Brexit Will Hurt Nigeria – Dons

Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) will have negative consequences on Nigeria, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, director-general, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), has said.

Nodding in agreement, Professor Amadu Sesay of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, said that with the exit there was going to be a redefinition of relationship between the new Britain and other countries including Nigeria.

According to Akinterinwa, a professor of international affairs, the negative impact of Britain’s exit from the union would be bilaterally and multilaterally.

According to him, it is at the level of multilateral configuration that Nigeria may be slightly affected. “Britain is a member of the EU and Nigeria is a member of Commonwealth and in this case, Britain is both an active member of the EU and Commonwealth.

“Nigeria has been benefitting from the free trade tariff access of the British to the EU; now with the Brexit (Britain Exit), that one (free trade tariff access) may become a little bit difficult for Nigeria,” he said.

Akinterinwa said that Nigeria’s economic relationship with the EU might also be affected with the development, explaining that it would jeopardise Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU.

“With the withdrawal of the British from the EU, now the EPA will no longer apply to Nigeria within the framework of Nigeria’s bilateral relationship with the British,” he said. Politically, he stated that a weakened Europe would also affect Nigeria in terms of aid donation to the country.

Elsewhere, Professor Sesay of University of Ilorin, said that Nigeria and other African countries might not have the best of the moment in the relationship.

He said that the new Britain would want to look inward and cut cost especially from its most of the assistance it was giving to developing countries.

He said that UK under David Cameron had been supporting Nigeria in the fight against corruption and insurgency in the North east.

According to him such support and may no longer be in place because the ideology of the new Britain may be to use its resources to develop and take care of its people.

While describing the exit as a self-inflicted injury Sesay urged Nigeria and other African countries to explore the advantages it created.

He said that Nigeria and others might technically benefit from the exit by making use of some of the advantages such as the devaluation of pound sterling.

“With the exit, the Pound Sterling has fallen against the U.S. Dollar while Euro too has also fallen.

“Investors, immediately, for fear of the unknown, began to move their investments thinking of relocation and that affected the value of the Pound and it began to fall.

“So if the Pound Sterling is falling it is good for Nigeria. It is a welcome development at that level,” he said.

He, however, called on the government and the financial institutions in Nigeria to begin to plan against any negative fallout from the exit.

“We need to put in place the survival strategies, financial institutions have to put in place plan B.

“The federal government has to redefine its foreign policy and refocus to be able to relate with the EU and the new Britain,” he said.