The country Trump wants to wall off

If Mr Donald Trump has his way and becomes
the next American President come November, ‘a
big, big wall’ will spring up to divide Mexico and
the United States of America. Mexico’s economy
is on the rise and is billed to get to the top 10
among the world’s largest economies in about
five years. The US economy on the other hand, is
on the wane and might even stop being the
world’s largest economy by the end of next year.

People like Mr Trump blame Latin America in
general and Mexico in particular for much of
what is wrong with America today—from
unemployment, to values, to lifestyles.

Everybody in fact, but their decadent,
xenophobic selves. Heck, Trump even blames
Nigeria and Nigerians for seizing job
opportunities in America and has promised to
deport us.

Mr Trump is a bully. And like most bullies, he is
shallow. It is amazing what you can see through
someone’s books if you know where to look as
every book takes on some of the personalities of
the writer. I was a fan of his books at the
beginning, especially ‘What They Didn’t Teach You
At Harvard Business School’. Mr Trump was, and
is a good communicator, an asset he has used
well during this campaign. But by the time I got
to ‘Everything is Negotiable,’ I had seen him
pretty much for what he is—a vain, egoistic man
who likes to hug the limelight and who likes to
look down, and talk down at people.

It is true that the Mexican economy is tied to
that of the US. Mexico supplies a lot of
agricultural products and electronics to the US. It
also supplies cheap labour. It also, we should say
it, supplies drugs to the decadent and drug
crazed in America. The American tourists account
for making Mexico a country with one of the
largest number of visitors in a year. But it is not
a one way street.

Mexico gives to America what America wants but
cannot get at a low prize. In other words, Mexico
helps America to put a lid on inflation. But
Trump doesn’t see it that way. He sees a country
that is prospering at the expense of America,
whose people have become senators, High Court
judges and successful businessmen in ‘his
country’. He and his fellow right wing
sympathisers forget that America started out as
a land of opportunities for immigrants.

They forget the ‘American Dream’ that their
forefathers loved to tell. And instead of looking
inwards to find where the rain started to beat
them, they are lashing out at the vulnerable.
They are lashing out at religion. They are lashing
out at race. Alas! The world has moved on from
the Hitler days.

And Donald Trump, the man to whom very few
people gave a chance at the outset given his
extreme right wing views, might yet occupy the
White House. That is a measure of how far gone
the average American white has become, how
much he has taken the pre-eminent position of
his country for granted; how distrustful he is of
the current politicians and how deep seated his
xenophobic fears are. But until Trump gets
there, Mexico will continue to be an important
outpost to US.

Americans do not need a visa to get to Mexico.
In fact, nobody who comes into Mexico through
US needs a visa. I was one of those who took
advantage of this proviso last month. It was my
second visit to Mexico. The three-hour flight
from Washington was full, mainly of Americans
who wanted to thaw out in the Mexican sun. The
mood was so light that even the flight attendants
joked that some of them might not want to
come back.

I needed the mood because it helped to lighten
some of the heaviness I had about me. To the
uninitiated, Mexico is nothing but a land of drugs
and robbers where a visitor goes at his own
peril. I couldn’t immediately shake my irrational
fear. Irrational because I was not likely to
venture outside the tourist routes; also irrational
because the sheer number of tourist hits every
year easily dismisses my fear.

It is difficult not to compare Cancun with Lagos
or any of our coastal cities— the weather, the
ocean, the seas are very similar. It is also
difficult not to wonder why they are doing so
well with tourism and we are doing so badly. In
terms of nature and historical sites, the Mexicans
have no edge over us. Their people are not
saints either and would take advantage of the
unwary without batting an eye.

They have their own crime, their seedy areas
and racial tension. Yet millions of people troop
in every year bringing millions of dollars.
Wherein is the difference? The difference is that
their leaders had at some point, laid the
necessary foundation for tourism. The airport is
neat and welcoming. The officials polite and
efficient—within minutes, an entire plane load
had emptied. The roads are clean and totally
devoid of potholes. Even the inroads to the
villages which were not tarred were graded with
limestones.

Then the beaches were lined with hotels and
resorts and equipped with all kinds of water
sports. I left Cancun to spend a weekend in Playa
Del Carmen and it was heavenly. The ambience,
the architecture and the service were very, very
impressive. The resort I stayed in—I am not
being paid to advertised its name—must have
thousands of skilled and unskilled labour at its
employ. It is a large, sprawling collection of
buildings with staff popping up in literally every
corner offering help and direction.

My point and I am done, is that what Cancun has,
what Playa Del Carmen has can be replicated in
Nigeria. Our leaders must take tourism
seriously. Our stupendously rich men and
women must begin to invest in our country.

Tourism is a major employer of labour. It is so
diverse and varied that people can key into its
many openings—marketers, artisans, guides,
entertainers, hospitality workers, sculptors,
musicians, the works.

Bring your earned and unearned wealth and
launder it through tourism as I am sure some of
the Mexican drug barons have done and all will
be forgiven. Last week, a young friend disclosed
that he is bringing a team of Canadian investors
to set up an international resort in Epe, Lagos.
He made my day. I just hope the bureaucracy
will not kill his resolve.