Former United States Ambassador to Nigeria and an expert on Nigerian and African affairs, John Campbell, has said that even the American polity has absolutely no idea what U.S President-Elect, Donald Trump’s plans for African relations are. He said this while speaking in a one-on-one interview with Premium Times Newspapers after the launch of his 2 new books, ‘Dancing on the Cliff’ and ‘Morning In South Africa’, profiling the current situation in Nigeria and South Africa respectively.
Campbell, however, said that much would depend on who Trump decides to choose as his Secretary of State. “Who Mr. Trump chooses as his Secretary of State will be quite important. If, for example, it were to be Mitt Romney, then I think we could anticipate that the, at least, the formal diplomatic relationship with African countries will continue much as it has been. But, if somebody is selected who has very little foreign policy knowledge or experience, then who knows what direction it will take?” Campbell said.
Campbell, however, said that there was little possibility of treaties already in place such as the African Growth Opportunity Act being repealed by the Congress. What he could not guarantee was the expansion of the Act or other similar trade agreements.
Speaking on other issues relating to the African countries, Campbell although lauding President’s Buhari’s efforts, stated that the 2 main tenets, security in the North-East and an end to corruption, on which President Buhari had based his election campaigns on were not yet fully achieved and much still needed to be done.