Theresa May: The granduer and illusion of empire

Living up to the reputation of her great and revered ancestors, Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, vowed to remain in Europe while thrusting a dagger at the very heart of the European Union.

I hurriedly jotted down notes as the British Prime Minister robustly delivered her speech. All through the entire endeavour, she belittled the intelligence of her audience with convoluted logic only clear to her and her admirers.

I could infer from her presentation that the British Prime Minister wanted the best of both worlds for Britain. She picked and chose only those policies that advanced Britain’s supreme self interest. Above all, I discerned an ingrained discomfiture in living with people they - the British - cannot control or subjugate.

It is the disdain with which she treated those of us in Africa, especially Nigeria, that riled most. Hear her out:

“We are a European country - and proud of our shared European heritage - but we are also a country that has always looked beyond Europe to the wider world. That is why we are one of the most r a c i a l l y diverse countries in Europe, one of the most multicultural members of the European Union, and why - whether we are talking about India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, countries in Africa or those that are closer to home in Europe - so many of us have close friends and relatives from across the world.”

India, Bangladesh and others were tangentially mentioned. The entire Africa, she ‘majestically’ grouped as one anonymous unit. Not one mention of Nigeria by name; even though she singled out tiny New Zealand.

She referred to “the next biennial Commonwealth heads of Government meeting in 2018” in a manner to suggest she was sure her serfs in this ‘unique’ grouping would be summoned, and troop out to obey Speaking for Britain, she left no doubt about her grand ambition to use us, as usual, as props in building her ‘Global Britain’: euphemism for the revival of her dream of Empire.

I am not an economist nor a trade expert to digest the full implications of the copious references made in the British Prime Minister’s strategy and ‘Plan for Britain’. I sense we would be lucky, this time, to be used only as pawns or bargaining chips, in Theresa May’s dream of ‘a truly Global Britain’. More humiliation awaits us.

I would, however, wish to ask where we fit into Theresa May’s grand design and scheme. Where do we as a country intend to stand? Do we still remain an appendage to an Empire that had long expired, was resuscitated and transformed in a chameleonic form to Commonwealth? Where do we belong in an Association where we had allowed our dignity to be thoroughly bruised, with specks and crumbs thrown at us from the master’s table?

I visited Britain for the first time, as a student, in 1955. It was to represent the Students’ Union of the University College of Ibadan at the International Students’ Conference in Birmingham. This was a year before Theresa May was born (1st October, 1956). Then, I had a smooth passage and entry in and out of London.

As a young diplomat at the Nigeria High Commission in London in 1959, I and my colleagues also went in and out of Heathrow airport with our heads held high. Whereas our counterparts, European visitors, would queue up at the immigration desks, waiting for their passports to be stamped, we were waved through with dignity. With the passage and efflux of time, the reverse has been the case.

I mention these episodes because of the nexus between British immigration policy then, when it was massively in their own self interest; and now, when others are marginally benefitting from it.

Our lot with Britain seems to have deteriorated with time. This is not entirely their fault. We have not built dependable and lasting mechanisms into our system to regulate our entry and protect our reputation as a people in foreign lands. Nor has Britain treated us with the measure of respect and decorum befitting our membership in the Commonwealth. This is obvious and evident from Theresa May’s Brexit speech. As I now write, I doubt whether there has been any consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Britain’s Brexit policy

Immigration, a focal theme in the British Prime Minister’s project, has now become a catch phrase. As usual, we have been used and dumped: from slavery to partition, from partition to colonization, from colonization to independence, and from independence to a malleable, manipulated neo-colonial entity. Should Theresa May’s dream come true, we will certainly become an appendage to Global Britain - a return to Her Majesty’s new and reconstructed Empire.

It should now be clear to us that while the Commonwealth may have meant something in the past - and may have served some purpose however limited, there had never, in reality, been any wealth that was common.

Everything considered, and upon thorough reflection, we have always carried a disproportionate share of its burden. The hypothesis of equality on which the Association is supposedly constructed, will, I believe, sooner or later, be put to test. Must we always genuflect and bow to a distant imperial Majesty?

Theresa May speaks up so proudly and confidently for the supreme interest of her country. In doing so, she may have stirred up the hornets’ nest. I hope she and her admirers have not unduly taken us for granted as she outlined a Plan that has deeply grated at the dignity of others, and the very essence of our being. What is or what should be our response? Pull out from this contraption at an appropriate time, amongst taking other well-considered policy measures?

Theresa May has, as yet, many hurdles to scale; first within the United Kingdom itself. We must be fully prepared for the darts that will be hurled at us. This is especially so because amongst us are many influential and powerful voices - patriots all - who love Britain and the Commonwealth more than their own country.

How prepared is Nigeria for a post-Brexit era? In the same vein, we should ask, how prepared are we for a Trump presidency which shares an ideological affinity with the proponents of Brexit.

Immigration has been a central component in the Brexit agenda. Make no mistake about this. The word IMMIGRATION, can only mean one thing in the manner it is now being bandied around by heirs of unrepentant slave dealers whose ancestors were, themselves, undocumented, uninvited and unwelcome colonisers, who brutalised us spiritually and mentally, ripped us of our dignity, and imposed their will and dominance on us.

If the ungarnished truth must be told, the word immigration, as currently peddled, connotes the worst form of prejudice, discrimination, racism and total rejection, notwithstanding any spurious rationalization.

The direct consequence is starkly manifested in the fate of men, women and children who perish, today, in the high seas, just as they did during the abominable era of the slave trade.

The frenzy is driven now, as it was then, by the same philosophy of greed and hate; spun from the same evil yarn of contempt for fellow human beings.

How many more lives will be allowed to perish before their conscience is pricked - the conscience of these professed Christians, acclaimed leaders of their communities, who constantly mouth meaningless slogans such as their ‘values’, ‘ways of life’ and ‘shared heritage’?

We wish Theresa May and her bed-fellows the best of luck in their search for grandeur and illusion of Empire. It is now Global Britain; and no longer Great Britain, since maverick Donald Trump has appropriated to himself the word great, in his clumsy advocacy ‘to make the United States Great Again’.

Ambassador C. Olisemeka, CON, was former Foreign Affairs Minister.