Nigerians celebrate their "2nd President" as Justin Trudeau wins re-election

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a tight re-election on Monday, October 21st
Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada lost the popular vote to the main opposition, the Conservative Party of Canada, by 33% to 34.4% but is projected to win more seats in Parliament, 157 to 121
Of the five main political parties that contested the elections, none secured the required majority of 170 seats out of 338, meaning Trudeau will lead a minority government
Many Nigerians celebrated the win because of Trudeau’s favorable policies towards immigration and Canada’s desire to boost its economy via a skilled workforce that draws from outside its borders

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has retained power by overcoming a challenge from the rival Conservatives in Canada’s national elections held on October 21st, 2019. It came at a cost of losing his Party’s majority in Parliament.

2019 Canadian election projected results. Image via BBC BBC

In 2015, Trudeau won his first presidential election and a Parliamentary majority, welcomed refugees, and ran a government open to immigrants as long as they obey immigration rules. Many Nigerians celebrated the win for what many jokingly refer to as their “2nd President.”

This policy opened doors to many immigrants, mostly Africans, crossing the border of the U.S. to Canada following the clampdown on illegal immigrants in Donald Trump-led government. But Andrew Scheer, candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), vowed to review the country's immigration policies “to preserve the integrity of the system.”

A move that could have dashed the hope of many Nigerians and African applicants already awaiting immigration clearance to enter Canada.

Trudeau and Scheer at the Federal Leaders Debate on Oct. 7, 2019 (Justin Tang/CP) Justin Tang/CP

Nigeria has more citizens seeking asylum in Canada than any other country

According to the 2018 World Migration report, Canada hosted the largest refugee population, resettling nearly 47,000 refugees in 2016 – the largest number of refugees resettled in the country since 1980.

As at June 2019, Nigeria had the highest pending refugee protection claims in Canada with 10,839 cases, according to a figure on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) website. India was second with 7,641 claims.

Nigeria has more citizens seeking asylum in Canada in H1 2019 (Data: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada) Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

The West African country also has the highest number of rejected claims.

Why Canada's presidential election is important to Nigerians

Across social media on Tuesday, October 21st, 2019, Nigerians expressed joy over Justin Trudeau’s electoral victory.

Many Nigerians celebrated the win because of Trudeau’s favorable policies towards immigration and Canada’s desire to boost its economy via a skilled workforce that draws from outside its borders

Trudeau’s Liberal party has pledged to increase the number of immigrants coming into Canada to between 350,000 to 400,000 a year by 2021

In the last three years, Nigerians have continued to migrate to Canada to seek greener pastures. Since 2016, Nigeria ranks among the top countries by admissions under the Canadian Express Entry.