I DON’T WANT TO BE A NIGERIAN ANYMORE

Some months back, the Nigerian social media space was agog with videos of some Nigerians in diaspora destroying their Nigerian passports and denouncing their Nigerian citizenship over what they called the “failed state of Nigeria”. This was obviously not the first-time certain Nigerians were renouncing their home country. In fact, the Nigerian Ministry of Interior, had stated sometime in January 2023 that between the year 2006 and 2021 close to 150 Nigerians renounced their citizenship, while in 2022 alone, 159 Nigerians renounced it. It is uncertain what the figures will be in the near future.

The question is, can a Nigerian by birth renounce his/her citizenship? If yes, how does one go about it?

Section 29(1) 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides as follows:

“Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian Citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation”

Take note of the underlined words. This means that renunciation is allowed by our Constitution, and there is a procedure for it, and it is definitely not tearing of your national passport online. For a Nigerian to renounce his citizenship, he/she has to take the following steps;

1. Visit the Nigerian embassy in the country he/she resides, or, if in Nigeria, he/she can visit the Nigerian Immigration Service or the Ministry of Interior, and submit a formal application.
2. Obtain and fill out the prescribed Form (Form G), and sign before a Magistrate or Notary Public or Commissioner of Oath.
3. Proceed to submit the form with the following documents;
4. Birth Certificate
5. Local Government Letter
6. National identity card
7. Nigerian Passport
8. Two passport-sized photographs of the applicant
9. Sworn oath of renunciation
10. The Passport of the Country whose citizenship one seeks to acquire
11. Proof of acquisition of Foreign Citizenship
12. Receipt of payment of the necessary fees.

It looks easy right? However, there are catches. First, you have to be eligible to renounce your citizenship. Apart from the fact that you have to be 18 years and above (with the exception of a married woman below age 18), you must not have any criminal record nor financial liability to the state. The second big catch is, only the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the power to approve an individual’s application for renunciation. This is clearly stated in Section 29 (2) of the Constitution:

“The President shall cause the declaration made under subsection (1) of this Section to be registered and upon such registration, the person who made the declaration shall cease to be citizen of Nigeria”

What the above means is that even after a person has done all that needs to be done, and the Ministry of interior has processed all necessary documents, the person will only cease to be a Nigerian after Mr. President has “registered the declaration”. It would therefore be safe to say that an Applicant for renunciation remains a Nigerian until Mr. President does the needful.

Section 29 (3) of the Constitution goes further to state that

“(3) the president may withhold the registration of any declaration made under subsection (1) of this section if:

          a.  The declaration is made during any war in which Nigeria is physically involved; or

          b. In his opinion, it is otherwise contrary to public policy.

This therefore means that he has the power to withhold his approval if Nigeria is at war with any country, or if he feels that the renunciation is against public policy.

Implication of Renunciation.

Just before you renounce your citizenship, be kindly informed that there are consequences, which include the following:

1. The rights to vote and be voted for in any election will be taken from you. Only citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can aspire for political positions in Nigeria, and vote for candidates of their choice. This also applies to Nigerians who swear or pledge allegiance to another country. they automatically relinquish their citizenship (this is a topic for another day).
2. The Children of such an individual are no longer citizens of Nigeria. Normally, Nigerians by birth are people whose either or both parent(s) are citizens of Nigeria. Renouncing your citizenship automatically denies your children of being Nigerians by birth.
3. The right to travel in and out of Nigeria will be restricted. In fact, such an individual will be issued a N2A Visa, which is a class of Permanent Residence Visa issued to Nigerians by birth who renounced their Nigerian citizenship. It is valid for not more than 90 days from the date of issuance, and cannot be used to work. Check https://immigration.gov.ng/visaclass/ for details.
4. You also cannot have access to Federal Government jobs.

Renunciation of citizenship is something one should give thorough thought before embarking on it.