Bolaji Akinyemi, the former Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has advised President Bola Tinubu to avoid any confrontation with Donald Trump, the newly sworn-in President of the United States. Akinyemi, who also served as the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), criticized Trump’s inaugural speech, describing it as “uninspiring, shocking, and depressing.”

While speaking on Channels TV, Akinyemi said;

“If I were President Tinubu, I would try to steer clear of antagonising him because there is nothing a bully likes better than taking on people who are not strong enough to resist him. You know there is that African proverb that if you are not strong enough to take on a bully and you take him on, you are just even going to suffer more for it.

That’s the advice I will give President Tinubu: try and avoid having a confrontation with him even if that means that he does things that annoy or does things that step on the interests of Nigeria. There are ways in which you could address his reaction without confrontation,” he said.

In his remarks, Akinyemi pointed out that instead of calling for global unity, Trump’s speech focused on threatening other nations with harsh policies. These included ideas like taking control of the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and starting tariff wars. Akinyemi believes that Trump will soon learn that such policies come with serious consequences, and he warned that the world may face a rough four years under Trump’s leadership.

Akinyemi also stated that Nigeria is no longer a priority for the US under Trump’s administration, and the country should not expect significant changes or benefits from his presidency.