May 25, 2026
By Dele Sobowale
When late Lee Kwan Yew, Singapore’s transformational Prime Minister announced early in the life of that tiny nation that: “The world does not owe us a living. We cannot live by the begging bowl” (From Third World To First in a Generation, p 53), he already had a vision of a self-reliant nation; despite its small land mass and population, as well as total absence of natural resources.
No nation on Earth can threaten to reduce or withhold aid to Singapore; because the country does not need it. By contrast, the Giant of Africa routinely finds itself going, cap in hand, to beg for alms and receiving the insults associated with being an almajiri nation.
The latest threat to reduce aid follows other reductions in assistance to Nigeria and other beggar-nations, mostly in Africa, under the Trump administration. President Trump’s contempt for black people in general and Africans in particular is not even disguised. We are literally eating crumbs from our enemy’s table. So far, there is no response from the Federal Government, FG. None is expected; for some obvious reasons.
