Even as his domestic approval ratings hit an all-time low, US president Donald Trump can take comfort in his growing popularity in some parts of Africa’s most populous nation.
Though his xenophobic, white nationalist views have no doubt alienated many Nigerians, his nativist and Islamophobic rhetoric has energized others. Indeed some see Trump as a political icon. Even though Trump has said little to nothing about Nigeria, these groups (MASSOB, IPOB) see in him a powerful figure sympathetic to their aims. It goes without saying that Nigerians’ reaction to Trump’s 2016 election victory was muted compared to their response to president Barack Obama’s historic 2008 win.
Over the course of his presidency, however, Nigerian goodwill toward Obama faded, hurt by his decision not to visit Nigeria, his support for gay marriage, and perceived unwillingness to supply arms to the Nigerian military. Former president Goodluck Jonathan even accused the Obama Administration of clandestinely supporting president Muhammadu Buhari’s candidacy, claiming U.S. actions during Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election amounted to interference.
69% of Nigerians still view the United States favorably, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center poll. This reservoir of goodwill—combined with Trump’s robust social media following and his ambivalence about contentious issues like human rights—suggests Trump might receive a warm welcome if he decided to visit Nigeria. A U.S. presidential visit is long overdue: the last was by George W. Bush in July 2003.
Growing Social Media Footprint
So how big is Trump’s Nigerian fan base? In the absence of public polling, one quantifiable metric of Nigerian interest in Trump is the number of people following him on Twitter. Over 700,000 Nigerians tune in to Trump’s tweets: over 2% of his 32 million followers, according to TweepsMap.com. His Nigeria-based Facebook is another useful metric of his popularity: between October and June it more than quadrupled, says analytics firm SocialBakers.com.
