Following growing concerns over President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid, Nigerian virologist Professor Oyewale Tomori argues that the move could serve as a wake-up call for African nations to take ownership of their health crises.
During a discussion on News Central TV’s Jasiri show on Monday, Tomori made an unorthodox case for self-reliance, challenging Africa’s continued dependence on international assistance.
“For me, in spite of what everybody says, I think it’s a great thing,” he said. “You may think, what am I saying? It’s nothing new. When he came the first time in 2016, he did the same thing. We drew from WHO (World Health Organisation). It was a new president that rescinded that. So we expected it when he came back. We should have been prepared for it.”
The US foreign aid freeze, which is expected to last 90 days, has raised alarm over its impact on critical programmes, including HIV treatment in Africa. However, Tomori insisted that African countries must stop waiting for external support.
“Why are we waiting for US to help us take care of the AIDS? When we make our babies, we don’t call the international aid. When it is time to take care of them and give them a vaccine, we start begging for AIDS,” he said.
He criticised the widespread notion that African nations lack resources, arguing instead that mismanagement and wastefulness have kept them dependent.
“They call us resource-limited. We are not resource-limited. We are resource-wasteful and resource-quandary. And that has put us in the position where we are begging. And when Trump sneezes in America, we start catching cold in Africa. That’s not what it should be. Time has come for us,” he said.
Tomori also framed the crisis as an opportunity for African leaders to act decisively.
“I mean, when crisis comes, everybody wakes up and does what it is. I don’t see us collapsing. We’re going to have a little bit of problem. But our government has to have sense… they have to make up their mind that this is an emergency,” he said.
Tomori’s comments come as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) faces an uncertain future, with Trump and his allies seeking to shut it down entirely.
The Trump administration’s stance on foreign aid took an unprecedented turn on Monday, when the USAID headquarters in Washington was abruptly shut down. Employees were informed via email not to report to work, except for essential staff.
This closure follows days of speculation over the agency’s fate. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has positioned himself as an adviser to Trump, confirmed in an X Spaces conversation that Trump intends to dismantle USAID.
Musk stated that he “checked with Trump a few times”, and he confirmed he wants to shut down the agency.
Trump himself offered a blunt assessment when asked about USAID’s future: “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision.”
