In many parts of Africa, the right to belong in the area where you live can be as important as national citizenship for the daily rights of citizens. These issues also impact directly on statelessness and respect for the right to a nationality. In some countries, a person’s identity must be confirmed by a local authority as part of the process of obtaining recognition of citizenship.
A number of states in Africa have attempted to grapple with the problem of ethnic and religious diversity by adopting federal structures. These arrangements have sometimes created new groups of “included” and “excluded” persons at the level of these federal units. Amongst the most important rights depending on local level membership is the right to cultivate land.
In Nigeria, for example, the constitutional provisions establishing the “federal character” of the state has created a system in which many rights depend on certification as an “indigene” of a particular state and local government area. A “certificate of indigeneity” is one of the foundational documents to obtain a passport. In Ethiopia, a federal structure has empowered some groups, and created the right to create new government units by referendum for any “nation, nationality or people”. But the system has also created problems for those who are in the minority in their state of residence. Similar problems exist in the decentralised structures of many other states without an explicitly federal system.
Zecharias Zelalem The rollout of digital ID Fayda in Ethiopia could entrench discrimination against Tigrayans and other ethnic minorities, rights groups fear Ethiopia introduces digital ID to improve access to services Tigrayans fear the data may be used to discriminate […]
by Olanrewaju Osho Zephaniah Dantani was excited to hear the good news of his success at the job interview to recruit young professionals for the Central Bank of Nigeria. He was overwhelmed with emotions as he hurries up to confirm […]
By Nimah Arigbabu and Oyinkan Akintola-Bello From the beginning of time, women have played varying roles, albeit behind the scenes in most instances, in shaping matters of foreign relations. Maids, domestic workers, female diplomats, women married to diplomats, mistresses and […]
By Berihun Adugna Gebeye Ethiopian Constitutional and Public Law Series Vol. 10: 9-44 (2019) This article explores and examines the citizenship and human rights architecture under the Ethiopian Constitution. As Ethiopia is imagined as a community of Nations, Nationalities and […]
Bronwen Manby takes us through her new book Citizenship in Africa: The Law of Belonging. In an important contribution to the literature on statehood, citizenship and identity in Africa, this piece highlights the importance of formal legal frameworks and contests over citizenship […]
By Bronwen Manby Citizenship in Africa provides a comprehensive exploration of nationality laws in Africa, placing them in their theoretical and historical context. It offers the first serious attempt to analyse the impact of nationality law on politics and society […]
By Solomon Uchenna Egbo Biafra has, say its supporters, an incontrovertible claim to self-determination. Today it sits within the south-east of modern Nigeria. Previously, it was an independent nation but was subsumed into the Nigerian state when the British amalgamated […]
By Cheta Nwanze Government in Nigeria “is detached from its people at every level of the federation”, said Chidi Odinkalu, chair of the National Human Rights Commission, when interviewed for ARI’s 2016 briefing note “State(s) of crisis”. For most Nigerians, […]
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says it will begin the enrolment of Nigerians in the Diaspora in September as part of its grand plan to register all the nation’s citizens. The Director-General NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, stated in Abuja […]
Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) – Une vaste opération d’identification pour la Carte nationale d’identité (CNI) aux ivoiriens âgés de 16 ans et plus sera lancée, samedi, sur l’ensemble du territoire national, a annoncé jeudi à Abidjan, le Directeur général de l’Office […]
The Nigeria Immigration Service has said there is no evidence that the herdsmen wreaking havoc and killing farmers and villagers across the country are foreigners. The NIS Public Relations Officer, Ekpedeme King, said the NIS does not profile people based […]
In this series of reflections, I touched upon the major stages in the evolution of the Ethiopian experiment with federalism. I highlighted the range of stories that one could tell about the federal experiment in the course of the contestations […]