Kemi Badenoch's claim of not being able to give Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman is not in consonance with Nigerian Constitution - Femi Falana
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, has come under fire for remarks made about Nigerian citizenship, which legal experts and commentators have described as inaccurate and misleading.
Speaking on immigration and citizenship during a public engagement, Badenoch claimed:
“There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries. It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship. I had that citizenship by virtue of my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman. Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK, stay for a relatively brief period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”
Reacting to this, Femi Falana said;
"Contrary to Kemi Badenock’s misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian. Her assertion that she cannot give Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman is not in consonance with Section 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution which provides that “every person born in Nigeria after the date of independence either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria; and (c) every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria.
Furthernore, by virtue of Section 42(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, no citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth, gender, political opinion or class. To that extent, Kemi Badenoch’s children cannot be denied their Nigerian citizenship because of her gender.
Therefore, like Kemi Badenoch, her two children are Nigerian citizens. The fact that the Tory leader may not want them to claim their Nigerian citizenship is totally irrelevant. For now, they are dual citizens of Britain and Nigeria. It is up to the children to renounce their Nigerian citizenship upon the attainment of full age in accordance with Section 29 of the Nigerian Constitution.
Kemi Badenoch also said that “It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship.” Her baseless claim cannot be justified under Sections 26 and 27 of the Nigerian Constitution which state that a foreigner is qualified to acquire the citizenship of Nigeria either by naturalisation or registration upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.
No doubt, there are aspects of the Nigerian Constitution with respect to citizenship that require urgent amendment. For example, a woman who is married to a Nigerian man is qualified for registration as a citizen. But the same right is not accorded to a man who is married to a Nigerian woman because of the patriarchal nature of the society."
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