men and women marched in the city of Onitsha in eastern Nigeria. The crowd was pictured waiving Trump banners and wearing his T shirts and baseball caps. They also carried and waived American flags.
Through his comments, my Facebook friend who shared the picture appeared very surprised and worried about what he called “the stupidity of some Africans” to organise a march in support for an American president who called Africa A “shithole”. The post attracted several dozens of comments, many of which were quite negative and lamented the ignorance of many Africans in the African continent in relation to US politics.
The reflection surrounding the post and the related comments led me to write this article. I personally was not surprised to see the picture of Africans crowds supporting Donal Trump’s re-election for 2020. Over the last four years I have observed a significant amount of support from many of my African friends towards Trump, especially those from a Christian background.
Many Africans, especially Christian believers support Trump because of their faith. They think that the man has some kind of divine mission to combat the self-serving leftist establishment in the US and promote a godlier agenda in American politics. They like his brutal honesty and his aggressive stance against the globalists. Some also like his focus on America, which indirectly means less American imperialism or neo-colonialist interventions on African soil.
Trump may not be such as great “character” himself, given all that is available on record regarding his statements and behaviours, but so many Africans are prepared to disregard his morality and embrace the rebellious side of the man, as an outsider combating all the evils of leftism in the American establishment. While this may make sense, it is hard to comprehend why some people would go as far as organising a march on African soil to support Trump’s re-election in America. What possible effects could it have pragmatically?
