Only Citizenship Right Can Guarantee Equity, Says NGO Director

THE Executive Director, Advocacy Nigeria, Hajia Bilkisu Yusuf, has faulted the argument of former external affairs minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi that settlers should be given seats in the State House of Assembly as a bonding mechanism to douse the ill feelings created by the crisis of citizenship.She said rather than advocate for quota for settlers in the State House of Assembly, the professor should have critically x-rayed citizenship rights which is the only thing that can bring about equity.Akinyemi, who had earlier made the submission in a paper titled 'the Need and Justification for State Creation' on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the creation of Jigawa State, said the present day Nigeria need such bonding mechanism since there are settlers in every State.According to Yusuf, 'The issue of creating allocation or quota representation defeats the issue of nationalism, a Nigerian should be a Nigerian, free to live in any part of the country and you are a citizen if you have acquired the residency period in that place that is the most important thing'.According to her, Akinyemi made a very good case against creating State based on ethnicity or other primordial considerations, but his argument underscores citizenship. 'Who is a citizen' What does the residency clause in the constitution say that empowers people to become a citizens of States where they have lived. If people have lived in places for over 300 years are they settlers'' She queried.'In plateau, Fulanis get 48 hours to move out of the place where they have grown up, yet they don't have another State'.The director said the issue demands looking at the principle of citizenship rights critically to know how long a person needs to live in a place to become a citizen.'We have to look at what other people have to say in terms of federalism. How can we make the federalism tally with our reality' What are the Nigeria's most important issues' Is there a type of federalism that we will adopt that will prevent corruption' I think we should look at that as our own reality.' She concluded.
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