{"id":123644,"date":"2025-11-07T06:34:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T05:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=123644"},"modified":"2025-11-07T06:34:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T05:34:45","slug":"soyinka-blasts-trumps-foreign-posture-brands-him-petty-minded-dictator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/soyinka-blasts-trumps-foreign-posture-brands-him-petty-minded-dictator\/","title":{"rendered":"Soyinka Blasts Trump\u2019s Foreign Posture, Brands Him \u2018Petty-Minded Dictator\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Oscar Okhifo<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has taken a swipe at United States President Donald Trump, accusing him of undermining diplomatic norms and displaying authoritarian traits in his dealing with Nigerians, Nigeria and other nations, especially in Africa.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Soyinka, who spoke with BBC News on\u00a0 Thursday, was reacting to Trump\u2019s recent remarks suggesting that the United States could impose tougher diplomatic and economic measures against Nigeria if the country fails to align with Washington\u2019s security and governance expectations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTrump has repeatedly shown the tendencies of a petty-minded dictator, using the threat of power to intimidate less powerful nations,\u201d Soyinka said during the interview.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The literary icon insisted that the United States, under Trump, has adopted a posture that disrespects the sovereignty of other countries, particularly those in Africa.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe world cannot continue to tolerate leaders who wield influence like a whip to cow others into submission.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;We expect cooperation, not condescension,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, Soyinka\u2019s comments are coming at a time when he recently suffered a visa denial from the United States Embassy,\u00a0 a development that has sparked debates in some quarters.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Critics argue that the incident may have influenced his harsh remarks, while others believe the playwright is simply defending Nigeria\u2019s dignity on the global stage.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Soyinka urged the Federal Government not to succumb to pressures aimed at undermining Nigeria\u2019s national pride, but to engage diplomatically from a position of strength.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He also cautioned the international community to remain vigilant, warning that the normalization of \u201cbully politics\u201d by global powers could spell danger for emerging democracies around the world.&#8221;<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has taken a swipe at United States President Donald Trump, accusing him of undermining diplomatic norms and displaying authoritarian traits in his&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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