Sowore Condemns Trump’s Meeting With African Leaders, Calls It “Modern-Day Public Humiliation”
Nigerian human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has strongly criticized a recent meeting between former U.S. President Donald Trump and a group of African leaders, describing it as a “modern-day public humiliation” of the continent’s leadership.
In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday, Sowore expressed outrage over what he characterized as a patronizing and demeaning display during the African leaders’ visit to the White House.
“What we witnessed with @realDonaldTrump and African leaders was modern-day public humiliation,” Sowore wrote.
“U.S. President @realDonaldTrump openly tore into African leaders in full view of the world, first with South Africa’s President @CyrilRamaphosa, and now with a second set brought for public humiliation at the U.S. White House.”
Sowore was reacting to recent footage and reports from a luncheon hosted by Trump for several African heads of state, including Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai and Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
During the event, Trump reportedly asked President Boakai, whose official national language is English, “Where did you learn to speak English so beautifully?” a comment widely condemned as ignorant and disrespectful.
Sowore lamented the lack of reaction from the African leaders, stating, “Their response? Silence. Submission. Smiles.”
He added, “The President of Liberia sat there muttering ‘Yes Sir’ while being stripped of his dignity.”
On President Faye of Senegal, Sowore remarked: “A man once seen as a bold symbol of reform was reduced to begging for a golf course not schools, not hospitals, not industrial development.”
Drawing parallels with historical injustices, Sowore likened the meeting to the symbolic subjugation of African identity, referencing the story of Kunta Kinte:
“This is not leadership. This is the continuation of the famed Mandinka slave Kunta Kinte being forced to accept a slave name only this time, the enslaved wear suits and speak at press briefings.”
He concluded by declaring, “Africa has a dignity crisis at the top.”
