Boris Johnson, Brexit, and Nigeria.
The Starting Point:
The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been able to win a huge 80 seat majority in the British Parliament which in effect will most likely enable him to get the much-debated Brexit done. The question now to the average Nigerian onlooker is what is Brexit, and what potential effect will it have on Nigeria. Read on, I’ll explain.
The Explaining Point:
Brexit which is short for ‘British Exit’ is a formal withdrawal process from the European Union (EU) by the UK, which was initiated during the 2016 referendum on a vote in favor of the motion to exit by 52% to 48% of the electorate. The European Union is a political and economic association of 27 member states in Europe (The UK excluded). The EU which was formed in 1957 is tasked with creating frameworks that aim to improve the economic well-being and security of its 500-million plus citizenry. Britain joined the EU which was formally called the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1975 and while being an effective contributor and beneficiary of the EU, its relationship with the union has been rocky and testy over a lot of key issues. These issues which included important aspects such as political sovereignty immigration and trade laws defined the UK’s exist during the 2016 referendum. For years after joining the EU British Eurosceptics (i.e. British people who are skeptical or not trusting of the EU and want the UK to leave) made a case for continually limiting the EU’s growing influence on the UK. None more famous among these skeptics was Margaret Thatcher who as Prime Minister opposed more UK integration politically, a stance which led to her being pushed out of power by her fellow conservative party members, thus igniting a long 30-year inter-party civil war, which culminated in the 2016 exit vote.
Among the players who pushed for the exit of Britain from the EU in 2016 none was more forceful and visible as the present British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. As an ordinary Member of Parliament, he led his fellow Brexiteers in arguing for a Brexit with the claim that the EU had limited his country’s ability to have full control over its political affairs, immigration policies, and trade policies, especially as the EU had at that time strong-armed Britain into bailing out Greece and the Eurozone during their time of financial crisis.
For 3 years after the Brexit vote in 2016, Britain faced an internal display of discussions, disagreements, and delays between the Brexiteers (those who wanted to exit the EU) and Remainers (those who wanted to remain in the EU in any way, shape, or form) and regular deadlocks in decision makings lead to the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May, who was replaced by arch Brexiteer Boris Johnson in July 2019. On becoming Prime Minister, Mr. Johnson sought to get a better deal from the EU to formally begin his country’s exit process but when his requests were blocked further by Remainers in parliament he called for a general election which he won with a decisive 80 MP majority, all but making Brexit possible. Now that Britain will surely leave the EU, what are their aims going forward especially in relation to a country like Nigeria?
The Impacting Point:
It must be stated that historically the UK has always seen itself as a global power rather than merely a strong state within a super European state, a position which is perceived to be the EU’s long term aims for it (a proposition it was not going to embrace at all). So now Britain is poised to leave the EU one can imagine them reigniting their global outreach in areas such as trade and political influence in every sphere where they possibly believe they have influence. When it comes to Boris, Brexit, Britain, and Nigeria and how all are intertwined, look no further than the diplomatic institution called the ‘Commonwealth of Nations’.
The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of 53 member states, most of them former colonies of the British Empire with Nigeria being one of them. The Commonwealth of Nations as it stands today represents 1/5 of the global landmass, 1/3 of the global population, 15% of global wealth and all nations within it share British culture in the form of the English language and English legal codes to significant degrees. At this present time of writing, the Commonwealth is in many ways just a toothless association with little sway on world affairs and within the association, Britain’s role is mostly historical and symbolic but with Brexit and loosened ties from the EU, we should expect a more engaged Britain eager to gain some trade advantages from its former colonies, as well as Britain trying to wield more influence on the political affairs of its former colonies. We can even be concerned about a British Empire re-emergence. In reality, such propositions seem far-fetched, as most of the Commonwealth nations such as Nigeria, India, Australia, and Canada to name a few are powerful countries that cannot be subdued by Britain’s present state. In conclusion, with Brexit on the horizon, Britain is poised to want more trade deals with countries like Nigeria and the rest of the Commonwealth nations and as Boris Johnson has said earlier Britain looks to embrace the Commonwealth, which in many ways may make it seem more significant on the global stage now that it is poised to leave the EU. With all these in mind watching Britain’s action within the Commonwealth should be a leading indicator of its motives in the years to come after Brexit.
