Meaning of Citizenship and Citizenship Education
You carry it everywhere and rarely think about it. So what exactly is the thing called citizenship?
Two babies are born on the same night in the same Lagos hospital. One has Nigerian parents; the other's parents are Ghanaian traders who have lived in Idumota for ten years. The nurses wrap them in identical blankets. Eighteen years later, one of them can vote, contest an election and hold a Nigerian passport as of right. The other cannot do any of those things.
Same hospital, same night, same city. What made the difference? That invisible thing is citizenship, and this first unit is about who gets it, how, and how it can be lost.
Citizen, Citizenship and the State
A state (a country such as Nigeria, with its own territory, people, government and sovereignty) needs to know who its members are. Those members are its citizens.
A citizen is a person who is a full, legally recognised member of a state, who enjoys the rights and privileges the state grants and who owes it duties and loyalty in return.
Citizenship is the legal status of being a member of a state, with the full rights, privileges and obligations that the constitution and laws attach to that membership.
Notice the two-way traffic in both definitions. The state gives (protection, rights, a voice in government); the citizen gives back (obedience to law, taxes, loyalty, service). An answer that mentions only rights, or only duties, tells only half the story.
Citizen, Indigene and Alien
| Term | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Citizen | A full member of the Nigerian state, by birth, registration or naturalisation | Any Nigerian, wherever in the country they live |
| Indigene | A person who "belongs to" a particular state because a parent or grandparent was a member of a community indigenous to that state | A citizen whose grandparents are from Nsukka is an indigene of Enugu State, even if born in Kano |
| Alien (foreigner) | A person who is not a citizen of Nigeria, though they may live, work or study here legally | A Chinese engineer working on a rail project in Ogun State |
The constitution itself defines the idea behind "indigene" when it says a person belongs to a state if either of the person's parents or any of the grandparents was a member of a community indigenous to that state. So indigeneship is about your state of origin; citizenship is about your membership of Nigeria. Every indigene of a Nigerian state is a citizen, but a citizen living in another state is not an indigene of that state, and this distinction (for jobs, school fees and political offices) causes real tension in Nigerian life.
Aims of Citizenship Education
Citizenship education is the process of equipping people with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they need to participate actively and responsibly in the life of their community and nation. It aims to:
- make citizens aware of their rights and duties under the constitution;
- build patriotism, national unity and loyalty across ethnic and religious lines;
- teach how government works, so citizens can hold it accountable;
- promote national values such as honesty, tolerance, discipline and respect for the rule of law;
- encourage participation: voting, community service, paying tax, joining lawful associations.
Pause & think
A nurse in Jos says, "I pay my tax and I don't break the law. Isn't that enough to be a good citizen?" What would you add?
Spotted a mistake?