Hurricane Trump’s Inaugural Rallying Cry and Lessons for Africa’s Unity
As I predicted, Hurricane Trump hit town swinging vengeance like the sword of Damocles. The unpredictable POTUS dazzled friends and foes with a flurry of Executive Orders guaranteed to rapidly reset American politics and international relations. His inaugural speech left both friends and foes flummoxed.
Trump EOs immediately reversed many Biden administration policies and ostensibly began what Trump grandiloquently termed a ”golden age of America.”
At his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, Donald J Trump delivered a speech that encapsulated his populist vision and unapologetic stance on American sovereignty. For the Orange Man, it is American first, second, last, and forever. The rest of the world can go and hug Transformers if they wish. A combative Trump vowed to prioritize the interests of the United States over everything, even if it meant ignoring global norms and criticism.
Employing his signature flamboyant rhetoric, steeped in primitive nationalism and a sense of both grievance and entitlement, Trump reiterated his promise to “Make America Great Again” by hook or crook. International laws and norms be damned.
To his credit, though, we saw an American president deliver an extemporaneous speech without teleprompters for once, which suggests that the man spoke from the heart.
For those who voted for him, Trump’s speech must be uplifting. He did not disappoint. Local American issues dominated the speech. The only mention of a foreign policy issue was a restatement of his earlier threat to reclaim the Panama Canal.
As we say, this blog is dedicated to Pan-African issues. We comment on foreign affairs only if they serve as valuable lessons.
For us in Africa, especially those still sleeping and those who are eternal West worshippers, Trump’s speech should serve as a wake-up call. His unabashed nativity speech underscores the reality of a world where powerful nations pursue their interests ruthlessly - and this is always at the expense of weaker ones.
This is a fact that the fifth column we have in Africa, so dependent on the sponsorship money they collect to subjugate their countries for Western interests, failed to learn.
We should be grateful to Western leaders like Trump, who chose not to be pretenders. His naked and unapologetic aggression in the pursuit of American interests should remove the blinkers from our eyes and teach us that seeking friendship in international affairs is playing stupid. We should see Trump’s message as both a challenge and an opportunity to strengthen ourselves through unity or risk perpetual subjugation in a world dominated by self-interested power blocs.
This column has emphasized this, which leaders like Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah taught us.
Trump released a blizzard of executive orders to show that he meant business.
With a stroke of his pen, Trump rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions.
Sample:
Declared a national emergency at the southern border.
Pardoned nearly 1,500 January 6th, 2021 prisoners.
Withdrew from the World Health Organization.
Withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
Froze federal hiring.
Ended DEI programs in the federal government.
Delayed the TikTok ban.
Designated cartels and gangs as terrorist groups.
Mandated federal employees return to work in person.
Established two federally recognized genders, male and female.
Froze foreign assistance programs for 90 days.
He promised tariffs against Canada and Mexico on February 1.
His ending birthright citizenship for illegal aliens appears to agitate Africans the most. But as I pointed out to those who asked, citizenship by birthright is a constitutional right that no executive fiat can remove. See here: The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/
Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
You can read the complete Trump’s EOs here: list of presidential actions
Trump pledged to protect American jobs, industries, and borders. He promised to renegotiate trade deals and return manufacturing to the United States.
His disdain for globalization was loud and clear. He said: “We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American.”
Trump’s speech also warned those hoping for conciliatory diplomacy: “We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. The time for empty talk is over.”
This strong emphasis on action over platitudes starkly contrasts the behavior of many of our African misrulers who, for decades, have convened countless summits but produced little tangible progress that will benefit their citizens and their countries.
For us in Africa, the message is plain. The world is not waiting for us like we deluded ourselves to believe. If we fail to act decisively to integrate, we will remain vulnerable to exploitation by more powerful nations that operate with the single-minded focus Trump exemplified. We may complain and whine all we want, but international relations do not favor weaklings, however strong they whine.
If we were truthful, we would note that Trump’s nationalism finds a striking counterpoint in the Pan-Africanist visions of Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah. Both leaders emphasized the need for African unity as a means of self-reliance and resistance to external domination. They left us with copious materials to guide us.
Garvey famously said, “The Negro will have to build his industry, art, sciences, literature, and culture before the world will stop to consider him.” This is a clear message for self-emancipation before the world considers us as a serious race. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first President, took this vision further, advocating for a politically united Africa. “We must unite now or perish,” he warned. Nkrumah recognized that divided African states would remain pawns in the geopolitical chessboard of great powers. Few of the colonial inventions we call countries in Africa can survive.
What Garvey and Nkrumah foresaw has become a reality. As we have pointed out in this blog, it isn't wise for African countries to continue negotiating individually when larger blocs like the European Union or nations like China, Russia, India, and the United States consistently outmaneuver them.
Trump’s speech yesterday reinforces this imbalance. It showed that only the strong can dictate terms in global affairs.
For Africa to gain respect and leverage, it is imperative to unite, not just in words, but in practical terms.
It would be pleasant and instructive if some of our Political Science Ph. D.s could study how our fragmentation has left us weak and rendered us dependent, as the colonial masters planned.
Despite abundant resources, our continent remains impoverished due to disunity, making it easy for foreign concerns to exploit us.
Let’s consider the following:
Trade: Africa accounts for only 2.5% of global trade, with most exports consisting of raw materials sold at low prices. By forming a unified economic bloc, African countries could negotiate better trade deals and retain more value through processing and manufacturing. For example, what is stopping Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast from forming a Cocoa Cartel, perhaps with help from ECOWAS and the AU? They will not only get better prices for their product but will also be able to force multinationals to set up processing factories in their countries.
Infrastructure: Disconnected road, rail, and air networks make intra-African trade costly and inefficient. Traveling from Lagos to Accra remains a nightmare. A unified continent could prioritize integrated transportation systems, facilitating commerce and cultural exchange. I once related the experience of a Ghanaian entrepreneur who said that his cargo to Liberia was routed through Spain. There is only the Ivory Coast between Ghana and Liberia! Africa’s development depends on connectivity. A continental effort to build roads, railways, and ports would reduce trade costs, create jobs, and foster regional integration. The Trans-African Highway network, proposed decades ago, remains incomplete.
Security: Disjointed defense policies and reliance on foreign intervention have exacerbated regional instability, especially in East and West Africa. As Kwame Nkrumah counseled with his advocacy for an African high Command, unity in defense would enable Africa to tackle terrorism, insurgencies, and foreign military interference effectively. A unified African defense policy would eliminate reliance on foreign powers to resolve conflicts. Regional forces could address terrorism, piracy, civil and uncivil wars, and other threats while respecting African sovereignty.
Finance: We have emphasized how a lack of harmonized financial systems limits our economic growth in Africa. Why do we not see the absurdity of Africans continuing to trade among themselves using the fiat currencies of colonial masters from whom they claimed to have gained independence? Imagine the incongruity of a Ghanaian using European currency to buy something across the border in Togo or Ivory Coast! A unified currency or coordinated monetary policy could stabilize African economies and boost trade. The success of the Eurozone offers valuable lessons for Africa, and we can learn from the Euro's mistakes.
Agriculture: Africa holds 60% of the world’s arable land but imports over $35 billion of food annually. Unified agricultural policies could transform Africa into a net food exporter, reducing import dependency.
Telecommunications:
Harmonizing telecom policies and investing in digital infrastructure would bridge the digital divide and enable African businesses to compete globally. Unless we put our houses in order, we can’t stop foreign Telcos from maximizing their profits by shipping obsolete equipment to our shores while charging among the most expensive rates in the world.
We cannot stress enough that without unity, Africa will continue to be a patchwork of underperforming states, unable to leverage their collective potential.
What we should take away from Trump’s speech is the danger that nations that fail to act in their interest will be left behind in a world that rewards strength and self-sufficiency.
However, crucial regional blocs like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and even the African Union (AU) have not lived up to their billing. They have been deservedly criticized for their inefficiency and lack of impact on ordinary Africans. Endless meetings and summits by self-seeking presidents have yielded little progress on pressing issues such as poverty, insecurity, and infrastructure development. Imagine that since it was founded as an Economic community in 1975, ECOWAS still has not managed to develop a rail link between Lagos and Accra!
Trump’s speech should inspire our leaders to adopt a similar resolve for their people. Just as Trump prioritizes American interests, African governments must prioritize the interests of their citizens.
We must now recognize that Africa's destiny lies in our hands, and unity is the only way to secure a prosperous future.
To ECOWAS, the AU, and other regional blocs: the time for empty talk is over. Africans are tired of unproductive meetings that yield no change. Leadership is about action, and the people demand results. Forge the unity our forebears dreamed of, or risk consigning Africa to perpetual dependency.
As Kwame Nkrumah said, “It is clear we must find an African solution to our problems and that this can only be found in African unity.” The world will not wait for us, and neither should we. Africa must rise and unite to claim its rightful place in the world. The time is now. Trump has shown us the way.
©️ Fẹ̀mi Akọ̀mọ̀làfẹ̀
(Farmer, Writer, Published Author, Essayist, Polemicist, Satirist, and Social Commentator.)
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