The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, has said Nigeria is one of the countries that has gained significantly from the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, known as Brexit.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, Montgomery highlighted that post-Brexit UK-Nigeria relations are now governed by new rules that aim to strengthen trade and investment ties between the two countries.

“I’d say in the relations to the Nigeria-UK relationship, Nigeria has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Brexit in terms of our visa regime, which has allowed more Nigerians to come and live and work and study in the UK,” he said.

Montgomery cited a rise in the Nigerian diaspora in the UK as evidence of this benefit. “In 2021, we had an estimate that there were 300,000 people of Nigerian descent or nationality in the UK, a diaspora of 300,000, and now that has risen to 550,000. The diaspora from Nigeria has increased partly because of the post-Brexit immigration regime. So Nigeria has been a big beneficiary of Brexit,” he added.

The High Commissioner also explained that Brexit allowed the UK to realign its economic relationships and pursue trade agreements with countries outside the EU. “So, Brexit is something that has caused a realignment in a lot of our economic relationships and some of those may look positive and some of them may look negative,” Montgomery said.

He further noted that the UK now has greater freedom to negotiate trade deals, citing its relationship with the United States as an example. “At the moment I’d say the most obvious example is that our relationship with the U.S.

is particularly constructive and is leading to these massive U.S. investments in the UK because of the economic freedoms enabled by Brexit,” he said.

Montgomery’s comments underscore Nigeria’s emerging role as a key partner in the UK’s post-Brexit trade and migration framework, reflecting the broader shifts in the country’s international economic relationships.