If I were President Tinubu, I would try to steer clear of antagonizing Trump ~ Akinyemi

Prominent political scientist and former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has advised President Bola Tinubu to exercise caution in his dealings with the newly inaugurated 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump.

During an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Akinyemi cautioned against antagonizing Trump, labeling the US president as a “bully.”

“If I were President Tinubu, I would try to steer clear of antagonizing him because there is nothing a bully likes better than taking on people who are not strong enough to resist him,” Akinyemi said.

He referenced an African proverb to emphasize his point: “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 do things that step on the interests of Nigeria. There are ways in which you could address his reaction without confrontation.”

Akinyemi, the former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), criticized Trump’s inaugural address, describing it as “shocking and depressing.”