Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, a renowned political scientist, has urged President Bola Tinubu to be cautious in dealing with the newly inaugurated 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump. Akinyemi shared this advice during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Monday.

“If I were President Tinubu, I would try to avoid provoking him,” Akinyemi said, noting that a bully often seeks out those who are not strong enough to resist.

He referenced an African proverb, advising Tinubu that challenging someone in a position of power without the strength to back it up could lead to more harm.

“Even if Trump’s actions annoy or undermine Nigeria’s interests, there are ways to address them without direct confrontation,” Akinyemi explained.

Reflecting on Trump’s inaugural speech, Akinyemi described it as uninspiring, shocking, and depressing. Instead of promoting peace and unity, Trump’s speech seemed to outline a series of hostile policies.

He mentioned proposals such as taking back the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and engaging in tariff wars, all of which, Akinyemi said, set the tone for a more aggressive and isolationist US stance under Trump’s leadership.

Akinyemi, a former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and former Nigerian Minister of External Affairs, predicted that Trump would soon realize that his policies have consequences. “The next four years will be a rough ride for the world,” he warned.

On Nigeria’s relationship with the US under Trump, Akinyemi believes that the country’s priorities will not align with Nigeria’s interests.

“Nigeria will no longer be a focus for the 78-year-old president, and we shouldn’t expect anything extraordinary from his administration,” he said.