LAGOS, JUNE 27, 2016 – Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) will cause a contraction of the Diaspora remittances from Britain, a don, Prof. Isaac Albert, said on Monday.
Albert, the Director, Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, made the assertion while speaking in Lagos on the impact of Brexit.
Brexit is the exit of Britain from the EU on June 23 through a referendum.
He noted that Britain hosted many Nigerians and a contraction of its economy would discourage Nigerians from travelling there.
“We have a very large Diaspora population in the U.K; with Brexit, I see the British economy contracting.
“As the British economy becomes affected negatively by their exit from the EU, fewer Nigerians will be willing to travel to Britain,’’ Albert said.
The don expressed optimism that Britain would get over the present challenges sooner than later, but noted that it might exploit countries with close ties to it on its way to recovery.
On the political dimension to the Brexit, Albert said that Britain opted out from the EU because it felt it did not have much to gain from it.
He, however, said that it was contradictory for Britain to respect the rights and wishes of its citizens in pulling out from the EU, since it stood in the way of other groups in Nigeria in their quest for self-determination.
While noting that as a scholar, he had never been an advocate for secession, Albert said that it was a universally accepted principle that if a group of people wanted to be on their own, they should be allowed to do so.
He urged the leadership of Britain to be more altruistic and sincere in superintending over the wishes of people of other nationalities in their quest for self-determination.
Recalls that the British people had voted to pull out of the EU, a decision that prompted the Prime Minister, David Cameron’s decision to resign.
Brexit had also affected global stocks negatively as seen by a contraction in most developed and emerging economies, especially in Asia.
At the parallel market segment of the market, traders were confused as to the price they could place on the British Pound Sterling as uncertainties stared them in the face at the outcome of the referendum.
