The United Kingdom is facing a constitutional crisis after leaders of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland gathered in Cardiff to sign a joint declaration on September 14, 2026. Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, Wales' First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, and Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill signed the document, which asserts their people's right to determine their own constitutional future. This is the first time all three devolved administrations have been led by figures committed to severing ties with London.
The joint declaration has drawn expressions of support from Africans in former British colonies, who see it as a challenge to the last standing structure of the British Empire. The empire, which once governed a quarter of the world's population, colonized, terrorized, and enslaved millions across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Many Africans have welcomed the move as a significant step towards redefining the post-colonial relationship between the UK and its former colonies.
In Nigeria, which was under British colonial administration until independence in 1960, the reaction has been shaped by a history of enslavement, conquest, looting, and extraction. British merchants and institutions were involved in the transatlantic slave trade from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The British also invaded Benin City in 1897, deposed the Oba, burned parts of the city, and looted thousands of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes that remain in British museums.
The British colonial administration in Nigeria was marked by exploitation and resistance. The colonial administration exported Nigeria's natural resources, including tin, coal, palm oil, cocoa, groundnut, and rubber. Colonial taxation led to the Aba Women's War of 1929, in which eighteen women were killed. The 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates created the political structure Nigeria inherited at independence.
Nigeria's independence in 1960 followed decades of political organization and struggle. Herbert Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe built movements that mobilized Nigerians across ethnic lines. Trade unions, market women, and students took part in the struggle, leading to the constitutional conferences of the 1950s that produced the agreements that led to independence. Westminster did not grant independence on its own terms but conceded after sustained pressure from a people who refused to accept colonial rule as permanent.
The leaders gathered in Cardiff have made their position clear, but how far they are willing to go and how long they are willing to wait will determine what happens next. The path to freedom is long, and whether Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will follow the same path is a matter for their peoples and their leaders. The historical record shows that empires built on conquest and extraction have not endured, with examples including Spain and Rome.
If the push for referendums succeeds, it would mark the most significant break in the structure of the British state since Ireland's independence a century ago, and the end of the empire that once governed a quarter of the world's population. The implications of this development will be closely watched, not only in the UK but also in its former colonies, where many are reevaluating their relationships with their former colonial powers.
Key points
- The joint declaration by Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland asserts their people's right to determine their own constitutional future.
- The declaration has drawn support from Africans in former British colonies, who see it as a challenge to the last standing structure of the British Empire.
- The development has significant implications for the UK and its former colonies, particularly in Africa, where many are reevaluating their relationships with their former colonial powers.
