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University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No

Author 1 NWOSU, Bernard U

Author 2

Author 3

Title Understanding the Issues in the

Citizenship-Indigeneship Controversy

Keywords

Description

Two-Day National Dialogue on Citizenship Organized for

Speakers of Houses of Assembly and Chief Judges in Southern

Nigeria Category

Science Education

Publisher

Publication Date 19th----21st February, 2008

Signature

Understanding the Issues in the Citizenship-Indigeneship Controversy

Ben U. Nwosu*

A Paper Presented at a Two-Day National Dialogue on Citizenship Organised for Speakers of Houses of Assembly and Chief Judges in Southern Nigeria by the Nigerian Institute for Peace and Conflict

Resolution at Concord Hotel Owerri - Imo State , 19th - 2 1 st February, 2008.

I

~ I 1 * Ben Nwosu teaches Political Science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Introduction

The centrality of citizenship to the modem state system is underscored by its

inclusion as one of the indices that define the nation-state. This is in form of a

population that lays claim to citizenship of the state. Important as this category is in

mapping out a state, it poses a worrisome conundrum especially in the states of the

global capitalist periphery. Nigeria is typical of such states and is open to the

problems of multi-ethnic or multi-cultural society which challenges the value of h

formal membership of the civic community. This is by way of practices that devalue

citizenship of the nation-state. Beyond the constitutionally set criteria of citizenship,

relational dynamics lead to construction of lower levels of community membership

.that sometimes stand in contradiction to that set by the state.

Cultural heterogeneity of Nigeria and the proclivity of attachment to

primordial communities has created within the context of citizenship discourses, the

ideas of 'natives' and 'settlers', 'indigenes and non-indigenes' as forms of

membership of political community. It is a fact that indigeneship is a layer of the

citizenship strata emanating from contradictions between traditionalism and

modernity. Traditionalism is represented by the primordial communai tendencies of

ensembles within the Nigerian state. A Nigerian identifies himself primarily as a

member of a certain communal group such as: Igbo, Ijaw, Efik, Hausa, Yoruba etc.,

before moving to the next layer of identity which is likely, the state of origin and

finally the national citizenship of being a Nigerian. This has led to what Maduagwu

(2004:104) calls "dual national citizenship". He connects this phenomenon to the

constitutional provision which links being a citizer? of Nigeria with belonging to a

community indigenous to a state. By this linkage, a citizen of Nigeria is only so

outside Nigeria. Within Nigeria, he or she is only a citizen of his or her so-called

state of origin; meaning the state of his or her parents or grandparents. In the case of

women, it is difficult to say which state they belong to when they marry. The gender

question it must be noted is an aspect of the citizenship discourse that has not been

given enough attention.

Citizenshndigene controversy is common in rnulti ethnic states and we can

appreciate its m a g n i ~ ~ d e as a nationa! problem giver? ~ t s potential as a cmflict

inducing factor. An ethnographic survey has assigned as many as 80 nationalities to

Adamawa state, 50 to Bauchi state, 52 to Plateau state, 39 to Taraba state, 32 to

Kaduna state, 30 to Cross River state, 25 to Nasarawa state, 22 to Niger state, 21 to

Bomo state and 19 to Kebbi state, 4 to Kwara and 17 to Gombe states (Babangida,

2004). Multiplicity of ethnic nationalities within a formation is no problem by itself

Problems arise when symbols associated with them are used to compete for

resources (cf Ibeanu and Onu, 2001, E,m, 2005, Babangida, 2004).

We can observe that multiculturalism is not the only point in which

citizenship crises is noticeable. Within supposedly homogenous groups, identity

dynamics play itself out by way of groups claiming to be distinct from others despite

cohabitation and cultural homogeneity. Exclusionist identity matters and ultimate

competition for land md related resources is at the background of intra ethnic

conflicts between Aguleri and Umuleri in the Igbo state of Anarnbra. Similar cause is

traced to the Ife, Modakeke crisis in the Yoruba state of Osun (see Osaghae and

Subem, 2n05). Also, Yakvrr conflict of 1992 between the Ugep and Idomi both in

Cross Rver state is based on conflicting claims over land resources (boundary

dispute) (Obono, 1999). To be sure, this attitude is in contrast with modernity

because the modem state system defines parameters which level everybody within

its formation as one equal citizen that owe loyalty to it and is entitled to rights and

privileges of belonging to the political community. Unfortunately, exclusiveness

matter more to Nigerians than inclusive attitude to the citizenship question. Groups

that trace their history to earliest occupation or ancestrai attachment to a

geographical area easily lay claim to the ownership of the p!ace and exc!usive right

or predominance in privileges meant for all citizens living in the area in spite of

other inhabitants. Usually this claim is anchored on being 'indigenes' or 'natives'

while others are 'settlen'. That all of them share cgmmon citizenship of the Nigerian

state is a secondary issue to the 'merchants of identity'.

Basically, this is a problem of difficulty among Ahcans to overcoming

mechanical solidarity associated with communalism. Consequently, "attachment to

ones community or through it to the soil of ancestors on the homeland is a

hndamental dimension of citizenship" ( E m 2005:169). Egwu further argues that

"pre-colonial Afiica was known to have a flexibIe history of identity formation

which made it possible for migrants to be completely absorbed into their host

communities without barriers to their participation in social, civic and political life

provided they showed a strong sense of identification and integration into the host

communities". Relations within such formations were harmonious because the

spaces of competition were minimal. The Tivs for instance, migrated into Wukari

before colonial ism without antagonism from their Jukun hosts. Similar1 y, Hausa

Fulani activities in the Zango Kataf which dates back to the mid nineteenth century

never evoked conflict with the Atyab @gwu, 2005, Maier, 2000). What is identified

as the major cause of identity crises as regards the citizenship issue is the

competition for resources connected with the benefits of modernization (cf Mason

and Galbreath, 2004).

When people claim the indigeneship of an area, they mean to convey a sense

of ownership of the geographical space as the original inhabitants (sons of the soil,

autochthones, fatherland or motherland) in a place where they link their origin and

whom they are (cf Huntingon, 2004). Once this claim based on communal linkages

are actuated, those who are not so connected to the earliest inhabitants become

excluded &om rights of citizenship. Thus insecurity, tension and conflicts are sown

and nutured in the process. lndigeneity is a bounded form of citizenship (Nyarnnjoh,

2006) which essentializes identity. 1t rejects inclusiveness and projects in-group

exclusiveness. Citizenship-indigeneship controversy is bound up with identity

politics.

Identity politics stems fiom the recornition that ones deepest sense of

personal identity is shaped by ones membership of in-groups that have been

oppressed on the basis of race, class ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation (Lehring,

2004). It is defined as the "construction of a cohesive group identity in prelude to

political agitztion" (Lehring, 2004:577). Identity is neither totally static nor flexible;

but it is more flexible in political context. A single individual may for instance have

the identities of a Yoruba man, citizen of Lagos state an Ijebu man and so on. When

he competes for spaces or? ir!tra ethnic leve!, his identity contracts to either a

Lagosian or Ijebu. But when his relations of contest get to inter-ethnic level, his

Yoruba identity becomes more poignant. In any case he attaches the greatest

importance to identity structures of the core in-group such as family, clan and

perhaps his language group.

Nnoli (1 989:18) rightly observes that "as the level of social relations widens

from the family to the city. the unit of group affiliation shifi from nuclear family to

the linguistic group". He further held that each of these categories "compete with

counterparts clans with clans, ethnic groups with ethnic groups. For national politics,

ethnic group is the most relevant and significant one" (Nnoli, 1989: 1 8).

Crises of citizenship create variations of the same concept such as ethnic

citizenship and state of origin kind of citizenship. These are levels of construction of

inequality that exclude Nigerians from equal access to public goods (see Egwu,

2005). These goods may include free healthcare, free education or school fee

subsidy, job opportunities, gladiatorial level of political participation and so on.

Having created a general sense of the pattern of the citizenship indigeneship

controversy we can posit that its inherent dichotomy is a product of identity politics

and they manifest in the competition for various spaces in the society. These spaces

are economic, political, sociocultural and even psychological. Hence, the issues

associated with the controversy can be sought in these spaces.

Discourses on Citizenship and Indigeneship

Citizenship is the status that bestows membership of a sovereign political

community or state on an individual (cf Tournon, 1996). Tts parameters are usually

set out in the law books. Sections 27 to 32 of the 1999 constitution clearIy spell out

in elaborate terms, who is and who could be a Nigerian citizen. The formal

assumption is that anybody with citizenship shares in the social contract relations

between the sovereign and people on the basis of equality. However, citizenship is

affected by the character of relations prevailing arnong nationals of a state. In South

Africa for instance, Nyamnjoh (2006) records that disillusioned South Ahcan blacks

brand black migrants, the title of mkwerehvere which means somebody from an

economically and cuIturally backward country in relation to South Africa. With

reference to civilization, the makwerekwere would pass for homo clrridatm, tail men,

cave men, primitive savages, barbarians or Hottentots of the modem times. They

also apply this label to fellow South African Indians. Essentially, they see the

Indians as makrverekwere with citizenship. The basis of this labeling is the sense

among back Afhcans that they are indigenous in South Ahca while Indians are

migrmt settlers. Also examining h e fictions! narratives on national identity and

citizenship in East Africa Kahyana (2004) shows the existence of alienated notion of

citizenship for East African Asians. He sees that the marker of national identity in

East Afiica are ancestory and descent and not residency or contribution to the

national state. This de-nationalizes East Africa Asians and sets in settler-native

distinction. The consequence he rightly associates with this is setback in the

construction of national identity and social integration.

Across most African states, identity is fiarned by structure of domination

(Egwu, 2005). This manifests in the competition for spaces. There could be a

perception of or actual relegation of a people to the periphery of national affairs in

terms of geographical definition of identity such as South-South or South Eastern

Nigeria. The same may also occur as an ethnic or racial question. In each case, the

qroup that sees itself as rightfdly dominant struggles to maintain the structure of L

domination while others resist it. Some of the dynamics mobilized for the purpose of

such domination are: race, ethnicity and perhaps geopolitical constructions.

Consequently, we have 'ethnic citizenship', 'racial citizenship7 and so on. To be

sure, this undermines broad national citizenship. This common manifestations of

indigeneship contesting with citizenship may for the purpose of this study divided

into economic, political, socio-cultural and psychological dimensions.

The Economic Dimension

Nnoli (1 989) presents a seminal analysis on the connection between economic

relations and the mobilization of primordial identity for struggles. He holds that the

most criticaI structure is the degree of socioeconomic competition involved. An

earlier work is cited which found that puysllup Indians only had strained relations

with white immigrants and thus evolved ethnic excIusiveness when some migrants

began to acquire land and destroy timber thereby entering into competition with

them. In a Nigerian exmple, conflict arose first between Hausa and Yoruba in

Western Nigeria in the 1930's when some Yoruba entered kolanut trade in

competition with the Hausa who virtually had monopoly over the trade. Also when

the Yorubas made an unsuccessfi~! attempt to displace the Hausa as cattle landlords

around the same period, the latter appealed for support not as cattle landlords but as

Hausa. From then, ethnic chauvinism started in the cattle market.

Limited opportunities for employment, education and general self-

improvement make for competition and as chances of prevailing in such competition

dims for members of a community that are hosts to migrants, the tendency is to

organize themselves along communal lines. They also turn hostile, relations become

strained and the migrants and host begin to organize themselves along communal

lines in a struggle for scarce and unequally distributed resources.

Ake (1981:2) rightly shows the economic basis of identity by arguing that

cctribalism flourishes because it is useful especially in the economic sense." It is the

need to prevail mostly in economic competition that make people to banish

citizenship and fall back on primordial sentiments. Conflicts that have taken place in

multi ethnic states in the country such as Plateau, Kaduna, Taraba and others have

followed the ethnic trajectory, but the main causal factors include competition for

economic space. The immediate cause of the 1992 Zango-Kataf dispute was the

decision by Kataf Local Government Area which for the first time was headed by a

Kataf man to transfer their market to a new site. The Katafs favoured the move

because it would provide them with more space whereas Hausa traders opposed the

decision because they feared it was aimed at curtailing their business (Maier, 2000).

The representation made at the Cudjoe commission by the Kataf following the

violence of February 1992 was hinged on the claim that the land belonged to the

Kataf who initially accommodated Hausa immigrants on generous terms (Egwu,

2005). The point of this representation is to draw a line between 'settlers' and

'indigenes'. Settler-indigene argument does not see formal citizenship as a sufficient

basis of claim to rights or equal share of benefits from the state to a particular

geographical area.

Settler-indigene arguments which narrow the usefulness of formal citizenship

is not circumscribed to inter-ethnic divisions. Within ethnically homogenous states,

formal and ethnk citizenship are substituted with sub ethnic identity. In a study by

Ibeanu and Onu (2001) they suggested that dialect seems to be the major basis for

sub Igbo identities. Wawa for instance which is easily the oldest sub Igbo identity

and derives fiom a dialect of 1,oDo language spoken mostly by people in Enugu and

Ebonyi states. The word ''~c~nva" means "no" and has no more significance than its

occurrence in many dialects. Initially, it had no cultural connotation. However,

czefbl cu!tivation of the idmtity by prominent politicians From the area particularly

Chief C.C. Onoh has raised it to sub ethnic identity. The disquisit~on by Ibeanu and

Onu is persuasive because the rvawa identity eventually formed a background of

exclusion of non-indigenes of E n u g state from public servgce of Enugu state. But it

must be stated that the Awka @5E&Fi$$ people of Anambra state are also wawa

speaking in a way but they were part of those who got the marching order. Non

indigenes of Enugu state were compulsorily asked to leave their jobs for their states

not minding whether they have spent all their Iives in the area and paid taxes there as

well.

Political Dimension

Identity entrepreneurs mobilize identity in the conteut of struggle for power.

These "identity entrepreneurs act as self-appointed boundary keepers and make

capital out of deep emotions of ordinary people" (Ileanu and Onu, 2001:8). Other

writers on identity politics such as Sklar (1961), Nnoli (1989), Egwu (2005), Egwu

(2006), Adetula (2006) among others concur that the space of power is a veritable

arena of dichotomies connected with identity. Omu (1996- 1 SO) presents an essay in

which he refers to a popular event that ethnic citizenship was mobilized for political

competition. He recounts that Nnamdi Azikiwe had won an election to the Western

Nigeria House of Assembly as a representative of Lagos. His ambition was to

represent his constituency in the House of Representatives. Lagos was

administratively par! of Western Region and in accordance with the principle of

regional nomination to the House of Representatives, Azikiwe was to obtain the

endorsement of the Western House of Assembly. However, he was outmaneuvered

by the carpet crossing of some members of his party, National Council of Nigerian

Citizens to another party Action Group. Thus his ambition was thwarted with the

ethnic card. Omu points out in relation to Azikiwe's experience that it marked the

final chapter to the evohtinn of ethnic politics in Nigeria. "For a man who had lived

and worked in Lagos for sixteen years in the vanguard of Afiican emancipation, the

experience of 1953 must have brought him to the nadir of idealism7' (Ornu,

1 99G. 1 80).

Azlkiwe's experience and other similar records in Nigeria's political history

shows the significance communal identity in Nigerian politics. Even as it clearly

contradicts the principle of rational choice, identity entrepreneurs wll! go the extra

mile of ensuring that a non-indigene of an area would not be allowed to seek votes

for political representation of the area - that such person seeking to represent the

p!xe was born there, grew up there and purwes his or Eer !ivelit?ood the same place

is immaterial. There may be isolated cases where migrants with substantial

demographic strength elect non-indigenes into offices. This may actuaIly obtain in

urban areas inhabited mostly by migrants who are usually non-indigenes. It would

amount to lighting to tinder box to conflict for a settler to man important political

ofice where 'sons of the soil' feel very strongly about it. In 1994, the appointment

of an Hausa man as the chairman of Jos North Local Government was opposed by

the indigenous ethnic communities. The disagreement over this led to the communal

violence of April 12, 1994. Also in September 2001, the ethnic and religious

violence that took place in Jos was a result of resistance by indigenous ethnic groups

to the appointment of an Hausa man as the coordinator of federal government

initiated Poverty Alleviation Programme in the Jos North Government Area (Egwu,

2005). The long history of residence of the Hausa community in Jos and the fact that

many of them were born there and have no other place to go seem not to matter. A

similar case is that of Tivs and Jukuns in Taraba state. Tiv migration to live

alongside Jukuns never evoked conflict in the earlier penod. But conflict became

pronounced in the second republic as electoral politics conferred more visibility to

the Tiv in Wukari (see Egwu, 2005).

The Nigerian state tends to support this divide occasioned by citizen -

indisene crises by actually providing laws to deepen it. Section 147(3) of the 1999

constitution makes specific provision requiring appointment of ministers from states

of the federation to be based on indigeneship. Based on this and other provisions of

the constitution related to citizenship, Kazah-Toure (2004) argues that citizenship in

Nigerian constitution is hndamentally defined in most primordial terns of

consanguinity. He posits hrther that millions of citizens are denied of some rights

where they reside on the basis of their being non-indigenes. Consequently citizens

fitting into the classification of natives, indigenes or son of the soil in a given

community may not be residing in the area but can benefit fkom citizenship rights no

matter the years of having been absent from the location. But those categorized as

settlers have all sorts of obstacles concerning citizenship rights. The problematique

in the indigenelnon indigene perceptions and practices is that both the included and

excluded are citizens of Nigeria.

Crises of citizenship at the political space of struggle is not peculiar to

Nigeria. It was citizenship politics that led to the exclusion of Kenneth Kaunda from

contesting presidential elections by the Fredrick Chiluba regime despite the fact that

Kaunda is the founder of the modem state of Zambia. In Cote d' Ivoire, political

elites fiom the country's south have played up the sentiments of 'genuine' Ivorians

as a strategy of excluding large immigrant population of the North. Lying at the core

of the recent armed conflict in that state is exclusionist politics built on citizen

indigene dichotomy. Crises of citizenship largely explain the conflict in the Great

Lakes region particularly the Rwandan case (see Egwu, 2006; Anyaoku, 2004;

Dauda, 2006). It does seem that the controversy surrounding citizenship gets most

heated up at the political context of competition for spaces. In any case, both the

economic and other dimensions of the controversy assume greater weight when

politicized.

Socio-Cultu ral Dimension

Socio-cultural aspect of society is also a space of contest in which

dichotomies surrounding citizenship manifest. Socio cultural identity and the

inherent differences in multi cultural society contribute to deepening the divide

between communally defined citizen and the formally defined one. It is in social

relations that various derogatory unpleasant labels are invented and transferred to

economic and political relations. According to Danfulani (nd: 1):

labels such as 'settler', 'native' 'non-native7, 'host community', 'foreigner', 'native foreigner', 'stranger element' 'squatter' 'non squatter', 'immigrant'

C ' 'migrant' indigene', non indigene', 'Mbak' "Gambari', 'Hausa Fulani', 'Nyamiri', 'nasara', 'ngwa', 'ama', 'kirdi' and 'baro among many others are used to sti_gnatize or stereotype the 'other' as a category who does not belong.

These labels seems inconsequential in social relations, but the strengh of its

impact comes out clearly in economic and political relations where they may be

cultivated to place other citizens to a disadvantage. A highly qualified candidate for

an electoral office is not unlikely to suffer setback when the non-indigene card is

played against him. Also, the word ' m a ' which means pagan could be used to

stigmatize the activities of a group as unworthy of rendering certain economic

services such as slaughtering animals used for meat that may also be eaten by the

exceptions from 'arna' in restaurants. There are many instances in which seemingly

innocuous labels applied in social relations translate to big issues of citizenship.

Social associations more often than not conform to patterns of identity divide.

In the account of Adetula (2006) he records the patterns of ethnic associatinns in Jos

Plateau state. There are the indigenes and land owners associations. These are

associations of people who make bold statement about being the indigenes of Jos.

They include the Berom, Afizere and Anaguta. These groups are predominantly

Christians and have in addition to other associations formed the Non Muslim League

to enable them ward off cultural dominance by their Islamic counterparts.

The settlers and migrant groups also have their associations. Jn.w~ia

Development Association for instance is composed of mostly Hausa-Fulani youths

most of whom were born and raised in Jos and are for that reason emotionally

attached to Jos as their birthright. Because of this conviction, Jassawa youths

demand certificate of origin and indigeneship from the authorities of the local

government council in Jos. They use Islam as instrument of mobilization, political

and social activism among the Hausa-Fulani.

Similarly, part of grievances of the Atyabs (kataf) in the Zango-Kataf in

Kaduna state is the dominance of political and social life of the place by the Hausa-

Fulani. Islam is the dominant cultural life of the place. However, the indigenes

(Kataf) are mostly Christians and never received this development well (Egwu,

2005). The point being made here is that the feeling of suffocation in the socio-

cultural space by one group could engender responses of hostile nature.

Psychobgical Dimension

Crises of citizenship is also bound up with feeling of status insecurity.

Plotnicov (1 97 1 ) sees this feeling as being responsible for inter-group clashes.

Indeed, the feeling that 'we' came before 'them' and they now dominate the spaces

of interaction in the society is part of the factors that motivate recoil into primordial

sentiments. The indigene and non-indigene m indset becomes an important tool for

organizing against the predominance of perceived interlopers into the community.

The notion of political exclusion generates tension and mutual apprehension

within groups that perceive each other as rivals. When for instance an Hausa person

as earlier noted was in 2001 appointed the coordinator of Poverty Alleviation

Programme in Jos Plateau state, it was resisted by the indigenes because of the

perception of rivalry in opportunities between them and the 'non migrant settlers'

(Hausa-Fulani mostly). They clearly told the Jassawa community, "trace your roots

before it is too late ... this office is not meant for any Hausa-Fulani or any 'non-

indigene" (Adetula, 2006:208). These issues and a mix of others in many instances

create basis for questioning the modem nation state as a fiamework for organizing

society in Africa. This is so because despite offering a broad frame for identity it is

swallowed up by subordinate identities such as indegeneship.

The Gender Question

What seems to be forgotten or given less than due attention in the citizen-

indigene controversy is the place of women especially those who are married outside

their state of origin. Culturally, when a woman marries a man, her marital place

becomes her new place. She is like a bridge that links her family and her husband's

family together.

In Tgboland, she gives up her right of inheritance in her family and finds right

of some customary entitlements under her husband. The notion being put across is

that she redefines her identity in relation to her husband. The woman changes her

surname, her town and so on. This means that she shares indigeneship with her man.

However, it is known that women married from one state to another when given

political appointments due to her husband's place of origin have been known the

generate controversy. There is no doubt that if such women were to be given

appointment slots due to their own place or state of origin, issue would also be made

out of such appointment Consequently the citizenship question as far as women are

concerned, is a part of the politics that deepen their status as an excluded group.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

C~tizenship as well as indigeneship are constructed as forms of identity while

some others are just immutable. This is a point of divide behveen primordialist and

constructionist schools of thought on identity. The pr~mordialist argument "suggest

the naturalness or innateness of ethnic or national identity". As a result of this,

"membership of an ethnic group is at least, partly biologically defined" (Otite in

Ibeanu and Onu, 2001 :3). The authors rightly held that even though certain

biologically transmitted characteristics are necessary to make an individuals claim to

the membership of certain identities pIausible, biological characteristics are not

adequate to define such identity. Some socially constructed conditions such as

historical events of conquest and domination could lead to changes in identity. An

instance is the history of the Hausa-Fulani which happens to be regarded as one

ethnic identity. But the unity of Hausa and Fulani has a history associated with

Fulani conquest of the ancient Hausa kingdoms and establishment of hegemony

using religion and politics. Shared history and culture came to bind the group as one.

But it could also be argued in the light of primordialist thesis like Horace Kallen, that

LL 4

however an immigrant may change, he cannot change his grandfather. Hence ethnic 1 identities are relatively permanent" (Huntington, 2004:3 1).

Beyond the primordialist argument is the constructionist view. Their position

according to Tbeanu and Onu (2001) is that ethnic identities are not inherited like

skin d o u r . They maintain that ethnic identity is dynamic and fluid rather than fixed

and bounded. Identity is learned as people grow and become exposed to family,

community and national histories. That being the case, they can reject one identity

for another, hold many identities concurrently or found completely new identities. A

Nigerian fiom southeastern part of the country is an Tgbo as well as a Nigerian. If

one goes below this level, the same person is from a particular state in the southeast

which is also an identity. Nothing stops such an individual fiom going outside

Nigeria to change his identity of Nigerian citizenship to say an American or British

through the process of naturalization thus agreeing with Bottery (2003) that identity

is a construction which can be deconstructed. The identity of Enugu as a state of

origin in Nigeria was for instance constructed by the fact of creation of Enugu state

fiom old Anambra state. These shifts and changes in identity lend weight to the

constructionist perspective. But it is important to observe that the identity of being a

biological offspring of a particular family remains perpetually immutable. Therefore,

no one perspective captures all there is to say about identity. A synthesis of the

constructionist and primordialist thesis are inevitable in understanding identity. This

is to say that it is partly primordial and partly constructed.

Ethnic and sub ethnic forms of identity when mobilized for competition for

spaces pose a dilemma of citizenship in Nigeria. Contestations for rights and duties

by Nigerians in the contexts of the state bow to the logic of contradictions between

primordial citizenship and civic citizenship. Nigerians place demands on the state

from the ethnic perspective. Within the various states in the country, the same

process follow the lines of sub-ethnicity. The logic is that the lower one goes, the

more identity contracts and become exclusive. Huntington (2004:28) warns in this

sense that 'at times subordinate loyalties conflict with and perhaps displace broader

ones, as with territorial movements for autonomy or independence. Hierarchical

identities coexist uneasily with each other".

There are contexts in which identity becomes inclusive such as when ethnic

sentiments are used to canvass for advantages by the political elite. Yet, this

inclusiveness has an expedient and ad hoc character. For instance, Oha-na-eze-

Ndigbo (2002) has made an excellent articulation of the violations of human and

civil rights of Ndigbo in the Federation of Nigeria. This is presented as Igbo position

on a broad scale, yet there is no such well articulated Igbo position on the dismissal

of people of Anambra state from their jobs in Enugu state following the creation of

the latter from old Anambra state in 1991 despite the fact that those affected are

mostly Igbos. This is because it would suit some of the Igbo elites from Enugu state

that it is made so because such narrow sentimental policies would be calculated to be

of value in building political support base.

The geographical form of contraction and relaxation of identity may be

illustrated with the South-South region of the country. As the occasion warrants, thev

see themselves as Niger Deltans. But within each state in the region, this sense of

Niger Delta ident~ty becomes obscured. Recourse is made to lower levels of identity.

This explains why Ijaws would fight with Itsekiris within the same state. This is a

logic that applies to ethnic and citizenship relations across the Nigerian state.

Explaining the Dichotomy

Citizenship dichotomy is part of the crises of the state that sets back the

process of nation-building due to centrifhgal proclivities of multiple primordial

loyalties. This tendency is a manifestation of the unresolved contradiction between

the modern state and communal societies.

State-society conflict in Afhca is linked with the inability of communal

societies to transcend mechanical solidarity and evolve organic solidarity.

Mec,hanical solidarity is that associated with attachment to primordial categories and

values of the communal society. Predominance of this form of loyalty retards loyalty

to the civic community.

When the civic community commands predominant loyalty over and above

the primordial community, then, organic solidarity is said to have emerged. It is the

case that mechanical solidarity predominates in Niseria. Its symptoms in citizenship

are ethnic citizenship, sub ethnic citizenship and other genres of expression & - ., /+

indigeneship all crFwhichldenude the value of national citizenship.

The origin of this multi-layered citizenship is traced to the Nigerian state as

constituted by colonialism. Mamdani (2002) argues that colonialism created two

orders of domination by allowing the local state to flourish amidst the colonial state.

The local state was administered with local authorities and those within such

jurisdiction were subjects rather than citizens; while the colonial state was a society

of the colons administered with paraphernalia of the modem state and those within

its jurisdiction were citizens. Mamdani further held that "the organization and

reorganization of the colonial state was a response to an organizing dilemma: the

native question ... To this question, there were two broad answers: Direct and

Indirect rule" (2002:16). Direct rule was carried out directly by colonial officials

while indirect rule used instrumentality of existing traditional institutions and

structures where applicable and similar agencies were created where they could not

be found. Local laws and cultures that did not contradict colonial interests were

allowed to operate while directly administered territories were governed in the

manner of a modem state. Thus these two orders of domination gave rise to a

bifbrcated state within one formation.

The phenomenon of bihrcated state left behind post colonial vestiges which

Ekeh (1975:91) calls the 'Two publics'. These two publics is in contrast to one

public as largely obtainable in the state system in the western world. As Ekeh puts it:

There are two public realms in post colonial Afiica with different types of moral linkages to the private realm. At one realm is the public realm in which primordial groups, ties and sentiments influence and determine the individuals public behaviour. I shall call this the primordial public because it is closely identified with primordial groupings, sentiments and activities which nevertheless impinges on public interest ... On the other hand, there is a public realm which is historically associated with the colonial administration and which has become identified with popular politics in postcolonial Africa. It is based on civic structures, the military, the civil service, the police etc ... I shall call this the civic public (Ekeh, 1975:92).

There is a greater attachment to the primordial public as against the civic public "The

civic public in Africa is amoral, and lacks the generalized moral imperative operative

in the private realm and in the primordial public. The most outstanding characteristic

of Afican politics is that the same political actors simultaneously operate the

primordial and civic publicsyy (Ekeh, 1975:93).

The dialectics of these two publics took a concrete form during the

redistribution of privileges which colonialists had monopolized especially the

resources of power. "The question of redistribution divided the same majority along

lines that reflected actual process of redistribution: regional, religious, ethnic and at

times just familial" (Mamdani, 2002:20). It is in the struggle of who gets what that

actors manipulate identity in order to increase their stakes and spheres in the entire

process. Political parties increasingly took ethnic character, mobilization of political

support explored the mechanisms of religion, and tribe and other narrow lines. Public

policy also became an important arena of display of commitment to dichotomies that

undermines citizenship. Northernization was one of such policies.

The continuing contradictions surrounding citizenship is also related to

patterns of production relations in society. Ibeanu and Onu (2001:8) have

persuasively anal ysed this in an essay. They argued that:

. . . all through history, production relations have tended to move fiom blood relations to ful l exchange (commodity) relations. Capitalism appeared with fill1 exchange relations. Full commoditization under capitalism is necessary to free relations from the bonds of blood and primordialism and then deliver it to the market (capitalist exchange relations). In return, people are promised better standards of living, choice and freedom. When this fails as it oflen does ... the reverse movement fiom capitalist exchange relations to blood relations occurs.

As the above scenario unfolds further the authors added, people begin to

return to primary groups and blood ties. At the level of economic relations, people

withdrawing fiom exchange relations and going back to pre-market relations

represent this return. This is so because capitalism at its earliest period in Africa,

both in political and economic sense left most of the primordial structures and their

value complexes in tact. They therefore become available al tematives as capitalist

values increasingly fail to take root. A major indicator of fallback to the primordial

structures is identity politics. It is this state of affairs that 'identity merchants' take

advantage of in the various spaces of competition in society - be it political,

economic and socio cultural.

Chances exist that loyalty to the primordial public over the civic public would

continue to increase due to the rising retrenchment of the state fiom social

provisioning by global neo market forces especially the IMF and World Bank. These

institutions promote policies that withdraw necessary state subsidies to basic services

and general activities of the public sector in the development process. The result is

that a majority of the population who are poor are abandoned to the vagaries of

market forces. When poverty increases and opportunities for improved life style

decrease, it becomes easy to popularize the sentiment that a certain group lacks

opportunity due to the presence of 'others7. The 'other7 in the sense of citizenship

discourse are the non-indigenes properly so called.

Conclusion

The conundrum surrounding citizenship is bound up with competition for

spaces. These competitions take place in the contexts of economic, political and

socio-cultural relations. The reason why competition for spaces impinges on

citizenship is that in the process, primordial sentiments are mobilized in

contravention of criteria of formal citizenship. Consequently, membership of

community defined in terms of blood tie and culhrraI affinity is valued above

membership of the political community defined in constitutional terms.

Colonial administration in Nigeria and most parts of Africa laid the

~d background for this dichotomy between the national state ,cultural communities.

Colonial practices which created two order of domination logically gave birth to

bifurcated state in which individuaIs value the primordial order more than the civic

order. From the emotional cocoons of this primordial order, individuals also operate

the civic order. In that process, they segregate against those who do not belong to the

primordial community which of course is regarded as the superior community. The

common expression of all this in the Nigerian spaces of interaction and competition

citizen-indigene controversy. -c---2?- -

What is to be Done

In seeking solution to the problems of citizenship in Nigeria, one must come

to terms with the resistant tendencies of deep seated attitudes in peoples especially

when it proceeds fiom culture. European experience is quite different for the reason

that the primordial community was overcome by the capitalist mode of production

and relations in social existence. This is so because the peasantry and other

ensembles of the primordial community was captured by wage labour (Mamdani,

2002). In addition capitalist social relations pervaded the society. As a result, the

state is understood in terms of a large market governed by principles of commodity

relations with the state as an objective force to regdate this process. The sense that

the state is neutral encourages membership among commodity bearers who really see

it so. The state is not so perceived in Afiica hence membership to it has yet to be

fully accepted. With regard to attendant problems of excluding fellow Nigerians

fiom opportunities as non indigenes the following options are put forward for

consideration.

3. The recommendation by political bureau that laws should be promulgated

which tie citizenship right to either place of birth or residence. It is needhl to

adopt a policy of full residency rights for Nigerians whenever they reside,

provided such Nigerians are made to hlfill minimum residency requirements

- 10 years is recommended. If possible let people use as their state of origin

wherever they have spent a certain number of years, rather than where there

parents and grand parents are natives. Residency rights must include all rights

which are normally available to traditional indigenes of the state (see

Madugwu, 2004). Until Nigerians accept such possibility as Igbos of Kaduna

state, Yorubas of Abia state, Calabars of Lagos state and so on; we shall

continue to exist as clans and villages with pretension of a modern state.

> The Nigerian state must assert meaningful autonomy from the global neo

market forces such as TMF and World Bank by rejecting prescriptions that are

meant to roll back the state in social provisioning. If anything, the state should

turn developmental to cushion individuals fiom vagaries of the market This is

to minimize the tendency to withdraw into ethnic and other primordia1

categories as platforms of relations with others perceived as not belonging -

bP 'non indigenes', in contexts where rights and privileges should,,ordinarily

\

viewed in terms of citizenship.

3 Political parties should organize trainings for the~r members on how to

canvass votes based on concrete issues and not ethnic sentiments. In fact it

should also be a conscious training against, name-calling from ethnic point of

view and other attitudes of exclusion that erodes the value of citizenship.

> Mass media should join in promoting inclusive attitudes among Nigerians as

members of one political community by promoting ideas of citizenship based

on equality and devoid of discrimination.

4 The law must make definitive statement on the citizenship rights of women

who are married, They should share the same citizenship with their husbands

as well as the attendant rights and privileges.

Citizenship in Nigeria ou$t to be reconsidered in the light of the

above principles otherwise the country may remain in the words of Chief

Obafemi Awolowo, a mere geographical expression and based on this one

may add; continue to keep an empty label of identity convenience called

citizenship.

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