Renouncing My Nigerian Citizenship

Written by Kay Soyemi (Esq.)
Friday, 09 January 2009

It is with a certain amount of glee that I write this, even if my musings are tinged with a deep regret.

A deep regret in having to bear a name that clearly identifies me as a 419ner, a moniker that ensures that I cannot deny an ancestral lineage that is deeply rooted in cowardice, sheer malice, corruption and vindictiveness; a nationality that says I belong to the largest gathering of mediocres ruled by unintelligent reprobates; a genetic misfortune that ensures that I have an accent thicker than ogbóno soup; a conceptual mistake created in heaven and consolidated in the fraudulent 1914 act of amalgamation that labeled me at birth as Nigerian. Maybe it is time I start to curse the accident of birth that lumps me together with the likes of you called Okiro, Tunde, Tafa, Kike, Lucky, Chuckwu, Onanefe, Zanaib, Alao, Bunu, Ibrahim, Andy or Amadi, your so-called leaders and the thieving cohorts holding the country to ransom.

Perhaps, it is time I renounce the citizenship conferred upon me by parental birth and assume the right of inheritance conferred upon me by virtue of my place of birth; albeit in a land foreign to the birth of my parents. Perhaps, I would be justified in denying my association with you, by heritage and nationality as I have not seen any virtue worthy of emulation in you as a Nigerian.

Certainly, I have seen naught in you to accept that you are principled as a person. Surely, I have seen enough in you to know that you have no principles when the matters of money are discussed. Definitely, I know enough of you to know that all you want to do is accumulate money and wealth that you cannot spend in ten lifetimes to the detriment of your neighbors’ descendants. There is no doubting the gleam and lust in your eyes when matters of avarice are in the offing, just simply because you are a Nigerian.

Sadly, the only thing that matters to you is to moan about your pathetic lot in life; your miserable existence in life as a qualified Nigerian; and your weak leaders while you await the opportunity to demonstrate your own unprincipled and unbridled lust for the opportunity to lie, cheat and steal from your fellow Nigerians. Surely, your genetic penchant for mischief and no-good has already railroaded your for a life devoid of principles and explains why, in the face of all incontrovertible evidence to the contrary and all evidences pointing to you as ‘unintelligent mugús’, your leaders are not concerned about your ire.

Definitely, you are a disgrace to the creed of joy tagged ‘black and proud’, and only take pride in masquerading as a misnomer called a Nigerian. That falsely glorified being who pompously looks down on his less affluent kindred simply because the other fellow does not wear suits or big agbadás and babánrigas whilst expediently and blissfully ignoring the fact that you are no better than your very own neighbor.

The caricature of a colonial slave master, the relic of the colonial rule that you represent and the buffoonish clown that you flawlessly bear a resemblance to is so apparent in you as a, yes, Nigerian, who disdainfully look down on his very own because the fellow cannot lisp through his nose and would rather open his mouth widely to chant the words, ‘shokolokbangóshe’; is so obvious in the way you deride your fellow ignorant Nigerians who do not possess a lot of alphabets after their names; unlike you, who knows very well that the size of your medulla oblongata bears no correlation the alphanumeric letterings that you purchased to augment your own unimportant existence in life and to justify your pomposity and miserable existence in life.

Yea, I say, shame on you, Nigerian!

I boldly say this because I have seen the best of you. I have seen and know the mettle of the clueless and visionless gathering of vultures and carrion-eating cabal who leads you. I understand your vainglorious mindset that casts you as livestock waiting to dip your snouts in the trough of corruption. Yes, farm animals, you all are for all you do is grunt and squeal about your pathetic lot in life whilst you are led knowingly and unerringly to the abattoir for your own slaughter!

If you like, you can moan and curse me for all the rightful nomenclature I have attached to your heritage. It will not bother me; the same way ALL your grunting and squealing has had no impact upon your leaders. The ruled and the rulers are no different in your country; thieves of the same inclinations – aves of the same plumage!

I am not asking you, ham-fisted Nigerians, for your encomiums or vilifications for that matter because I know all that you can do is rant like ants, make storms in your tea cups and don the toga of super-cyber warriors without the guts to back your actions to words. I know you ALL lack the temerity to match your words to action and this are proven by the failure of two events in Nigeria towards the end of 2008.

December 29 passed in Nigeria without anyone joining me outside of Aso Rock to demand for the liberation of your failed country from the shackles of a thieving brigandage and cabal called “government” in your country. Similarly, none of you made any fuss about the muzzling of the Nigeria Rally in Benue State organized by L. Shilgba. None of you ever raised an eyebrow when your best are hounded into jail or killed outright by your thieving elites. How could you, in any case, for you are all genetically malformed and deformed for the single purpose of being corrupt and awaiting the chance for perfidy.

I gleefully abandon you to your filth. I happily renounce anything that suggests that I could have any kinship with you. I gladly reject the moniker of 419 with which you are irreparably tarnished. I joyfully decry everything that shouts Nigerian about you.

I look forward to reading more about your persecution and disinheritance by your rulers and leaders. As a matter of fact, I look forward to hearing more of the woes that will surely betide you as Nigerians in the year 2009 and forever more. Indeed, I pray to see more of your tears as Nigerians in the coming years.

I fervently pray that you will not wake up from your collective slumber until the future of your unborn generations are fully mortgaged for the lifetime of penury they richly deserve because of your lethargy today.

Please do not wish me well or a Happy New Year as I do not wish you as Nigerians any good. Indeed, I curse everything about you for as long as your best are the worst of humanity. Lastly, I beseech you not to offer your filthy and stupid prayers to God for succor because he is tired of the impotent creature you represent, the whining, whingeing, crawling, syncopathic, cretinous, cowardly naives aka Nigerians.

God, please damn the Nigerian in my blood.

Do you think Soyemi went too far or was he right even though his presentation might be wrong for some people?.

The man is filled with so much bitterness, and i could feel his pain.
Nigeria is a country, regretably, we hate to love.

I think the the guy don win VISA Lottery

oyo for the guy.
Thru thick and thin,come rain or shine,
i'll still be a Nigerian.

My brother untill we come to thi slight one has been tighted with families in Nigeria that you will find it difficult to brake up with, I swear if there is a way I will become a mexican not to talk of American I will be happy, the country is a mess, but wetin man go do?

I believe the man is right to have an opinion on the situation that continues to plague that country, and if he feels the situation is enough to pust him to renounce his citizenship, then it is his decision to make and ours to respect.

Wow, this is very very real. This guy is definitely bitter and of course he's justified with his powerful arguments as to why he feels that way. Though I feel his pain as this piece represents the feeling of "most Nigerians". I'm not even sure which way to sway. Support the country, the people (including me) or just sit on the fence.

This is very hard hitting and from the comfort of my seat, I feel very powerless as a Nigerian. This is just too real to accept that a fellow citizen could feel this way. Oh God, I'm short of words, I've never been touched by a piece this powerful.

[center]_{Also, this is journalism at its best.}[/center]

I think you may find that the guy is trying to get a response from Nigerians.
There are a lot of ills we need to address to realise the potentials that we have.

Gaskiya,we need a revolution,the soon the better.

Before anyone bashes this guy who wrote the article, I researched the source of the article further and found it was originally posted at the Nigerian Village Square website (www.nigeriavillagesquare.com) and one of the comments made after the article was, as below:

"Pray and work. Work and pray. Pray that our 'dealers' mind may soften just a little, work for their fall from grace. Pray for good leaders and every other things shall be added unto you. And just some few questions for you: did you vote in the last (s)election? Or contested even if you did not win? What did you do to assist A-list candidates like Utomi, Adams?
At times one may feel discouraged but then we need to trudge on,  You can only be a 2nd class citizen wherever you find yourself now. Pity. Your article is well garnished, sweet and tasty. More ink to your pen."

and the response (also by the original writer of the article) is also as below:

[b]"Sir,

I have sojourned outside of Nigeria (against my will) for the last 18 years, but can galantly say I have given back to your country far more than I ever received from it since my parents paid for all aspects of my education until I had to pick the gauntlet myself.

I have a whole communith in Agege who daily draws free water from a borehole (not kongá) I sank in 1999. When I went home to observe the (s)elections in 2007, not a single one of the beneficiaries had any idea whom I was.

I also have 3 tenants also living rent free in the property. They have been there since 1989 and their teenage children have no clue who I am. I rarely speak to them even on phone as I do not wish to interfere with their lives nor make them feel that they owe me anything. It is for the glory of mankind.

I am not registered to vote in Nigeria and never sought to influence the opinions of those people whom I know would gladly take such 'advice'.

When I was approached to pledge my support for Pat Utomi (not by the man), I had only one question for the contact, "please tell me what the man had done as an individual to the commoners in Nigeria without the expectation of a payback?" Since there was no response from the contact one way or the other and I knew very little of him apart from his business credentials, I did not feel obliged to follow blindly.

Dear Sir,

I hope that answers your question.

As to the other part of your question, what does it matter if I am a second-class citizen in the country of my birth and I employ 34 people whereas I remain a second-class citizen in the country of my parents and still have to stare abject poverty in the face daily?"[/b]

Thank you @B.O.S.S For adding that. That does change the direction this debate is most likely to go here on Nairaland.

I am sure many nigerians feel the way this guys feels and i know many in their bedrooms will be wishing they get citizenship of their hosts countries.The truth of the matter is if this story is true then this man is just frustrated like many of us to the happenings in the country and the news that emanate daily from the country can deflate whatever iota of patriotism that is left in one.

From the letter it seems the man organized a rally in abuja hoping people to join him in demonstrating against the govt but nobody came.If it is true then it is the proverbial last straw that broke the carmels back.

Personally i will not castigate the man for saying his mind.After all many nigerians are ever ready to throw away their naija citizenship for another countries own.The difference is that they will not announce it and give reasons for it like this man did.Are we going to deny thye fact that most middle class nigerians(if they still exists) and rich nigerians these days prefer to give birth to their kids outside the country just to give the kids foreign citizenship?

I feel for the frustrations of the guy. He has lost hope and given up which is a human attribute.


Rome was not built in a day. The birth of every nation concievable on this planet has not been without bloodshed, struggles and despair. Nigeria is not exempt.

asha 80:

I am sure many nigerians feel the way this guys feels and i know many in their bedrooms will be wishing they get citizenship of their hosts countries.The truth of the matter is if this story is true then this man is just frustrated like many of us to the happenings in the country and the news that emanate daily from the country can deflate whatever iota of patriotism that is left in one.
[b]
From the letter it seems the man organized a rally in abuja hoping people to join him in demonstrating against the govt but nobody came, [/b]If it is true then it is the proverbial last straw that broke the carmels back

Personally i will not castigate the man for saying his mind.After all many nigerians are ever ready to throw away their naija citizenship for another countries own.The difference is that they will not announce it and give reasons for it like this man did.Are we going to deny thye fact that most middle class nigerians(if they still exists) and rich nigerians these days prefer to give birth to their kids outside the country just to give the kids foreign citizenship?

I can definitely relate.

Before anyone bashes this guy who wrote the article, I researched the source of the article further and found it was originally posted at the Nigerian Village Square website (www.nigeriavillagesquare.com) and one of the comments made after the article was, as below:

Poster,
what do u have to say about the above on quote? did u or did u not copy this from the above mentioned forum? be informed that we will not encourage copyright here.
people are always talking about revolution, how do we do this? we talk about corruption while we seat on corruption every minute.
if the poster of this thread actually copied this work from the forum mentioned, i wonder what nigerians are planing for themselves.

someone posted here sometime ago a thread which said that Oprah had a show in which she said that every nigerian is a lier and nigerians wanted oprah's head. if this guy who is always contributing on how we can fight corruption actually did this criminal act of copyright, OH! how criminal minded can nigerians be? how can we always make efforts to steal other people's glory?

All the same, nigeria was born prematurely. we need to be recolonised. if we can not be colonised again, then slave trade will be ideal for all of us.

good for you

A lot of Nigerians have renounced their citizenship without knowing it.
Nigerians keep saying 9ja4eva, i'm patriotic, i love 9ja and so on when they really don't mean it. Most people would deny 9ja within a second if the opportunity arises.
A good test to find out if you are truly patriotic is :

If there is a draft in naija today and you're asked to join the Nigerian Army in order to fight a war in Cameroun/Ghana for Nigerias democracy, would you go?
If your answer is NO, u are not a patriotic Nigerian.

@A-town

Right on the mark!

Wao, hell has no fury like a man frustrated in his own land of birth. The situation in the country is really pathetic.
Don't worry brother, we are all feeling the pains like you. Keep on straightening things from your own little angle and I believe, one day we shall overwhelm the troublers of Nigeria. Cheer up brother.

.

@ Tpia

I think you're being too harsh on this guy and at the same time taking his point out of context. He has even done poured out his sweat in forms of charities (see my second post on this thread) and he said he does not expect any reward nor did he even make what he did public. He said,

I have a whole communith in Agege who daily draws free water from a borehole (not kongá) I sank in 1999. When I went home to observe the (s)elections in 2007, not a single one of the beneficiaries had any idea whom I was.

I also have 3 tenants also living rent free in the property. They have been there since 1989 and their teenage children have no clue who I am. I rarely speak to them even on phone as I do not wish to interfere with their lives nor make them feel that they owe me anything. It is for the glory of mankind.

I'll give you a case-point, my flat mate while I was in the university works as a night security guard though he holds a degree from a polytechnic in Nigeria. We normally discuss politics and times wthout number, he's been very frustrated that he mentioned joining the British armed force if they were meant to fight Nigeria and even kill his fellow Nigerians because he feels that country has sold out and he feels like someone in the UK (even though he's an illegal immigrant).

I don't think it's fair if what you could point out is the line where he poked fun at his own accent beause my guess is probably as good as yours - and that is, the article is probably written out of frustration and annoyance.

It takes more than balls for any sane person to just wake up one day and say it's over for the country I so much cherish (though I don't know if he ever cherished the Nigeria as a nation) but I could tell this guy loves Nigeria but he's human and feels he cannot keep talking to stones in the bid to make a change (as in the case of the failed rally he organised), even he says my musings are tinged with a deep regret.

.

A-town:

A lot of Nigerians have renounced their citizenship without knowing it.
Nigerians keep saying 9ja4eva, i'm patriotic, i love Nigeria and so on when they really don't mean it. Most people would deny Nigeria within a second if the opportunity arises.
A good test to find out if you are truly patriotic is :

If there is a draft in naija today and you're asked to join the Nigerian Army in order to fight a war in Cameroun/Ghana for Nigerias democracy, would you go?
If your answer is NO, u are not a patriotic Nigerian.

Don't worry they have enough people to fight a war with cameroon. Naija population is 3 times that of Cameroon and Ghana thats counting only the people residing within the country so forget that draft rubbish. arguement.

Abeg, How much for borehole? I want to put one in Mushin. People are inspiring me. I'm serious. I'm going back to Nigeria in December again and I really want to put a borehole in Mushin, Lagos(My home town ) and Woji, Port Harcourt(My favourite hood ) and one in Okesha, Ado Ekiti (I got cured of a sickness here while I was a baby). I'll save $8000 for it through this year before December. Will it be enough for all the three or at least for Lagos and PH?

At the idiot bashing Nigerians, please be positive for a while. Ashamed of his accent. That just shows how much of a wannabe he is. Shame on him. I'm Nigerian and I'll always be until I kpai!

Promote your accent and the world will love it. So you now judge people by what they sound like? Sound, sound!! not how they look any more? How they sound? Chineke!!!

well done!

chidichris:

Before anyone bashes this guy who wrote the article, I researched the source of the article further and found it was originally posted at the Nigerian Village Square website (www.nigeriavillagesquare.com) and one of the comments made after the article was, as below:

Poster,
what do u have to say about the above on quote? did u or did u not copy this from the above mentioned forum? be informed that we will not encourage copyright here.
people are always talking about revolution, how do we do this? we talk about corruption while we seat on corruption every minute.
if the poster of this thread actually copied this work from the forum mentioned, i wonder what nigerians are planing for themselves. . .

Can you please go and sit down and quite yarning dust and come down your high horse and quit your haughty braggadocio[i]us[/i] disposition, mofo oshi, over-sabi, I too know Do you even know the meaning of the word copyright that you are blabbing about, anu ofia

Did the OP say he wrote the piece Even if he copied it from a book, did he lay claim to be the author   Was the writer's name not referenced at the start of the post and in the OP's contribution, arrant nonsense from a condescending arrogant numpty

B.O.S.S.:

@ Tpia

I think you're being too harsh on this guy and at the same time taking his point out of context. He has even done poured out his sweat in forms of charities (see my second post on this thread) and he said he does not expect any reward nor did he even make what he did public. He said,

Tpia, methinks you were not harsh enough on the guy, your job is not done yet Okay so if he has not made public his charity case, what was the information doing on the internet, couldn't he have used his sense of decorum to miss out this issue that he did not want to make public Classic case of a child throwing out its toy out of the pram, if you ask me


And what's with him cursing the Country's future generation

As a matter of fact, I look forward to hearing more of the woes that will surely betide you as Nigerians in the year 2009 and forever more. Indeed, I pray to see more of your tears as Nigerians in the coming years.

I fervently pray that you will not wake up from your collective slumber until the future of your unborn generations are fully mortgaged for the lifetime of penury they richly deserve because of your lethargy today.

Please do not wish me well or a Happy New Year as I do not wish you as Nigerians any good.

Back to sender, by force by fire

chidichris:

Before anyone bashes this guy who wrote the article, I researched the source of the article further and found it was originally posted at the Nigerian Village Square website (www.nigeriavillagesquare.com) and one of the comments made after the article was, as below:

Poster,
what do u have to say about the above on quote? did u or did u not copy this from the above mentioned forum? be informed that we will not encourage copyright here.
people are always talking about revolution, how do we do this? we talk about corruption while we seat on corruption every minute.
if the poster of this thread actually copied this work from the forum mentioned, i wonder what nigerians are planing for themselves.

someone posted here sometime ago a thread which said that Oprah had a show in which she said that every nigerian is a lier and nigerians wanted oprah's head. if this guy who is always contributing on how we can fight corruption actually did this criminal act of copyright, OH! how criminal minded can nigerians be? how can we always make efforts to steal other people's glory?

All the same, nigeria was born prematurely. we need to be recolonised. if we can not be colonised again, then slave trade will be ideal for all of us.

This lunatic, lazy yahooboy still dey follow me around for nairaland cos i put Ribadu picture for my profile. I bet, that picture scares the hell out of your soul and your likes.
Why not piracy instead of copyright. . . . lol? I can see how frustrated you are cos of my existence.

People ask question on what they dont understand, but you would rather try to kill my personality at any opportunity you have since i dont share the same opinion with you in most cases here.
You are a big time waste for being on this forum for too long and still do not know how things work. The article i posted had the name of the author and i posted it in quote meaning that it was'nt my work.
As regards to where i copied it from; the guy could have sent a copy to me and im ready to provide evidence if need be. With these facts, i wonder how my post violated the copyright law?

Bottom line is that you better suck up the fact that everybody must not see things your own way and no matter how much you try to discrdit Ribadu; some people like me will always appreciate him.

Me, I don't blame the Soyemi guy for his apathy towards Nigeria. Feelings of shame, disgust, embarrassment and anger are not new to me in relation to the country of my birth Nigeria. Nigeria is a bleeping disgrace. However, we have to draw a line somewhere and I feel he went too far as there was no need for all those horrendous curses (and so as for those curses, I say back to sender ). Unwittingly, he has cursed himself, his offspring and all his future generations too. All I can say is if he wants to remove final traces of his Nigerian heritage, he should change his name by deed poll to a name native to his adopted country (this includes his wife and children too) and all of them should take elocution lessons to get rid of the thick "Ogbono" accent. He need not return to Nigeria ever again. Let's hope he does not commit a serious offence in his adopted country as come countries (like the UK) have taken to deport convicted naturalised citizens who commit certain offences. Na that time him go hia ween.

Sapphic:

Me, I don't blame the Soyemi guy for his apathy towards Nigeria. Feelings of shame, disgust, embarrassment and anger are not new to me in relation to the country of my birth Nigeria. Nigeria is a bleeping disgrace. However, we have to draw a line somewhere and I feel he went too far as there was no need for all those horrendous curses (and so as for those curses, I say back to sender ). Unwittingly, he has cursed himself, his offspring and all his future generations too. All I can say is if he wants to remove final traces of his Nigerian heritage, he should change his name by deed poll to a name native to his adopted country (this includes his wife and children too) and all of them should take elocution lessons to get rid of the thick "Ogbono" accent. He need not return to Nigeria ever again. Let's hope he does not commit a serious offence in his adopted country as come countries (like the UK) have taken to deport convicted naturalised citizens who commit certain offences. Na that time him go hia ween.

For the fact that he's no more nigerian doesnt mean that he cant visit any where he wishes to visit so far he's in line with the country's immigration laws. Abi no be so?

Sapphic:

Me, I don't blame the Soyemi guy for his apathy towards Nigeria. Feelings of shame, disgust, embarrassment and anger are not new to me in relation to the country of my birth Nigeria. Nigeria is a bleeping disgrace. However, we have to draw a line somewhere and I feel he went too far as there was no need for all those horrendous curses (and so as for those curses, I say back to sender ). Unwittingly, he has cursed himself, his offspring and all his future generations too. All I can say is if he wants to remove final traces of his Nigerian heritage, he should change his name by deed poll to a name native to his adopted country (this includes his wife and children too) and all of them should take elocution lessons to get rid of the thick "Ogbono" accent. He need not return to Nigeria ever again. Let's hope he does not commit a serious offence in his adopted country as come countries (like the UK) have taken to deport convicted naturalised citizens who commit certain offences. Na that time him go hia ween.

He was actually born in the US so he cannot be deported, _{or can he?}

Busy_body:


Can you please go and sit down and quite yarning dust and come down your high horse and quit your haughty braggadocio[i]us[/i] disposition, mofo oshi, over-sabi, I too know Do you even know the meaning of the word copyright that you are blabbing about, anu ofia

Did the OP say he wrote the piece Even if he copied it from a book, did he lay claim to be the author   Was the writer's name not referenced at the start of the post and in the OP's contribution, arrant nonsense from a condescending arrogant numpty

Chei, I swear never to cross your path, lai lai