Nigerian Law Forum
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 provides grounds for which a person can become a citizen of Nigeria. Under the 1999 Constitution, a person can become a citizen of Nigeria, by birth, registration, naturalisation, and through honourary conferment of citizenship.
According to Section 25 of the Nigeria Constitution, you can become a Nigerian citizen by birth in the following ways;
According to Section 26 of the Nigeria Constitution, you can become a Nigerian Citizen by registration if:
The implication of the above is that a non-Nigerian man who is married to a Nigerian woman cannot become a Nigerian Citizen by registration. This section of the Constitution has been subjected to gender-bias criticism and might be amended in future.
Section 27 of the Constitution states that anyone who desires to become a Nigerian citizen by naturalization must apply to the President of Nigeria for a Certificate of Naturalization. Such application must show that:
It will interest you to note that in the year 2009, over 236 individuals became Nigerian citizens by naturalization from 50 different countries, and the number is rising each year.
Though not enshrined in the Constitution, Nigeria citizenship can be given to a person as a mark of honor by the President. In the year 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo conferred honorary citizenship of Nigeria on Wesley Snipes, a famous Hollywood actor during his three days visit to Nigeria.
Although the 1999 Constitution states that application may be made to the president or governor in some cases, note that this does not literally mean that you have to give your application to the president or governor in person. If you are already in Nigeria and you want to apply for Nigerian citizenship, you can visit the Nigeria Immigration Office in the state where you reside. If you are abroad, you can visit or contact the Nigeria embassy in your country of residence or the one responsible for your country. You can find out the embassy responsible for your country through the Nigeria Immigration Service website.
Olorunfemi Abiola
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