The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has lamented the cumbersome process foreigners are subjected to while applying to be citizens of the country.
The PUNCH reports that Chapter III of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution states that an individual may become a citizen of Nigeria by birth, registration, or naturalisation.
The constitution also stated that a person applying for a certificate of naturalisation “must have lived in Nigeria for at least 15 years preceding the date of his application, or for a period totalling at least 15 years within the 20 years immediately preceding those 12 months if he has lived in Nigeria for 12 months and a period totalling at least 15 years within the 20 years immediately preceding those 12 months.”
But the minister bemoaned the 15-year constitutional residency requirement as too long, describing it as a disincentive for foreigners who would have loved to become Nigerians and contribute to national development.
Aregbesola said this explained why, after many years, the country had only been able to grant citizenship to 286 foreigners.
He spoke at the first meeting of the 2023 Advisory Committee on Nigerian Citizenship in Abuja.
According to a statement on Wednesday by the Director of Press at the Ministry of Interior, Afonja Ajibola, Aregbesola urged the committee to expedite action on the processing of applications for Nigerian citizenship.
The statement partly read, “Aregbesola said he was looking forward to some changes in the requirements, expedited processing of applications, and timely recommendation of qualified applicants to the President for confirmation.
“The minister added that the applicants for Nigerian citizenship come from virtually all the nations of the world, many of them evidently more affluent than Nigeria. This shows indisputably that Nigeria has an irresistible attraction for them, in spite of her numerous challenges.
“The minister is concerned that after many years, only 286 were able to cross the hurdle to become Nigerian citizens in the exercise completed in September last year at a ceremony presided over by President Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa Banquet Hall.”
Aregebesola said the country receives applications on a daily basis from aliens who love Nigeria and would like to become its citizens.
