Report shows Nigeria has 5th highest share of Trump followers on Twitter
- Despite Donald Trump’s anti-immigration and racist views, a report shows some Nigerians still love him
- Nigeria reportedly has the 5th highest share of Trump followers on Twitter
- The report claims Trump’s major admirers in Nigeria are from Southeast and middle belt
Despite the fact that President Donald Trump’s domestic approval rating is very low, statistics shows his popularity is growing in some parts of Nigeria, a report by Quartz Africa claims.
While it is clear that many Nigerians dislike Trump for his racist views and denigrating comments about Nigeria, it’s surprising some other Nigerians see the US president as a cherished political icon.
Legit.ng gathered that these Nigerians reportedly like Trump for his anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic stance.
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According to a 2017 Pew Research Center poll, 69% of Nigerians still view the United States favourably despite Donald Trump’s perception of the country.
Considering the reports of the Pew research and Trump’s robust social media following in Nigeria, Trump might receive a warm welcome if he decided to visit Nigeria.
A US presidential visit is long overdue: the last was by George W. Bush in July 2003.
Many Nigerians follow Trump on social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook.
According to TweepsMap.com, Over 700,000 Nigerians tune in to Trump’s tweets: over 2% of his 32 million followers.
Nigeria has the 5th highest share of Trump followers on Twitter
On Facebook, SocialBakers.com analytics shows that Trump’s popularity in Nigeria quadrupled between October and June.
Apart from speaking with Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, on phone and approving the sale of fighter jets to Nigeria to help in its fight against Boko Haram, Trump has had little or no positive connection with the country.
This, according to the report by Quartz Africa, makes some Nigerians’ attraction to Trump weird.
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The report, however, claims that Trump’s stance on immigration and Islam is why some Nigerians, middle belt’s Christians and Southeast Igbo nationalists (Biafrans) love him.
An anonymous source in the report said: “Trump’s boldness and guts represent hope for the defenseless.”
“Obama was a disgrace and weak compared to the likes of Trump and Putin. He speaks in favor of Islam which is the root cause of terrorism.”
The report further stated that some Igbo nationalists also hail Trump as a patron of their (Biafra) secessionist movement even though he (Trump) does not have any connection, direct or indirect, to it.
The Igbo nationalists refer to a tweet Trump made in June 2016 in support of the British electorate’s decision to leave the European Union (“Brexit”):
"Self-determination is the sacred right of all free people's, and the people of the UK have exercised that right for all the world to see."
They claimed the tweet was “a direct message to Nigeria” that it should “allow Biafrans to go”.
The Igbo nationalists also appear to love Trump for his anti-Islam pronouncements as they sometimes blame Nigeria’s northern Muslim leadership for oppressing their people over the decades.
After Trump’s election victory, one spokesman proclaimed: “Since Mr Trump is our choice, who will say no to Muslim colonization. It was the prayers of the Biafrans that stopped Hillary Clinton from winning the presidential election.”
Six months into Trump’s term, however, some of the Igbo nationalists are beginning to express disappointment that Trump has yet to acknowledge their plight and has instead cultivated a cordial relationship with their perceived archenemy: president Buhari.
As Trump enters his seventh month in the Oval Office, his policy toward Nigeria, or Africa in general is undefined as he is yet to appoint the two people who will heavily shape his approach to Nigeria: the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and the Senior Director for Africa on the National Security Council.
Legit.ng previously reported that the United States has not made any decisions yet on whether to sanction Nigeria or not over its vote in support of the United Nations to reject the US’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
Trump was quoted by the UK’s The Guardian newspaper as saying: “Let them (Nigeria and other countries benefitting from the US financial aids) vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.
“But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you (the US) and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”
Nigeria and 127 other countries had voted to reject the US’s position on Jerusalem in spite of the fact that the country is one of the biggest recipients is aids from the US.
How would you feel if Donald Trump bombed Boko Haram like Syria? - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
