Nigerians React To Britain’s Exit From European Union

More than three years after the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, unveiled his strategy to reform Europe and put it to a referendum, Britain shocked the whole world by voting to leave the union.

The development led to the resignation of David Cameron, who had campaigned that the state remained in the EU.

“I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination,” he said.

Reacting to the latest development, Nigerians revealed that Britain’s exit from the European Union, will have an enormous effect on Nigeria, Africa and European countries.

A Nigerian, Mr. Timilehin Obisesan, who spoke to The Whistler, revealed that immigration laws will be tightened, as the rate of people that travel to the country will drastically reduce.

Reeling out the diverse effect of Brexit on the UK, Obisesan said, “Their exit will affect their relationship with other European countries and of course Nigeria.

“They will tighten immigration laws, reduce influx of people into the UK. This will also adversely affect their economy at home.

“Smaller countries within UK Scotland and Ireland will be affected negatively as well. UK’s unity will be tested going forward,” he said.

On whether the exit will affect Nigeria’s economy, he said, “UK has little contribution to our economy unlike China, US and others.

“After South Africa, Nigeria is Britain’s 2nd largest trading partner with about 8b pounds in bilateral trade vol. in 2015.

“A weaker and smaller UK economy would scale down its investment in developmental projects in Nigeria.

“Yes, this will affect our economy as well but the impact of such may not be a “direct hit”.

Continuing, Obisesan said that “In some ways, new policies will be introduced, and business men who have interests in UK will likely pay more taxes, and may do business with certain restrictions.

“However, it has more negative consequences for Nigerians living in d UK and especially Britain,” he opined.

Obisesan further noted that Cameron’s resignation will pose a setback on President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption drive.

According to him, this is because Cameron had earlier promised Buhari that the funds illegally taken away from the country by corrupt Nigerians and stashed in UK accounts will be returned.

He however noted that with the turn of events, those funds will likely be unreturned as a new government will be elected, leading to fresh negotiations on the return of the looted funds.

He said, “Well, it may be a setback on PMB’s anti-corruption drive and effort. Cameron has promised PMB several times on his resolve to recover loots stashed in UK accounts.

“But with his resignation, the new cabinet will have more priorities than helping a “fantastically corrupt “country’,” he said.

Another Nigerian, who simply identified himself as Damola, said that Cameron’s resignation will “slow down the process of the fund transfer because this agreement is not a policy statement but just a personal agreement based on clear understanding of what is on ground.

“A new handler will have to be lobby to come to the same understanding with Nigeria,” he said.

According to him, Brexit will definitely affect trade, restrict movement and flow of business transaction.

He added that it will further hamper cash flow, as well as bottleneck bureaucracy in gov’t policies.

He noted that the proposed exit will affect Nigeria’s economy “to some extent because a lot of process will slow down, trade transaction will be put on hold for a while until they put their act together. There will also be some form of policy restructuring that will slow down businesses.”

But countering speculations that Nigerians living in the UK will be affected by Brexit, a Nigerian in diaspora who pleaded anonymity said that brexit is a welcome development.

“It is not really going to affect us as rumored. What they have done is the best. It is a good gesture. We are however hopeful that they tread on it well.

“Although as at today, the pound sterling has dropped to about 80% to a dollar, but that’s expected. In a short while from now, things will be better than ever.

“I feel this development will create labour. There will be more opportunities for us. It will definitely benefit us,” the Nigerian said.

The European Union is a politico-economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It covers an area of 4,324,782 km², with an estimated population of over 508 million and was established in 1993.

The 28 countries within the European Union include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The purpose of the European Union is to operate a single market which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states.

No state has left the European Union before, and the rules for exit – contained in Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon – are brief.