The emergence of Donald Trump as the President-elect of the United States of America has shocked the entire world.
Africans, Mexicans, Muslims and several other people and interests, who were the target of Trump’s campaign have expressed different views on the president-elect.
Trump, the candidate of the Republicans Party, defeated Hillary Clinton, candidate of the Democratic Party, after a bitterly fought election that was marred by a blackmail-filled campaign, which left the people divided.
Trump’s campaign, tagged ‘Make America great again’, was largely hinged on threats to send immigrants back to their home countries.
With the emergence of Trump as the next president of the US, The Nation spoke with some Nigerians resident there (US) on their reactions to some of Trump’s campaign issues.
For George Nikoro, a Nigerian resident in Denver, Colorado, it is still premature to say whether Trump will carry out his threat. He, however, said the president-elect may have made those threats as a ploy to win the election.
He said: “There is fear, but it is too premature to decide that Trump is going to carry out all those threats. From all indications, he was just saying all those things to appeal to the electorate.
“When he starts acting as president, all these things he said that he is going to build a fence, he was just spewing them out to appeal to the electorate during the campaigns.
“Also on deportation, America is a country that is organised. I don’t see Trump coming up with a deportation squad. So, I don’t see it happening. He is not going to do anything without the approval of congress.”
In the opinion of Oluwaseun Ogunniyi, who lives in Maryville, Illinois, all immigrants in the US are anxious over the anticipated Trump’s policy on immigration. According to him, Nigerians, like other immigrants in the US, are scared that it will be more difficult to get opportunities to remain in the country on a long term basis.
“Nigerians here have the same fears as those of immigrants from other countries. There are anxieties about how Trump’s immigration policies might make it more difficult for people to get visa to study and work. Ultimately, people are scared that it will be more difficult to get opportunities to stay here on a long-term basis.
“There are also concerns about how this can further aggravate violence and all forms of abuse against minorities. People are also worried about how sound his foreign policy will be, if it will not be disastrous for the rest of the world. This is due to the fact that this man will be controlling the most powerful army in the world,” Ogunniyi said.
Olagbenro Oladipupo, resident in Madison, is not surprised with the emergence of Trump.
“I wasn’t surprised. For some reasons, I knew Trump would win. The Democrat Party, media and public intellectuals tried to trivialise Hillary’s baggage of scandals. This is a great undoing on their part. Someone is telling you to “Make America Great Again”, he is getting a lot of followers to buy this message and you think he is stupid? For a long time, liberals in America have pursued liberal ideologies that are threatening the values of white middle class Americans. In trying to please everyone, liberals robbed some of their values. They voted Trump as a protest.
“As a Nigerian, I really do not care if Trump is elected or not; I am not afraid. I am here illegally. As a Black man, my humanity will be a little bit bruised. But, really what do we expect? America is not my country. I don’t expect myself to think I can act anyhow here. America belongs to those who own it.
“The worst scenario is that America gets too hostile for me to live in as a Nigerian. And the last time I checked, I wasn’t exiled from Nigeria. I can always return home. Maybe a mass return of Nigerians in Diaspora would even help shake things up and make Nigeria great again if we were ever great. Only those who think they can’t make it in Nigeria or anywhere else should be afraid.”
Francis Fapohunda of Tucson, California, condemned the reactions by Nigerians who took to twitter, facebook and other social media platforms to mock their kinsmen in the US. He is, however, optimistic that Trump may turn out to be a good leader like the late Ronald Regan, who was also an entertainer.
“In my honest opinion, I think Trump said all those things to become president. I am expecting he is going to be different from his campaign now that he is president-elect. There is fear, but I am sure the American people will not allow him do all that he threatened to do.
“On Nigerians at home mocking Nigerians in America; they don’t understand the politics of America. Yes, the victory was a major setback, but the American congress will checkmate his activities.
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