Chief Livinus Okwara, a Lagos-based renowned educationist, computer expert and Nna Ndigbo, in this interview, looks at the push by President-elect of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump, to initiate a new immigration policy to expel illegal immigrants in the country when he assumes office in January.
Nigeria, being one of the countries that would be affected by the harsh visa and immigration policy, prompted Okwara to urge the Federal Government of Nigeria to think out of the box and embark on pragmatic moves to address the situation and stop it from taking a toll on its fragile economy.
This it can do by enunciating various steps to tackle the issue, including issuing dual citizenship to Black Americans that would be affected but are willing to come with their skills and invest in Nigeria.
Okwara also said other African countries should collaborate with Nigeria in order to prevent the policy from having negative effects on the continent.
He said, while President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and economic policy anchored on tax reform, naira floatation, coastal road development and fuel subsidy removal could induce more investment opportunities in the country, the Black Americans would find an escape route from American drudgery and utilise the new comfort zones across the African continent, given it’s huge and robust flora and fauna.
Trump takes over in January from outgoing President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party. Trump, the Republican Party’s candidate, who was elected in November for another four-year term following his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, the incumbent Number Two citizen of the U.S., has initiated several policies, including tight immigration and other laws to drive his administration. What are the implications of these immigration policies for Africa, especially Nigeria?
For me, Africans, particularly the Black world, face a huge immigration challenge.
Remember that Trump has warned that he would tighten his country’s immigration laws and expel millions of those living in that country without valid papers.
So, people from Nigeria, Africa, Central America and other countries that would be affected will face a huge challenge when the policy takes off.
However, in anticipation of the draconian policy, I would like to advocate that Nigeria should move faster and come up with a dual citizenship policy for those who might be victims of Trump’s immigration law.
By ‘dual citizenship,’ I mean Black Americans and other nationals who would be affected would be issued dual citizenship. This means that they will have the unique opportunity of owning American and Nigerian passports, with the accompanied benefits.
The policy would enable the immigrants to live and work freely in the countries of their choice, including Nigeria. They will have the advantage of investing in the economies of African countries as well as take up employment opportunities in all sectors of the economy, if they so desire.
They will also be guaranteed equal partnership in their countries of residence.
Indeed, Nigeria, Africa’s leading economy with over 200 million people spread across the 36 states, including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, and 774 local government areas, has abundant agricultural land, oil and gas, solid minerals and water resources to accommodate the expected influx of the skills of Nigerians and other non-Nigerians.
It is envisaged that the immigrats will definitely come with their skills in technology, entertainment, property development, entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence, among several other areas of human endeavour.
How would local industries compete with the Americans?
There would be level playing ground for all businesses. However, the local initiatives will be protected by old and new laws to enable them to remain in business. The indigenous operators, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), would also understudy them to thrive well.
In fact, that brings the Ease of Doing Business issue to the front burner of business and corporate operations in Nigeria, as earlier said.
We must adopt a robust policy of ease of doing business to assist the immigrants and the local businesses to grow. We must be transparent in policy formation and execution, while avoiding the cankerworm called corruption from taking any further root in the country.
Note also that Nigeria and all other African countries stand to gain from this cultural diffusion, businesses and skills from America.
Nigeria and other African countries, such as Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Morocco, I dare say, stand to gain a lot in skills, investible funds, manpower, marketing, hotel and tourism, and other businesses.
This opportunity will enable them to develop strategic thinking and compete with Europe, South America, Asia and other emerging markets across the world.
We also expect enhanced productivity in all sectors.
For example, President Tinubu’s recent visit to Brazil to encourage cattle farmers to invest in our livestock industry is a welcome development. We expect to see inflow of billions of dollars in investment to the sector.
It’s the same with Tinubu’s other diplomatic visits to France, Egypt and China, which we believe will soon be rewarding for us.
With the President’s reassurance to bring inflation down to 15 per cent or even less this year, focus on food production, and security, we expect the Renewed Hope agenda being driven to a huge success.
How workable is the dual citizenship policy you are advocating?
I believe the dual citizenship policy would work effectively. However, Africans must come together very strongly and collaborate with Nigeria in the effort to develop the continent and tackle poverty, among other challenges facing it.
The leaders must utilise the African Union (AU) to drive their policies to fruition.
Also, the continent must utilise the inherent potential offered by its financial institutions and legal frameworks, such as African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AFCFTA), to drive emerging developments.
These moves would develop internal production, commercial, skills and overall gross domestic product of not only Nigeria, but all other African countries. In fact, export potential, particularly of agricultural products like cocoa, palm oil, coconut, cotton and yam, would be enhanced, just as foreign exchange would grow.
We can also begin to see rise in solid minerals, printing, fishery products and manpower resources.
Nigeria and other African countries are challenged by infrastructure deficit, insecurity, food crises and infant mortality, among others. How would they be addressed?
There will be freedom of investment by the visitors.
Now, the reverse of the troubling brain drin would occur as critical manpower resources would leave America for Nigeria and Africa in general.
On the other hand, Diaspora remittances would nosedive, as Africa’s percentage of the fund would reduce.
This may not augur well for the continent; but, given the bountiful advantages that would accrue to us in all sectors, these remittances will pale into insignificance in the long run.
They will take care of all these in the immediate future. For example, President Tinubu is developing the coastal road from Lagos in South-West to Calabar in South-South.
By this, the coastal areas, which many other African countries are also endowed with, will develop, just as new communities will emerge to take advantage of these potentialities.
What are your future projections for Africa?
I can tell you even Trump would be eager to invest in the continent by the time we realign our forces. The security issue and other deficit areas you mentioned would be fully addressed with time; imported skills by the new immigrants will attract policy drive and vision by the government and corporates, including the banks and capital market. The issue of brain drain will work in our favour, as more skilled Black Americans, Nigerians and others would flood the African continent and add economic and social gains and positive values.
This development will also encourage Europeans, including Britons, to toe the line of Black Americans to come and live in Africa.
So, I can envisage a better African continent.
We can attract over four million Americans and other nationals soon.
That means the Bretton Woods institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, will show more interest in us.
However, when Trump’s policy takes off this month, I foresee additional challenges that African countries would face.
There will be settlement/accommodation problems for Black Americans and other immigrants from other nations; but many of these nationals will be happy to return to Africa.
African governments, including Nigeria, must be proactive and think out of the box by putting in place policies to protect these returnees after many years of the slave trade.
Note also that some Black Americans and others may want to run away from their marital issues and other problems back home and resettle in Africa.
Brain drain/brain gain
Like I earlier observed, on the contrary, there will be a reversal of brain drain to America and Europe, as skilled manpower and others would come back to Africa to start a new revolution of brain gain, through importation of skilled workers, diaspora remittances and investments.
However, Africa must scrutinize these immigrants to guard against potential negative impacts that would come with their influx into the continent.
There should be comprehensive checks against drug addicts, drug peddlers, community health problems and other challenges that could find their way into the continent and cause ripple effects of destabilization.
This is necessary so that the continent does not make the same mistake which the industrialised world made during their industrialisation years.
I am optimistic that, with the skills imported into Nigeria and other African countries, we can harness them to become industrial/ military hubs, even in areas such as nuclear technology.
What then are your fears over Trump’s admininistration ?
Donald Trump will be a great danger to the world! However, unknown to him, Trump’s policies would indirectly induce a number of economic and social issues in Africa in the years to come.
For example, by the years 2030-2040, Africa and the whole world would likely develop with more knowledge, be safer, with the attendant precautions against past occurrences/ experience.
China, India, Brazil and Mexico, who may have been affected by Trump’s harsh tariffs on their goods and services, would challenge him as they move to reposition their economies.
In the area of international economic and political relations, Trump’s administration would show determined actions to reduce the influence of Central American countries, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, among others.
For he believes that the Democratic Party also derive their support from these countries, and so the best thing to do is to whittle down their politico-economic influence on America by expelling those without valid papers.
It is on record that migrants from these countries are alleged to always enter America illegally.
Trump wants to use his immigration policy to send them away so as to significantly reduce their support for the Democratic Party, which they have always supported in any elections, and strengthen his leading Republican Party.
Significantly, therefore, beginning from and after Trump’s rule, the whole world would not be the same again. Trump would have significantly impact in many areas; but, ultimately, Nigeria, Africa and other affected nations would have savoured some significant positives in many areas, such as skills, entrepreneurship, trade, cultural diffusion and globalisation.
Whatever laws Trump makes, issues such as climate change, when they worsen, the Black Americans would want to come to Africa.
Again, the power of BRICS would also come into force.
In the Nigerian case, the issue of the leader of IPOB deserves better handling.
The people of the South East are not secessionist, after all, they partake in the Federal Government’s activities, and therefore, Nnamdi Kanu, should not be declared a fugitive, but he rather deserves freedom after years in captivity by the Nigerian government.