THE pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has warned the National Assembly against inserting any clause conferring indigene status on non-natives anywhere in Nigeria.
Afenifere, in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Jare Ajayi, said this could worsen herders-farmers conflicts in the country.
The group advocated residency rights for non-natives instead of conferring indigene status on them, saying Nigeria should emulate advanced countries.
The PUNCH reports that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, had on March 8, 2022, announced that the National Assembly will reconsider at least three proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution that had earlier been rejected.
The three amendments are those on foreigners married to Nigerian women, indigeneship and that of 35 per cent affirmative action.
Commenting on the issues, the Afenifere spokesman said the group was in support of women in the country being treated equally and fairly like their male counterparts.
He, however, called on the lawmakers to ensure that in the amendment concerning indigeneship, a proviso is not inserted in the constitution that would surreptitiously make non-natives to supplant the indigenes of a particular space in the country.
The statement read, “We agree, and indeed believe, that every Nigeria has a right to live in any part of the country. But, we are also realistic enough to acknowledge the fact that every group anywhere in the world normally has a place that could be regarded as its native-land. The process or right to make such a claim derives from the linkage the group has with the ancestors who first settled in the given area.
“Attachment to one’s community and, through it, to the soil of the ancestors or the homeland, is a fundamental dimension of the notion of citizenship in Africa as widely acknowledged by participants at a conference on ‘Citizenship and Indigeneity Conflicts in Nigeria’ which held in Abuja, Nigeria from February 8 -9, 2011.
“It is a known fact that some bandits were forcefully camping themselves on some lands after killing or ousting the native-inhabitants of the area. This is happening especially in some parts of the North.
“Afenifere is not against peaceful and harmonious co-habitation by any tribe in any part of the country, but it is calling attention to the danger inherent in legally conferring indigeneship status on non-natives simply because they have lived for many years in the said area, adding that such a notion is at the root of several communal clashes in the country.
“It is also very likely to create more problems especially in a situation where herders settle on farmlands, raise families and rear livestocks. Unless carefully handled, in a few years’ time, there may be conflicts with original inhabitants of the area as has been happening in Southern Kaduna, Benue state and some other places.
“What is desirable is residency right as is the case in countries we look up to such as the United States of America, Europe and the like. If you have lived in those countries for certain number of years and you satisfy certain conditions, you are given residency status with rights and privileges that are almost akin to that of an indigene. That is what we should emulate here.”
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