Main Article Content
A Discourse on the Citizenship Question in Nigeria
Abstract
French Abstract (Résumé)
Une analyse de la question de la citoyenneté au Nigeria
Dans la constitution nigériane de 1999, la citoyenneté est définie en termes primordiaux de consanguinité, d'origine ancestrale et d'appartenance à une communauté nigériane indigène. Ces dispositions constitutionnelles et les pratiques concrètes n'aident à résoudre les problèmes de citoyenneté ni au niveau étatique, ni au niveau communautaire. De nombreuses personnes non indigènes voient leurs droits niés sur la base de ces dispositions. Ainsi, ceux qui sont considérés comme indigènes peuvent bénéficier de droits même s'ils ne résident plus dans les communautés alors que ceux qui sont considérés comme des allogènes n'en bénéficient pas même s'ils vivent dans la région. Ainsi, un des grands problèmes socio-politique que vit le Nigeria renvoie à cette problématique entre autochtones et allogènes qui fait que les même citoyens sont parfois inclus, parfois exclus sur la base de cette dichotomie.
Citizenship in the operational 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is fundamentally defined in the most primordial terms of consanguinity, of tracing ancestral origin to a particular community considered as indigenous in the country. Constitutional provisions and the concrete practices, at the levels of both the state and partly society, do not help the future of the country in relation to its tackling the citizenship problematic. Millions of citizens are denied some rights where they reside on the basis of their being classified as non-indigenes, that is they are treated as settlers within their immediate local communities – even if they were born, bred, continuously work and pay taxes there. Important also is the syndrome or parlance such as the ‘son of the soil' – hardly daughter. Meaning inclusion, within geography and location, which contrasts with other citizens that are not perceived as such, meaning exclusion. Citizens fitting into the classification as the native, indigene or ‘son of the soil', in a given community, may not be residing in the area – but can benefit from citizenship rights no matter the years of having been absent from the location, but those categorised as ‘settlers' have all sorts of obstacles concerning citizenship rights. Thus, a core political and social problematic Nigeria faces increasingly, on citizenship, is the indigene (native or son of the soil issue) and non-indigene or settler perceptions and practices, despite the reality that both the included and excluded are citizens of Nigeria.
Democracy & Development Vol.4(1) 2004: 41-63
Une analyse de la question de la citoyenneté au Nigeria
Dans la constitution nigériane de 1999, la citoyenneté est définie en termes primordiaux de consanguinité, d'origine ancestrale et d'appartenance à une communauté nigériane indigène. Ces dispositions constitutionnelles et les pratiques concrètes n'aident à résoudre les problèmes de citoyenneté ni au niveau étatique, ni au niveau communautaire. De nombreuses personnes non indigènes voient leurs droits niés sur la base de ces dispositions. Ainsi, ceux qui sont considérés comme indigènes peuvent bénéficier de droits même s'ils ne résident plus dans les communautés alors que ceux qui sont considérés comme des allogènes n'en bénéficient pas même s'ils vivent dans la région. Ainsi, un des grands problèmes socio-politique que vit le Nigeria renvoie à cette problématique entre autochtones et allogènes qui fait que les même citoyens sont parfois inclus, parfois exclus sur la base de cette dichotomie.
Citizenship in the operational 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is fundamentally defined in the most primordial terms of consanguinity, of tracing ancestral origin to a particular community considered as indigenous in the country. Constitutional provisions and the concrete practices, at the levels of both the state and partly society, do not help the future of the country in relation to its tackling the citizenship problematic. Millions of citizens are denied some rights where they reside on the basis of their being classified as non-indigenes, that is they are treated as settlers within their immediate local communities – even if they were born, bred, continuously work and pay taxes there. Important also is the syndrome or parlance such as the ‘son of the soil' – hardly daughter. Meaning inclusion, within geography and location, which contrasts with other citizens that are not perceived as such, meaning exclusion. Citizens fitting into the classification as the native, indigene or ‘son of the soil', in a given community, may not be residing in the area – but can benefit from citizenship rights no matter the years of having been absent from the location, but those categorised as ‘settlers' have all sorts of obstacles concerning citizenship rights. Thus, a core political and social problematic Nigeria faces increasingly, on citizenship, is the indigene (native or son of the soil issue) and non-indigene or settler perceptions and practices, despite the reality that both the included and excluded are citizens of Nigeria.
Democracy & Development Vol.4(1) 2004: 41-63
