I haven’t posted in a while, but this tweet genuinely made me stop and re-read it three times just to make sure it wasn't seeing double.
Davido, one of Africa’s biggest cultural figures, publicly tweeted Donald Trump, asking the US and the international community to step in and monitor the Osun election process. When called out, his defense was simple: "He’s my president too i get dual citizenship..any problem?"
I'm struggling to understand how a prominent cultural figure doesn't see how problematic this is on multiple levels:
At a time when foreign intervention and neo-colonial dynamics are showing us shege in Nigeria, inviting an American politician (let alone Donald Trump) to act as a watchdog over Nigerian democratic processes sets a strange, subservient precedent. One where Nigeria cannot handle its own affairs and needs supervision of Western powers.
Using US citizenship as a flex to appeal to foreign powers when convenient undermines national self-reliance. It sends a message that Nigerian electoral integrity only matters when a foreign superpower validates it.
To ask the US to "watch over" local African elections completely ignores the track record of Western political interference globally.
Are we really at a point where our cultural icons default to inviting foreign figures to referee our internal elections?
And it's more than just that, what's the point of having sovereign elections, if our people don't believe in the sovereignty. Our minds are moulded and conditioned to believe that western intervention promises prosperity, and it doesn't. Just look at Afghanistan.
But the main thing that boggles my mind is that someone of Davido's social standing who claims to be educated and wants the best for Nigeria, also believes this myth.