Brexit: Nigeria may suffer setback - Utomi, Akinterinwa, others

The professor of economy however holds the view that the EU will seek to build new trade relationship, while Britain will make efforts to concretise old trade partnership with countries like Nigeria.

Earlier, The Punch gathered from the director general of the Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, Prof Bola Akinterinwa, that migrants should expect tougher days in the nearest
future, based on the outcome of the referendum called Brexit.

 Akinterinwa who called those who went for the exit of Britain from the EU had specifically ascribed many of the challenges confronting the UK in recent times to migrants. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Professor Bola Akinterinwa The director general stated: “Some of them blame migrants for unemployment, various econometric issues and even traffic jams. “When a British lawmaker, Jo Cox, was murdered by a nationalist recently, his killer, (52-year-old Thomas Mair) shouted ‘Death to the traitors, freedom to freedom!’ in court. 

The implication of that for Nigerians is that those who advocated for leaving the UK would be very strict and hostile to migrants in the foreseeable future. “The mere fact that migrants are believed to be responsible for a lot of problems and the fact that many Nigerians would like to make Britain their second home, is a sign that they must prepare for harder days to come. “This will also affect Nigeria because European countries are the first direction of our trade. If the union is suffering from whatever virus, Nigeria will also have its own share.” While a professor of Energy Economics, Adenikinju Adeola, revealed that, “every agreement that has been signed will be affected in one way or the other.

 Like some experts have rightly said, the exit is going to cause a global recession in the economy because it will affect the demand for oil, which is the major source of Nigeria’s income.“Nigeria is trying to borrow money from the global financial market to fund the budget and other projects, but the Britain exit may also affect the chances of the country in assessing the loan.” Tayo Oyetibo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) concluded the experts’ comments by saying that, “if Britain, which is the strongest ally of Nigeria, pulls out from the EU, you can imagine what that means for Nigeria.

” As more floods or criticisms are being brought on the UK regarding its exit from the EU, President Muhammadu Buhari who commented on the British Prime Minister’s resignation said, “it was a demonstration of courage by a democratic leader who respects the will of the people.”

Read more: naij.com