Citizenship: Ways of Citizenship Acquisition

CITIZENSHIP:

    Citizenship is a status bestowed on the individual by the state. United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines citizenship as “the status of having the right to participate in and to be represented in politics” Nwankwo (1992:102) also defines a citizen as an “individual who has full political and legal right in a state.”  According to Aristotle, citizenship is determined by the constitution of the state.

This means that whatever or whoever constitution defines as a citizen so shall it. He also argues that citizens are those who share and take part in the administration of justice in a state. This Aristotelian notion of state actually captures the practical meaning of citizenship, especially in the Third World countries where citizens are treated as aliens if they are not in the corridors of power. Aristotle equated citizen with justice and fairness. This is because according to him only those who share the justice of state are qualified to be called citizens. 

Note: There is a clear difference between a citizen and a national despite the interchangeability of them among scholars and analysts. As we have noted early, a citizen is that person who has full legal, political and economic rights in a state. These full rights a citizen has may not necessarily or fully be accorded to a national. The difference is that the concept of citizenship is more legal than that of the national. A national includes a citizen and those that are not citizens but owe allegiance usually on permanent basis to the state where they live and are entitled to protection by the state.

Ways of Citizenship Acquisition

One can acquire or be a citizen of a country through different ways. Some of them include:

1.Citizenship by Birth
2.Citizenship by Registration
3.Citizenship by Naturalization

Citizenship by Birth: One can become a citizen of a country because one was born in that country or whose parent(s) is a citizen of the country. Citizenship by birth is the most popular way one can legitimately become a citizenship of a particular country. For instance, Section 25 Subsection 1 (a, b, c) of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) states thus:

a.Every person born in Nigeria before the date of independence, either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents belong or belonged to a community indigenous to Nigeria;
b.Every person born in Nigeria after the date of independence either of those parents or any of whose grandparents is a citizens of Nigeria; and
c.Every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parent is a citizen of Nigeria.

Citizenship by Registration: As its name connotes, this type of citizenship is acquired by registering the birth of a child where he/she is born or where his/her parents reside regardless of the nationality of the parents.

Citizenship by Naturalization: If a state grants or bestows a status of citizenship to its resident alien or foreigner it is said to be by naturalization. It is a voluntary action because the state has right to grant certificate of its status (citizenship) to anybody upon request provided that the applicant fulfilled certain requirements. According to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) Section 27 Subsection 2, one can become  a citizen of Nigeria by naturalization if:

1.He is a person of full age and capacity,
2.He is a person of good character;
3.He has shown a clear intention of his desire to be domiciled in Nigeria...

Written by Andrew O. Eze