El-Rufai is at it again! Kaduna Residency Card!

I just woke up this morning to hear that every resident of Kaduna will have another card called Kaduna Residency Card aside the National Identity Card and I wondered “what the hell do we mean when we sing slogans like ONE NIGERIA, BETTER TOGETHER, NATIONAL IDENTITY and some other clichés our mouths pronounce and our hearts get confused with their true meaning and truth.”

Just for the brief, the Kaduna Residency Card, I learnt, is a card exactly like the National Identity card every Nigerian has, which the Kaduna state government is set to compel its residents to obtain, on the grounds that the cards would provide the government with the right indices to provide social amenities. It therefore means, that to construct roads, hospitals, schools etc, the Kaduna state government needs a Residency Card. Quite Interesting!!

To further this write up, may I quickly recall our attention to such similar moves by some other state governors in the past. The governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha for cogent security reasons hinged on Boko Haram menace, sought to invent such a state residency card to monitor movements in his state and it was crushed in the heated wheels of criticism just like that of his Ondo state counterpart.

Surprisingly, majority of the critics of this idea from the two governors were northern elites, and part of their reasons were that the initiative was unnecessary as the National ID Card fulfils its essence, that it would breed ethnic tendencies, it’s unconstitutional as it flouted citizens’ right of movement and residence and it would open an avenue for the governors to steal their residents silly. None of them saw the good side of the idea. This one proposed by El-Rufai, the mouthpiece of the typical tribal northerner, already nears implementation as a whooping sum of N200 million mapped out for the fruitless exercise was included in the Kaduna state 2017 budget, and I am yet to hear the voices of these northern elites.

May I question the basis for the Kaduna Residency Card with this review? The Card is everything the National ID Card is, except the name of the card and the hidden primordial agenda of the state government issuing the card. According to the state governor’s aide who spoke to AIT’s Kakaaki, Tuesday, June 4, the biometrics of the residency card would be completely transferred from the National ID Card and the holders of the residency card would use the same number they use on their National ID. In essence, we are practically having the same cards. One therefore questions, why have two different cards that share same biometrics? Of what essence is the residency card? Is it legally right to issue a residency card to citizens of Nigeria whose constitution allows them free movement and settlement anywhere in the country?

All these questions come to fore looking at this issue. However, what is most seemingly unpalatable about this initiative is its laughable flimsy ground of issuance, which El-Rufai and his government say is to be able to provide social amenities. I can’t imagine an interpretation of this and like my friend would say on a lighter note, “Am not understanding!” To break it down, in what way does issuing residency card to thousands of residents of Kaduna who troop in and out of the state build roads, build schools, organize entrepreneurship classes, provide jobs, construct overhead bridges, build hospitals, grant scholarships to residents of the state? These and many more are what we call social amenities. On this basis, how do non-indigent residents of Kaduna state benefit from the so called Residency Identity Card when they also possess their legally recognized National ID Cards?

Well, I can only see a scheme by an ethnic fanatic to organize his state in the groups of indigenes and non-indigenes. The Residency Card has a defeatist outlook as its intents and purposes of biometrics capture and whatever good governance as claimed by the state government are already articulated in the National Identity Card which is exactly the same with the Residency card except the latter’s ethnic tendencies and obscured essence.

Has it occurred to anyone that the so called card puts other indigenes particularly the Igbo community which is the largest community living in the state, at a disadvantaged end. Should the initiative pull through, it would condition both governance and citizens’ freedom and residential rights as enshrined in the constitution. On the part of governance, it would excuse the government from performing its primary function of providing social services because one does not obtain a residency card as said by the state govt. This means that if you are sick and are rushed to the hospital, you would have to provide your Residency Card to enjoy the social amenity or else, the govt would withdraw the “favour” of giving you social service of hospitality which in fact, is a blatant denial of your right to live.

On the other hand, it flouted the citizens’ right to movement and residence. These rights are inalienable and can never be deprived of the citizen. Every citizen in any country of the world can move freely and reside anywhere in his country to the extent that, in the exercise of such right, the citizen does not flout the law. How then does the state government issue a residency card to citizens who have this right?

Come to think of it, how do we perceive a situation where all the 36 states in Nigeria adopt this policy? It therefore, means that no one has the right to move freely out of one’s state of origin without obtaining Residency card of the other states, what an ABSURDITY!! What will happen to citizens who are contractors, business moguls who reside in different states of the Federation at a time by the nature of their jobs? They have to carry a bag of residency cards then.

Needless to say, this is an unclad plot to exploit about 6.3 million general population of Kaduna state whose economic fortunes have been battered by the lackluster economic policies of this APC administration. For certain, the citizens shall be compelled to pay for the cards as nothing comes to the masses freely from the government especially this government of APC. I wonder how the people who are yet to have a National ID would be compelled to this Disguised Executive Robbery called Residency Card.

As my last comment on this writeup, may I draw our attention to the Divisiveness of this policy? The policy will certainly divide the population along the lines of indigenes and non-indigenes. I may not be sure of other consequences, but for sure, I know that majority of Kaduna indigenes who themselves are too poor to provide for their basic needs, will not be able to obtain the card at whatever rate, as they don’t even have the National ID Card. The people who shall bear the brunt of course, will certainly be non-indigent residents.

More so, why then do we preach the gospels of NATIONAL IDENTITY, ONE NIGERIA, NON-NEGOTIABLE UNITY OF NIGERIA AND STRONGER TOGETHER, if all states should issue Residency permit to citizens of Nigeria to be able to reside in their states? Even a restructured Nigeria does not allow for Residency permit to be issued to citizens let alone a Nigeria that is still enjoying National monopoly.

This initiative by El-Rufai does justify insinuations from many that the governor and some of his like-mind northern elites do not believe in One Nigeria or perhaps, they see one Nigeria to be a Nigeria strongly controlled and ordered by the North. In as much as this Residency Card initiative exposes the insincerity of the governor and his cohorts, it cancels their trust in the unity of Nigeria.

let us discuss Nigerians

Obiasogu David.

Writer, Political Analyst.

Priority gone all wrong , at a moment when so much heat is coming from that region they think this is next ?

We have too many dumb leaders but then I ask how many sane followers ? Na wa

Lalasticlala, Mynd44....let us sensitize people with this truth

alukstea:
Priority gone all wrong , at a moment when so much heat is coming from that region they think this is next ?

We have too many dumb leaders but then I ask how many sane followers ? Na wa

They re not dumb, they re just working towards an agenda. They believe the country is their own and they can do what ever they like.

Op ur write up is too long.
also,base on what is happening now there is need to know who n who actually live in kaduna.its not an indegene thing rather it is for all residents of kaduna irrespective of tribe.Lagos has LASRRA n its for all lagos residents that wishes to ve.There re some services of Lagos govt u cant get if u r not a resident.Dnt give a dog a bad name just to hang it.

ka chineke mezie okwu.

Igbos! Go home please! Effing go home!

NOTE
1. igbos do not constitute the majority of other tribes in kaduna state...so pls always base your argument on facts
2. i dont know where u got the assertion that many indigenes of kaduna are poor in fact i will boldly assert that majority of igbos in kaduna are poor compare to other major ethnic group..otherwise the floor is urs
3. it is absolutely absurd to say APC programs are unpopular in kaduna..any objective resident of kaduna can attest to that..SHEGIYAN UWA shul ring a bell to u

And lastly, live kaduna issues for kaduna people
Atleast in kaduna, nobody cares about what igbos think about kaduna politics

THANKS...

alamarmeen:
NOTE
1. igbos do not constitute the majority of other tribes in kaduna state...so pls always base your argument on facts
2. i dont know where u got the assertion that many indigenes of kaduna are poor in fact i will boldly assert that majority of igbos in kaduna are poor compare to other major ethnic group..otherwise the floor is urs
3. it is absolutely absurd to say APC programs are unpopular in kaduna..any objective resident of kaduna can attest to that..SHEGIYAN UWA shul ring a bell to u

And lastly, live kaduna issues for kaduna people
Atleast in kaduna, nobody cares about what igbos think about kaduna politics

THANKS...

My dear, this isn't about the Igbo...moreover, you don't know my tribe. I would have held much more respect for you if u had deliberated on the issues raised holistically and of course, objectively.

I hate ethnic fanatism with passion. It gets me intellectually disturbed.

Okoroawusa:
Op ur write up is too long.
also,base on what is happening now there is need to know who n who actually live in kaduna.its not an indegene thing rather it is for all residents of kaduna irrespective of tribe.Lagos has LASRRA n its for all lagos residents that wishes to ve.There re some services of Lagos govt u cant get if u r not a resident.Dnt give a dog a bad name just to hang it.

ka chineke mezie okwu.

My dear LASRRA is different from a Residency Card. I was born in Lagos and have lived in the state for over twenty years yet I don't have the LASRRA.

As insisted by Kaduna State govt, without the Residency Card, one wouldn't be able to enjoy some services. And soon it'll be mandatory...you may say, by force.

Even ECOWAS Protocol on Free movement of persons, goods and services as well as residence has given West African citizens right to move freely anywhere in the subregion without barriers and to reside within the member countries without a residency permit for a specified period of time.

My point, it's absolutely unconstitutional to issue Residency Permit to any Nigerian by any state in Nigeria. It's citizens' right to reside anywhere in Nigeria without any form of barrier.

Youngadvocate:


My dear, this isn't about the Igbo...moreover, you don't know my tribe. I would have held much more respect for you if u had deliberated on the issues raised holistically and of course, objectively.

I hate ethnic fanatism with passion. It gets me intellectually disturbed.

el rufai is a fanatic but the God we serve will deall wth thm at the appropriate time. On the other hand i think he want to make some change for himself, this is Nigeria where nothing works, how many years does he have left? Well, time shall tell.

kudos to El rufai on this as this will help the state in tackling the insecurity in Kaduna state among other benefits. Watch out for Kwara state residency card! I think every state should start restructuring before yelling for national or total restructure.

El rufia won for country or Nation ni?

Youngadvocate:


My dear LASRRA is different from a Residency Card. I was born in Lagos and have lived in the state for over twenty years yet I don't have the LASRRA.

As insisted by Kaduna State govt, without the Residency Card, one wouldn't be able to enjoy some services. And soon it'll be mandatory...you may say, by force.

Even ECOWAS Protocol on Free movement of persons, goods and services as well as residence has given West African citizens right to move freely anywhere in the subregion without barriers and to reside within the member countries without a residency permit for a specified period of time.

My point, it's absolutely unconstitutional to issue Residency Permit to any Nigerian by any state in Nigeria. It's citizens' right to reside anywhere in Nigeria without any form of barrier.

those that what I commented is for ve gotten it.the message is not for everybody