Lessons from Brexit

Brexit is a word coined from two words Britain and Exit which denotes the withdrawal or leaving of Britain from the European Union (EU). Peter Wilding, the Chairman of British Influence, invented the word Brexit. He was a campaigner of British influence in Europe. He said “Unless a clear view is pushed that Britain must lead in Europe at the very least to achieve the completion of the single market then the portmanteau for Greek euro exit might be followed by another word, Brexit.” As we exit an old year 2019 for a new year 2020, we must learn great lessons from Brexit as individuals, and as a country.

The 1992 Maastricht Treaty founded the EU. Membership of the EU is open to any European Country willing to subordinate its policies, currency, laws and courts to the supremacy of the EU policies, currency, laws and the EU Court of Justice. It will essentially make the hitherto independent, sovereign, european country become a state in the future envisaged one European Union Country. In Britain, it will mean that the ultimate authority to govern Britain will no longer come from Westminster but from Brussels, the headquarters of the EU. This evoked great passion from those who advocated that Britain should remain within the European Union known as Pro-Europeanists and those who advocated that Britain should leave the EU known as Eurosceptics, moreso as membership of the EU by Britain was not put to a referendum.

Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister from 1997 was an apostle of Britain remaining in Europe and he sought to institutionalise it. However, the Conservative opposition party, led by David Cameron opposed Britain remaining in the EU without first subjecting the product of the agreement between Britain and the EU  to referendum which will ensure the approval from the British people. He promised that if his Conservative party is elected to power, he will subject the agreements to referendum before ratification by the parliament. Owing to the internal wrangling in the Labour party, Tony Blair resigned and was succeeded by Gordon Brown. David Cameron of the Conservative party won the next general election and defeated the Gordon Brown Labour party.  At a summit meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the EU in Brussels in February 2016, the European Council announced agreement on reforms to British membership that has been requested by Cameron in an attempt to forestall British withdrawal from the EU. These concessions to Cameron emboldened him to move forward on his promise of a referendum on continued British membership. This new position of David Cameron to make Britain remain in the EU based on his new agreements infuriated a lot of his fellow conservative party members who campaigned against his agenda of Britain remaining in the EU

The leave campaign was headed by former London Mayor, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in Cameron’s cabinet. Cameron was enjoined, ironically, in the remain effort by Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour party. The Brexit referendum took place on 23rd June, 2016 in Britain and Gibraltar and resulted in 51.9% of the votes cast being in favour of leaving the EU. This unexpected result consumed the political career of Cameron and threw Britain into confusion. Cameron resigned the next day and was succeeded by Theresa May who could not find a compromise for Brexit in the British parliament for three years thereby forcing her to resign. She was succeeded by Boris Johnson who won a resounding victory in a snap general election and subsequently secured approval of the British parliament to exit the EU by the 31st of January, 2020.

The first lesson to learn from this Brexit debacle is that words matter. We have to be careful of the words we speak about ourselves, others and our country. The originator of the word Brexit was a leading remainer before the referendum. He used the word to pressure the EU to accept British leadership in the EU or risk a British exit from the EU. Unfortunately, the word became the major slogan used by the Eurosceptics to convince the British people to leave the EU. He regretted the usage of the word after the referendum when he said, “the word I invented, Brexit, could sadly be an epitaph for a nation’s decline and possible fall”. Unknown to many Nigerians, the words they are inventing, which most times are unfounded and fake are what is threatening Nigeria’s unity, leading to its decline. Hate speeches are rife. Ethnic and religious crises are often precipitated by unguarded utterances. As we enter a new year, let us make a commitment to speak nice things about our country, neighbours and ourselves and if need be, let us correct one another with love. It is said that soft words turn away wrath.

The next lesson is that in a democracy sovereignty belongs to the people not any government in power. On 23rd June, 2016, the British people voted to leave the EU but for three years the British parliament frustrated British exit from the EU which angered the British people and resulted in their voting out majority of the dissident parliamentarians. Democracy is not only about good governance, it is also about doing what the people want. Every government in Nigeria must learn to respect the wishes of the people from whom it derives all its powers.

The next lesson is that opinion polls don’t win elections, actual voting does. As the referendum approached, opinion polls indicated that the two sides were evenly divided with the remainers having a slight majority. This made the exitiers more industrious in search of supporters while some remainers were relaxed believing that it was a done deal. I was in London during the referendum and was in company of a remainer till the evening without him mentioning anything about the referendum forcing me to ask him whether he will not go to vote. He waived it off with the assurance that by the opinion polls, it is a foregone conclusion that the remainers will win. He was wrong because 24 hours is a long time in politics. He woke up the next morning with the rude shock that Britain has voted to leave Europe. He laments the loss till date because he is a lover of the German made mercedes benz of which price is bound to rise when Britain leaves the EU. Please don’t rely on opinion polls during elections, go and vote for the person of your choice. Your vote counts and may make the difference.

Other lessons are that we have to put square pegs in square holes and learn to resign when we can’t get the job done rather than bring down the entire house. After the referendum, Theresa May who was a remainer not a brexitier was chosen to be the Prime Minister. She was overwhelmed by the complications of the requirements of exiting the EU which she was ill-prepared for. After three years she resigned. Boris Johnson, the leader of the brexitiers was chosen to replace her and in weeks he secured the approval of the parliament to leave the EU on the 31st of January after winning a historic election ran on the singular promise of delivering brexit. In Nigeria, we must ensure that qualified persons irrespective of their ethnic, religious and social background are recruited to fill up the relevant positions and such officers must learn to resign honourably if they can’t get the job done rather than bring down the whole house. A prosperous new year is what I wish you.