The Scottish Referendum; my candid opinion As a prospective student to the Glasgow Caledonian University in 2009, I could only wonder what my life in the next few years would be like in Scotland. I arrived the shores of Scotland eventually in September of 2009. My flight route was Abuja-London-Glasgow and so my first overseas stop was at Heathrow airport. I boarded a connecting flight eventually to Glasgow from London and I coincidentally was the only black person on the flight at the time and if I recall correctly, I was seated with an older white couple. I got chatting with them and the moment I mentioned that it was my first time in the UK, they became interested in telling me about the UK especially about the important sites. As we proceeded on the journey, I informed them of my mission and this further streamlined the conversation to Scotland, which was my destination. It would delight you to know that before now, the vision of Scotland I had was one of a small, very conservative nation with very little accommodation for foreigners but upon my arrival, I discovered that I was wrong as is evident in the following activities I became engaged in. Upon my resumption at school, I began to interact with other students (home and international) and this prompted me to join the students association where I went to on to become the first BME (black and minority ethnic) officer; a position that afforded me the opportunity to interact with so many other students across the UK. I particularly represented my University in black students conferences across the nation. When it was time for the next election of a black students officer of the NUS (national union of students), I made enquiries as to whether any student from a Scottish University had ever won that election and to my amazement at the time there was none. Mr. Rex Tonye Idaminabo at the time from my University made a very good attempt but came second in that election. I began to discover gradually that it would be difficult for someone from the north particularly Scotland to climb to that position partly because most of the students didnt think we were capable at the time. This was prevalent among the students and I dont know now if this has changed. This thinking was evident in the fact that we (Scottish black students) were encouraged internally to settle for other positions other than the highest within the ranks of the Black students caucus. This is the same mentality we see at Westminster where the average politician treats Scotland as a nation that is not ready to fend for herself just yet especially in the face of weak economic conditions in Europe. So I concluded that it was an English thinking that was eventually passed on to young minds across the nation. I remember travelling to the South on one occasion for a visit to a friend and just before I left, I could see the eagerness in him to return the gesture. He went on to ask what Scotland was like, what the people looked like, whether we had fun stuff and many other questions. So I replied by asking a question whether he knew that Scotland was part of the UK and based on this, he shouldnt be asking questions meant for developing and under developed nations. Well, we laughed it off but it got me pondering because I had been to many English cities which didnt have infrastructure close to that of Glasgow. I then went on to become the Chairman of the board of directors at the African and Caribbean Network, Glasgow. There I began to meet more working Scots including government representatives who told me of how much better the nation would be if they had the chance to make their own national decisions regarding the economy, defence and foreign relations. That was when I first came to know about the YES campaign. I attended a few seminars but I still chose to look at this controversial subject quite objectively. I asked questions like how would Scotland fare in a recovering Europe? What currency was the country going to be using? Will Scotland be accepted by other powers especially the US considering Englands relationship with the US, and many others. But I quickly found the answer. Scotland is better positioned than many other countries who attempted this especially through war. The economy is stronger and is projected to keep growing for the foreseeable future. Scotland has attracted foreign talents as is evident in the number of foreign students in Scottish Universities. At the time (2009-2011), Scotland was just recovering from the financial meltdown of 2008 but managed to recover faster than the rest of the UK. So is it valid to still ask if the nation of Scotland can fend for herself when she leaves the union? I remember the First Minister Alex Salmond at an event calling for an increased government spending to ensure a speedy recovery. Now I must say the UK was one of the last of the developed nations to recover because of the sharp austerity policies and this is despite the fact that the UK should have been one of the least affected because it didnt have the same construction boom in Spain, Portugal, the UAE and a few others. So I believe the UK should have recovered faster from the meltdown than any other developed nation. Lastly I believe strongly that the destiny of any nation can only be determined by the people of that country This union was not voluntary in the first place and now that we say we are more civilised, people should be given a fair opportunity to choose how they want to run their nation. I believe Scotland has the resources and talents to chart this new course. I wish the nation a successful referendum process even as I keenly follow the events as they unfold.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:57:39 +0000
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