American man married to Nigerian wife laments difficulty becoming Naija citizen
- An American man has said he is not able to become a citizen of Nigeria despite being married to a Nigerian woman
- The man said he recently found out he cannot become a Nigerian citizen just by having a Nigerian wife
- He said he wanted to apply for the Nigerian passport when he discovered he had to live in Nigeria for 15 years before becoming a citizen
An American man shared his frustrations after he tried to get a Nigerian passport and become a citizen.
According to the man, he is married to a Nigerian woman, and he thought becoming a Nigerian citizen would be easy.
The American man says he is married to a Nigerian woman but he is unable to become a citizen. Photo credit: X/@instablog9ja.Source: Twitter
In a video reposted on X by Instablog9ja, the man said he had tried to get a Nigerian passport, but what he found out was shocking.
He said he found out that he could not become a Nigerian citizen despite having a Nigerian wife.
According to the man, his wife had become a US citizen immediately after they got married.
He said his children were both Nigerian citizens and US citizens but he is not able to get a Nigerian passport.
The American man and his Nigerian wife share their difficulty gett his Nigerian passport. Phot credit: X/@instablog9ja.Source: Twitter
The man said he is expected to live in Nigeria for 15 years before he is allowed to get a passport and become a citizen.
Watch the video below:
Reactions as Oyinbo man laments inability to become a citizen of Nigeria
@akinalabi said:
“Section 26 of the 1999 Constitution lists the conditions under which individuals can become Nigerian citizens. One of them is “any woman who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria”. My opinion: This should be amended to “any person…”. My constitutional amendment bill on this just scaled second reason. I believe that if we do not want to do citizenship by marriage, that’s fine, but if we are doing it, it shouldn’t be just one way. Men and women should be able to pass citizenship to their spouses. This smacks of patriarchy and discrimination. I attempted this in the 9th assembly but came short. I hope to see it to the end this time. I must however mention that constitutional amendments are hard to achieve. Not impossible but the extra step of 24 Houses of Assembly needing to agree makes it extremely difficult. We will continue to try.”
@emmaikumeh said:
“Bill has scaled the second reading. The bill will address the discrimination against women married to foreigners. bill seeks to empower women by allowing them to pass their nationality to their foreign husbands.”
@Kayloaded1 said:
“A Nigerian becoming a US citizen is not the same as an American becoming a Nigerian citizen. Don’t be naive. The economic power or access of both individuals are not the same.”
Man renews his passport in Canada
Earlier, Fox Nigeria reported that a Nigerian man who went to renew his international passport in Canada shared his experience after doing it successfully.
The man said he spent only five minutes to get a new Nigerian passport at the country’s High Commission in Ottawa, Canada.
Ademola, who did not expect to spend only a few minutes there, noted that whatever had been put in place was working.
Source: Fox Nigeria
