INTRODUCTION
The concept of the Nigerian citizenship can only be said to be meaningful or not when there is a thorough analysis of what the concept “citizenship” means. Citizenship, it is claimed, ‘is as old as settle human community’ with groups and tribes in specific territories developing rudimentary social contract for mutual benefit. According to T.H Marshal; “citizenship is the statue conferred on an individual as a member of a country. Citizenship is governed by the norm of reciprocity the imperative which compels an individual to serve the state in exchange for his rights. The concept of citizenship has long acquired the connotation of a conglomeration of rights, which includes political participation in the life of the community- the right to vote and be voted for. It also includes the right to receive certain basic protection from the state. Citizenship is most closely identified with being a member of a particular nation. Citizenship is the state of being a member of a particular social, political, national or human resource community. According to the dictionary, citizenship is the character of an individual, viewed as a member of a
particular society; behavior in terms of duties, obligations and functions as a citizen. Also, citizenship denotes a link between a individual and a state, under international law, citizenship is synonymous to nationality although the two have different meanings. A person who does not have citizenship of any state is regarded as being stateless. However, the term ‘citizenship’ could also be applicable at sub-national levels. It could entail an identity and such identity could be defined in multiple terms: a member of a nation-state, a member of an ethnic group or a member of a communal group within an ethnic group. All humans ought to be active citizens of the community in which they find themselves as the concept is identified with membership of a political community or a particular country and carries with it, rights to political participation.
Historically, many states limited citizenship to only a proportion of their population, thereby creating a citizen class with political rights, superior to other sections of the population. Full citizenship which meant not only civil rights under the law but also the right to vote in elections and stand for parliament was originally limited to a privileged minority of the population. Citizenship in the modern state should not only be based on what legal rights citizens have what they can expect from their government, but should also be based on citizenship as an active political role. In some western countries, residents from other countries having met some laid down requirements are entitled to political rights such as the right to vote in local and national elections and in some cases even the right to stand for elections. Citizenship in its modern form consists of three essential and central propositions: the notion of individual and human rights, the idea of political participation and the principles of socio-economic welfare. The entrenchment of these basic constituents of citizenship will go a long way in resolving the dynamics of conflict in any political community. Also, in a modern state structure, the acceptance of ethnic and cultural groups that are not indigenous to the majority can represent one of the greatest challenges, yet this diversity could be an enormous asset if these differences I identity, culture and values are treated as an advantage that can strengthen and enrich them, not as a threat.
National citizenship in Nigeria is far from being resolved and this inability is due to the fact that various ethnic groups that compose the Nigerian nation state have conceived different attitudes to Nigerian Citizenship. In the Nigerian system, there are ways of acquiring citizenship. According to chapter 3, section 27 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [1990], a person is a Nigerian by birth if the parents or grandparents belong to a community indigenous to Nigeria even if given birth to outside Nigeria so far as the parents are Nigerians. A person can also be a Nigerian through registration. A British woman who is or has been married to a Nigerian becomes a Nigerian through registration. To qualify for this, the individual must be a person of good character, must have shown a clear intention to be domiciled in Nigeria, the individual must have taken the oath of allegiance. A person can also be a citizen of Nigeria through naturalisation if the person has; resided in Nigeria for a continuous period of fifteen years. To qualify for this, the individual must be of full age and capacity, must be of good character, must have shown the intention to live, the Governor of the state he resides in, must certify him acceptable to the local community he is to live in permanently, must be a person capable of making useful contribution to the progress of Nigeria have taken the oath of allegiance. Though there are other forms of citizenship such as dual citizenship and honorary citizenship, Nigeria majorly recognizes the three mentioned above. Nigeria does have identity differences which have heightened to the point of political significance bringing about the incidence and outbreak of conflict in the country. The Nigerian state promotes indigenity, it does not promote citizenship. The term ‘indigenity’ is coined from the word ‘indigene’ which means a person who is not pat of a particular sect or ethnic group of a particular country or nation state. Indigenity is simply a segregational term commonly used in the Nigerian state to distinguish between the indigenous or native of a state or locality and those who are referred to as non-indigene or settlers. It is a common way of being hostile to complete strangers who come to live in that community. In Nigeria, the success of a particular region to hold onto power since independence due to an erroneous belief in the strength of its geographical and numerical size ha succeeded in generating a sense and feeling of alienation and marginalization on the part of other regional groups. Where minority groups are divided in an ethnically diverse community especially where a majority group is in control of power, they find their citizenship status threatened and as such, this sense of relative deprivation has the tendency of breaking into conflict especially with the ethnic group in power For example, a Urobo woman who comes to live in Osun State in Nigeria, might have problem with the indigenes of the community because of the language barrier. Her language is foreign to them, while their language is foreign to her. In some cases, she may not be able to go to the market to buy things also because of communication barrier but majorly because people are not willing to help because she is an “alien”. This in turn can make her live the place dejected and go back to the place where she came from. This can cause a dangerous ethnic conflict that can result into war because, if she goes back to her place in Urobo and tells her people what she suffered in the hands of the other ethnic group, this breeds some kind of animosity to the ethnic group. As a result of Nigeria’s history of electoral fraud, elections often have been associated with political tension, crisis or violence. Inter-ethnic/regional tensions and conflicts are also on the increase. Unfortunately, in the 2011 elections, southern politicians were exerting pressure to retain power, while northern politicians insisted that power should revert to their region. This has made every successive election progressively worse than the ones before it. However, the 2011 election is widely believed to be better in terms of integrity; there was an impartial or balanced system of conducting the elections and verifying election results. There were politically independent and trained election officials, there were party representatives overseeing the electoral processes, there were accessible polling places, secure ballot boxes and transparent ballot counting. There were also legal mechanisms ad processes to ensure that elections were conducted properly and tribunals to see redress where the parties are dissatisfied with the result; yet, the presidential election divide the country along ethnic and religious lines. This also applies to people who come to reside in the country or in a particular state is segregated and left to sort themselves and this same 1999 constitution states that every citizen of Nigeria has full rights and privileges so far as he is domiciled in the country. But, so far, it has been noticed that not all Nigerians have the full pledged rights of a citizen. Also for example, the 1999 constitution limited the guarantee of property rights with the incorporation into the constitution of the Land Use Act which began in the 1979 constitution. The land use act of 1979 abolished all private ownership of land and transferred it to the state free from any obligation to pay compensation to whoever is affected, but it is still in this country that someone still claims the land a foreigner or a non-indigene wants to get as his inheritance from his father or great-grand father. It is in this same country that no law enforcement official comes to the aid of this foreigner. Is it that the constitution is no more valued or is it that people are now more powerful than the law that they are not bound by it and can freely do what they want and get away with it? It is still in this country that you see a Hausa man who resides in a local community of the Ibo tribe and immensely contributing his quota to the development of the community and also Nigeria but is still being denied fundamental rights such as the right to vote and be voted for, though he might have lived in the place for more than fifteen years, he also may not be able to speak in some gatherings or attend some functions because he is still not regarded as an indigene of that community. It is also applicable to foreigners who come into a country and have lived in the country for over a space of time. Some are not able to vote and be voted for. In The United States Of America, Barack Obama who was a black man, from Kenya, became a president after residing in the country for over a period of time. This is because their constitution still binds and no one is above the law.
In a modern state structure citizens join political parties and campaign for the candidate of their choice they accept the fact their party may not always be in power. Aristotle saw the citizen as a political being who took turns in ruling and being ruled. However, Nigerians resort to religious and sectarian discourse while campaigning and this could be dangerous as such a discourse could and has led to violence. Politics ought not to have any link with religion or ethnicity. According to Femi Taiwo, Nigerian citizenship is merely geographical, it is without a moral ideological content – part of what typifies citizenship, especially in the modern state is de-emphasizing of geography and other natural facts in its composition. The freedom to locate anywhere outside the boundaries of one’s geopolitical zone is inherently non-existent in Nigeria. This is why a citizen of Nigeria who resides in a state other than his state of origin, no matter how long can still not take part in the political life of his state of residence. Citizenship in Nigeria is only operative at the home land level. The Nigerian constitution makes no distinction between the rights of a citizen and of inhabitants of a political community who are not indigenous to that community; so there ought not to be discrimination and thus rivalry. The people of Nigeria may have various over-lapping identities based on such factors such as religion, race, ethnicity and social class, yet the single identity possessed by all citizens is a civil identity – it is the tie that holds us together in a single democratic political order and thus we all still remain citizens of Nigeria, regardless of which par of the country we find ourselves in. ever eligible Nigerian citizen should be allowed to take part in the political life of the country and of his state of residence irrespective of his state of origin. Nigerian citizenship should stop being operative at the home land level.
In conclusion, I am of the opinion that on a theoretical level (letter), the concept of Nigerian citizenship is meaningful but on the practical level of the ways things are being carried out, it is nothing to write about. Certain examples have been given above to show the laws binding citizenship in Nigeria and also to show how the country has failed to follow the constitution. I would implore that rapid measures be taken to follow the constitution before it gets worse than this. A nation that does not carry out her own duties to her citizens should not expect the citizens to in turn serve the state.
Posts
particular society; behavior in terms of duties, obligations and functions as a citizen. Also, citizenship denotes a link between a individual and a state, under international law, citizenship is synonymous to nationality although the two have different meanings. A person who does not have citizenship of any state is regarded as being stateless. However, the term ‘citizenship’ could also be applicable at sub-national levels. It could entail an identity and such identity could be defined in multiple terms: a member of a nation-state, a member of an ethnic group or a member of a communal group within an ethnic group. All humans ought to be active citizens of the community in which they find themselves as the concept is identified with membership of a political community or a particular country and carries with it, rights to political participation.
Historically, many states limited citizenship to only a proportion of their population, thereby creating a citizen class with political rights, superior to other sections of the population. Full citizenship which meant not only civil rights under the law but also the right to vote in elections and stand for parliament was originally limited to a privileged minority of the population. Citizenship in the modern state should not only be based on what legal rights citizens have what they can expect from their government, but should also be based on citizenship as an active political role. In some western countries, residents from other countries having met some laid down requirements are entitled to political rights such as the right to vote in local and national elections and in some cases even the right to stand for elections. Citizenship in its modern form consists of three essential and central propositions: the notion of individual and human rights, the idea of political participation and the principles of socio-economic welfare. The entrenchment of these basic constituents of citizenship will go a long way in resolving the dynamics of conflict in any political community. Also, in a modern state structure, the acceptance of ethnic and cultural groups that are not indigenous to the majority can represent one of the greatest challenges, yet this diversity could be an enormous asset if these differences I identity, culture and values are treated as an advantage that can strengthen and enrich them, not as a threat.
National citizenship in Nigeria is far from being resolved and this inability is due to the fact that various ethnic groups that compose the Nigerian nation state have conceived different attitudes to Nigerian Citizenship. In the Nigerian system, there are ways of acquiring citizenship. According to chapter 3, section 27 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [1990], a person is a Nigerian by birth if the parents or grandparents belong to a community indigenous to Nigeria even if given birth to outside Nigeria so far as the parents are Nigerians. A person can also be a Nigerian through registration. A British woman who is or has been married to a Nigerian becomes a Nigerian through registration. To qualify for this, the individual must be a person of good character, must have shown a clear intention to be domiciled in Nigeria, the individual must have taken the oath of allegiance. A person can also be a citizen of Nigeria through naturalisation if the person has; resided in Nigeria for a continuous period of fifteen years. To qualify for this, the individual must be of full age and capacity, must be of good character, must have shown the intention to live, the Governor of the state he resides in, must certify him acceptable to the local community he is to live in permanently, must be a person capable of making useful contribution to the progress of Nigeria have taken the oath of allegiance. Though there are other forms of citizenship such as dual citizenship and honorary citizenship, Nigeria majorly recognizes the three mentioned above. Nigeria does have identity differences which have heightened to the point of political significance bringing about the incidence and outbreak of conflict in the country. The Nigerian state promotes indigenity, it does not promote citizenship. The term ‘indigenity’ is coined from the word ‘indigene’ which means a person who is not pat of a particular sect or ethnic group of a particular country or nation state. Indigenity is simply a segregational term commonly used in the Nigerian state to distinguish between the indigenous or native of a state or locality and those who are referred to as non-indigene or settlers. It is a common way of being hostile to complete strangers who come to live in that community. In Nigeria, the success of a particular region to hold onto power since independence due to an erroneous belief in the strength of its geographical and numerical size ha succeeded in generating a sense and feeling of alienation and marginalization on the part of other regional groups. Where minority groups are divided in an ethnically diverse community especially where a majority group is in control of power, they find their citizenship status threatened and as such, this sense of relative deprivation has the tendency of breaking into conflict especially with the ethnic group in power For example, a Urobo woman who comes to live in Osun State in Nigeria, might have problem with the indigenes of the community because of the language barrier. Her language is foreign to them, while their language is foreign to her. In some cases, she may not be able to go to the market to buy things also because of communication barrier but majorly because people are not willing to help because she is an “alien”. This in turn can make her live the place dejected and go back to the place where she came from. This can cause a dangerous ethnic conflict that can result into war because, if she goes back to her place in Urobo and tells her people what she suffered in the hands of the other ethnic group, this breeds some kind of animosity to the ethnic group. As a result of Nigeria’s history of electoral fraud, elections often have been associated with political tension, crisis or violence. Inter-ethnic/regional tensions and conflicts are also on the increase. Unfortunately, in the 2011 elections, southern politicians were exerting pressure to retain power, while northern politicians insisted that power should revert to their region. This has made every successive election progressively worse than the ones before it. However, the 2011 election is widely believed to be better in terms of integrity; there was an impartial or balanced system of conducting the elections and verifying election results. There were politically independent and trained election officials, there were party representatives overseeing the electoral processes, there were accessible polling places, secure ballot boxes and transparent ballot counting. There were also legal mechanisms ad processes to ensure that elections were conducted properly and tribunals to see redress where the parties are dissatisfied with the result; yet, the presidential election divide the country along ethnic and religious lines. This also applies to people who come to reside in the country or in a particular state is segregated and left to sort themselves and this same 1999 constitution states that every citizen of Nigeria has full rights and privileges so far as he is domiciled in the country. But, so far, it has been noticed that not all Nigerians have the full pledged rights of a citizen. Also for example, the 1999 constitution limited the guarantee of property rights with the incorporation into the constitution of the Land Use Act which began in the 1979 constitution. The land use act of 1979 abolished all private ownership of land and transferred it to the state free from any obligation to pay compensation to whoever is affected, but it is still in this country that someone still claims the land a foreigner or a non-indigene wants to get as his inheritance from his father or great-grand father. It is in this same country that no law enforcement official comes to the aid of this foreigner. Is it that the constitution is no more valued or is it that people are now more powerful than the law that they are not bound by it and can freely do what they want and get away with it? It is still in this country that you see a Hausa man who resides in a local community of the Ibo tribe and immensely contributing his quota to the development of the community and also Nigeria but is still being denied fundamental rights such as the right to vote and be voted for, though he might have lived in the place for more than fifteen years, he also may not be able to speak in some gatherings or attend some functions because he is still not regarded as an indigene of that community. It is also applicable to foreigners who come into a country and have lived in the country for over a space of time. Some are not able to vote and be voted for. In The United States Of America, Barack Obama who was a black man, from Kenya, became a president after residing in the country for over a period of time. This is because their constitution still binds and no one is above the law.
In a modern state structure citizens join political parties and campaign for the candidate of their choice they accept the fact their party may not always be in power. Aristotle saw the citizen as a political being who took turns in ruling and being ruled. However, Nigerians resort to religious and sectarian discourse while campaigning and this could be dangerous as such a discourse could and has led to violence. Politics ought not to have any link with religion or ethnicity. According to Femi Taiwo, Nigerian citizenship is merely geographical, it is without a moral ideological content – part of what typifies citizenship, especially in the modern state is de-emphasizing of geography and other natural facts in its composition. The freedom to locate anywhere outside the boundaries of one’s geopolitical zone is inherently non-existent in Nigeria. This is why a citizen of Nigeria who resides in a state other than his state of origin, no matter how long can still not take part in the political life of his state of residence. Citizenship in Nigeria is only operative at the home land level. The Nigerian constitution makes no distinction between the rights of a citizen and of inhabitants of a political community who are not indigenous to that community; so there ought not to be discrimination and thus rivalry. The people of Nigeria may have various over-lapping identities based on such factors such as religion, race, ethnicity and social class, yet the single identity possessed by all citizens is a civil identity – it is the tie that holds us together in a single democratic political order and thus we all still remain citizens of Nigeria, regardless of which par of the country we find ourselves in. ever eligible Nigerian citizen should be allowed to take part in the political life of the country and of his state of residence irrespective of his state of origin. Nigerian citizenship should stop being operative at the home land level.
In conclusion, I am of the opinion that on a theoretical level (letter), the concept of Nigerian citizenship is meaningful but on the practical level of the ways things are being carried out, it is nothing to write about. Certain examples have been given above to show the laws binding citizenship in Nigeria and also to show how the country has failed to follow the constitution. I would implore that rapid measures be taken to follow the constitution before it gets worse than this. A nation that does not carry out her own duties to her citizens should not expect the citizens to in turn serve the state.
No comments:
Post a Comment