Thinking Theoretically with Harry Adonis... Trump’s Victory and the Resurgence and Internationalisation of Populism And the Eastern (Biafran) Question
Thinking Theoretically with Harry Adonis
Trump’s Victory: The Resurgence and Internationalisation of Populism and the Biafran Question
On 23rd July, 2016, the EU referendum popularly known as Brexit, shocked the world with its poll returns.
Britons voted to leave the European Union. Against popular opinion.
What is perhaps more stunning than the result of the referendum was Former Prime Minister, David Cameron's underestimation of the influence of populists or "opportuinists" of which notable figures were Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farrage.
Populism is a political ideology that holds that virtuous citizens are mistreated by a small circle of elites, who can be overthrown if the people recognize the danger and work together.
Populism depicts elites as trampling on the rights, values, and voice of the legitimate people.
The most common misconception about this concept is the misunderstanding of the influence of nationalism.
A feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries, is the least parameter for the basis of nationalism. A broad based view tilts the whole concept into one that transcends just a group of people to the agreed shared values of a larger socially congested society.
A great fact neglected by analysts have been the influence of nationalism in the rise of populist movements around the world. There's hardly a chance that Brexit, as preached by Boris Johnson and his ilks would have been successful without cashing in on the feelings of voters and playing on the embers of nationalism. As a matter of fact, the UK Independence Party did their job perfectly well to sway votes, not necessarily regarding the allegations that there was a form of Russian support--morally and financially--to that effect.
The 19th century witnessed the surge in nationalism, no thanks to the onslaught of the Napoleonic wars. It's resurgence in the 21st century is nothing new, and it has taken its shape in populism in international relations
The Hungarian example shows a lot of promise, especially in the rise of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his strong objection to the European Union's migrant sharing formula.
Where building a a fence to keep put Syrian refugees which may have included other Arab migrants, perhaps, making the fence electric would serve better if the latter fails.
The belief that "there is a cabal (known, in some cases) somewhere running out affairs as they deem fit, always according to their interests, leaving us at their mercy to the detriment of our existence" has taken its dimensions in some other climes, and the Hungarian example is just one out of the numerous outposts of fear and fear factor. In the case of Brexit, the Britons who voted to leave the UK always feared and suspected the Brussels' bureaucracy, who, according to them, are dictating their culture, social values and national economy. And the fatal mistake, apart from Cameron's barefaced arrogance in calling for the referendum, is the tactic of matching populism with populism, and it cost him No. 10 Downing Street.
The Turkish coup of July 2016 and the tone of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric that the United States is trying to undermine the sovereignty of Turkey by allegedly supporting Fethulah Gulén fanned the embers of appeal to nationalism, and the widespread condemnation of the coup throughout Turkey (despite Erdogan's budding despotism) is a big picture shown to pessimists that this ideology has, for all intents and purposes, come to stay.
To a great many of observers (and even to the shock of this writer), the victory of Donald Trump at the polls is a paradigm shift from the usual "all for one and one for all" rhetoric the liberals have expedited so much energy to internationalize. Riding on the waves of popular anti-immigration stance and the pervading ignoble attacks led by Islamic terrorists, Trump’s victory perhaps shouldn't come as a surprise, as it did, but that's if the media which did so much to discredit the Republican candidate's through vitriolic attacks and iconoclastic denigration.
Who is to blame for these shocks?
Too much freedom is no freedom at all, and the liberalisation of international relations formed the breeding ground for the rise of nationalistic populism. In America, it was the fear of ISIS, vis-a-vis Islamic terrorism which the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton refused to label correctly. Political correctness have never been so much trumped as it was in yesterday's election.
In Nigeria, emancipation of the Eastern region popularly known as Biafra has, for a long time been prevented by the Nigerian government, and since the civil war to that effect ended in 1970 with the death of at least three million people, pockets of agitation--though not as forceful as that of the Palestinians--have brought deep considerations and sober reflections with the feeling of marginalisation by the Ibos in the South East.
The greatest credit for this resurgence doesn't necessarily go to late Odimegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, but to Nnamdi Kanu.
Arrested and imprisoned in 2015 on his visit to Nigeria, (in Lagos), Nnamdi Kanu has become a national figure who millions of Biafrans see as saviour, of whom one of them is Nwaebonyi Sylvanus.
Kanu cashed in on, and played upon the failure of the successive Nigerian federal government to run an all inclusive government, favouring some regions over others, more so with the 95/5 percent statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari.
As Barrack Obama said in 2015, "you can only jail (sic) a person. You cannot imprison ideas", it resonates deeply with the Eastern region, and more so with the help of populist propaganda Kanu broadcast on his Radio Biafra airwaves.
A lot of Biafrans supported Donald Trump for the office of the President of the United States, not necessarily with his direct assistance in their quest for secession,(by virtue of 1975, 3, the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights of 1981, 4, the CSCE Charter of Paris, and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV), but in the hope that the wave of populism borne out of nationalism which sometimes breed xenophobia and racism will add fire to the agitation and subsequent actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra.
The restive wave and the tide of "good news" populism brings and its fruits as seen in Britain, Turkey, Hungary and the USA will bring to bear, but how soon in Africa is, not just a matter of time, but a battle of wills.
MacHarry Confidence, a keen international affairs analyst and a sociopolitical issues commentator, is a student of International Studies and Diplomacy, in the department of History and International Studies, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Trump’s Victory: The Resurgence and Internationalisation of Populism and the Biafran Question
On 23rd July, 2016, the EU referendum popularly known as Brexit, shocked the world with its poll returns.
Britons voted to leave the European Union. Against popular opinion.
What is perhaps more stunning than the result of the referendum was Former Prime Minister, David Cameron's underestimation of the influence of populists or "opportuinists" of which notable figures were Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farrage.
Populism is a political ideology that holds that virtuous citizens are mistreated by a small circle of elites, who can be overthrown if the people recognize the danger and work together.
Populism depicts elites as trampling on the rights, values, and voice of the legitimate people.
The most common misconception about this concept is the misunderstanding of the influence of nationalism.
A feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries, is the least parameter for the basis of nationalism. A broad based view tilts the whole concept into one that transcends just a group of people to the agreed shared values of a larger socially congested society.
A great fact neglected by analysts have been the influence of nationalism in the rise of populist movements around the world. There's hardly a chance that Brexit, as preached by Boris Johnson and his ilks would have been successful without cashing in on the feelings of voters and playing on the embers of nationalism. As a matter of fact, the UK Independence Party did their job perfectly well to sway votes, not necessarily regarding the allegations that there was a form of Russian support--morally and financially--to that effect.
The 19th century witnessed the surge in nationalism, no thanks to the onslaught of the Napoleonic wars. It's resurgence in the 21st century is nothing new, and it has taken its shape in populism in international relations
The Hungarian example shows a lot of promise, especially in the rise of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his strong objection to the European Union's migrant sharing formula.
Where building a a fence to keep put Syrian refugees which may have included other Arab migrants, perhaps, making the fence electric would serve better if the latter fails.
The belief that "there is a cabal (known, in some cases) somewhere running out affairs as they deem fit, always according to their interests, leaving us at their mercy to the detriment of our existence" has taken its dimensions in some other climes, and the Hungarian example is just one out of the numerous outposts of fear and fear factor. In the case of Brexit, the Britons who voted to leave the UK always feared and suspected the Brussels' bureaucracy, who, according to them, are dictating their culture, social values and national economy. And the fatal mistake, apart from Cameron's barefaced arrogance in calling for the referendum, is the tactic of matching populism with populism, and it cost him No. 10 Downing Street.
The Turkish coup of July 2016 and the tone of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric that the United States is trying to undermine the sovereignty of Turkey by allegedly supporting Fethulah Gulén fanned the embers of appeal to nationalism, and the widespread condemnation of the coup throughout Turkey (despite Erdogan's budding despotism) is a big picture shown to pessimists that this ideology has, for all intents and purposes, come to stay.
To a great many of observers (and even to the shock of this writer), the victory of Donald Trump at the polls is a paradigm shift from the usual "all for one and one for all" rhetoric the liberals have expedited so much energy to internationalize. Riding on the waves of popular anti-immigration stance and the pervading ignoble attacks led by Islamic terrorists, Trump’s victory perhaps shouldn't come as a surprise, as it did, but that's if the media which did so much to discredit the Republican candidate's through vitriolic attacks and iconoclastic denigration.
Who is to blame for these shocks?
Too much freedom is no freedom at all, and the liberalisation of international relations formed the breeding ground for the rise of nationalistic populism. In America, it was the fear of ISIS, vis-a-vis Islamic terrorism which the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton refused to label correctly. Political correctness have never been so much trumped as it was in yesterday's election.
In Nigeria, emancipation of the Eastern region popularly known as Biafra has, for a long time been prevented by the Nigerian government, and since the civil war to that effect ended in 1970 with the death of at least three million people, pockets of agitation--though not as forceful as that of the Palestinians--have brought deep considerations and sober reflections with the feeling of marginalisation by the Ibos in the South East.
The greatest credit for this resurgence doesn't necessarily go to late Odimegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, but to Nnamdi Kanu.
Arrested and imprisoned in 2015 on his visit to Nigeria, (in Lagos), Nnamdi Kanu has become a national figure who millions of Biafrans see as saviour, of whom one of them is Nwaebonyi Sylvanus.
Kanu cashed in on, and played upon the failure of the successive Nigerian federal government to run an all inclusive government, favouring some regions over others, more so with the 95/5 percent statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari.
As Barrack Obama said in 2015, "you can only jail (sic) a person. You cannot imprison ideas", it resonates deeply with the Eastern region, and more so with the help of populist propaganda Kanu broadcast on his Radio Biafra airwaves.
A lot of Biafrans supported Donald Trump for the office of the President of the United States, not necessarily with his direct assistance in their quest for secession,(by virtue of 1975, 3, the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights of 1981, 4, the CSCE Charter of Paris, and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV), but in the hope that the wave of populism borne out of nationalism which sometimes breed xenophobia and racism will add fire to the agitation and subsequent actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra.
The restive wave and the tide of "good news" populism brings and its fruits as seen in Britain, Turkey, Hungary and the USA will bring to bear, but how soon in Africa is, not just a matter of time, but a battle of wills.
MacHarry Confidence, a keen international affairs analyst and a sociopolitical issues commentator, is a student of International Studies and Diplomacy, in the department of History and International Studies, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
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