aribisala0: People misuse the wordss "tribalism" and "tribalist" out of ignorance or poor education. We are Igbo,Yoruba,Tiv,Efik Ogoni Ijaw etc peoples ; nations in a NATION STATE that is who and what we are
Somehow there is this idea that we should give that all up to become "Nigerians" with English as our language and no consciousness or a colonial consciousness. Nigeria CANNOT become a nation in the way that Japan or Koreans are and we should not accept this project that seeks to delete our identity. We are a nation in the sense of a confederation of NATIONS not TRIBES. No one refers to Irish,Belgians,Ducth,Boers,Bosnians,Greeks or Armenians as tribes so why are Igbos a tribe.
We need to wake up revive our languages and culture and be proub of them. We can coexist in much the same way as the EU nations do but it is important to preserve the culture,language and identity of Autochthons in their ancestral homelands rather than seek to create meaningless and superficial new identities
David Marks proposal is stupid ; It is proposing that in maybe 100 years there will be no Ijaw,Edo or other Minorities indeed even bigger groups may not survive. If we are going down that road the destination must be clear before we start.
That idea can only make sense in a culturally and linguistically homogenous nation. We are not and certainly do not aspire to LOSE our language/culture. The final phase of remote colonialism

BRILLIANT RETORT!!! SUPPORTED A ZILLION TIMES!! THANK YOU!!!

honeric01:

Why do you need a state of origin in the first place? if Nigeria is one as a country, why should i be asked which state i was born?

Its ok to ask which state you were born.

Its not ok to ask where your ancestors were from.

Careless and unexamined talk. This idea abolishes federal character wich is the foundation upon wich senate itself was built, most of the senators ar permanently residence in abj, thus mark and co are sitting on other peoples seats and messing with the constitution.

blaqoracle: senator mark is to comfortable to grasp what is on ground. if a man has lived in a place, has he belonged to the place? a Situation Where Dweller Continues To See Himself As A stranger, do you blame the host? most Dwellers in nigeria treat the host community with contempt and despication. mark Must Keep In mind That We That Have A heritage of an impeccable tradition and institution will never surrender it just to pacify some group that are known to be homeless and foodless.

State of Residence does not mean an Igbo man should be allowed to contest Kingship in Ondo State just because he has satisfied the requirements of residency in the state, it just means he cant be discriminated against based upon the lineage of his ancestors.

Godman_n: Checkout every person that have opposed this noble idea from David Mark and you are seeing a covert Tribalist. I do not like David Mark and will never trust him, but what he has just said has been on my mind. It is the best way to go about uniting Nigerians.

I was shocked myself. For the first time on NL even bitter rivals joined hands to become allies. What a damn shame.

ceejay80s: wetin i take? Wetin bad for wetin i talk? France-French, Usa-English, Germany-German, Nigeria- Hausa,Igbo, Yoruba,Edo, Calabar, ibibio, efik,Pigeon, etc na wetin, just one country! Inshort naija for be a CONTINENT on its own

Nigeria has English as its official language! USA doesnt speak just English. There are spanish, Germans, Italians, Africans etc here and they all speak their language

even if its enforced I don't see it working in Nigeria.

what about local government identification. Shouldn't it be abolished.

Without the removal of state of origin, true federalism will never work. For any nation to grow, The best minds and hardest workers must control the resources to the benefit of the people.

Many here argue that they want true federalism, yet they fail to realize that without free movement of people between the regions of a federating state the system simply would not work.

If today true federalism is to be attempted in Nigeria as it is, people will be forced to move to states with resources and because they will not have equal rights with the original settlers, with time it would lead to war. If however origin has no importance and residency is what is important, with time the best minds will concentrate in regions advantageous to them (e.g. Computer scientist settling in Silicon valley) and original settlers will move to other areas to live in. This leads to an increase in productivity which then leads to a increase in profitability creating more jobs and tax revenue for the government.

Think for a second about Lagos and try to understand why it is the economic hub of west Africa. I believe it is because Lagos is the melting pot of Nigeria, anybody can become a Lagosian and get about any government job there. Private companies also employ based mainly on merit and not state of origin.

In the end what makes countries prosper are their best minds and most hard working people. Without creating opportunities such as employment based on residency ( merit) and not origin (quota system) a country can never grow.

Senator david mark needs to be commended and praised for his boldness for bringing up this issue. Even if we are to divided in present day Nigeria, our children should not go through the same mediocre system we and our parents have been forced to go through.

apala911: Senate President, Senator David Mark, on Monday said that time has come for the country to shift from the syndrome of state of origin and embrace state of residence.

He said that immediate elimination of state of origin and enthronement of state of residence would go a long way to cement relationship in the country.

Mark spoke to journalists in Quebec, Canada, after the opening ceremony of the 127th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, with the theme “Citizenship, identity, linguistic and cultural diversity in a globalised world.”

He noted that one of the issues that would be addressed at the on-going constitution review is a shift from state of origin to state of residence.

He wondered why a person who has lived in a particular place for 20 years performing all necessary civic responsibilities could not become an indigene of the area.

He said, “You should know that one of the issues we’ve been discussing in Constitution amendment is shift from state of origin to state of residence because it is an important issue.

“You are resident in a place for 20 years and still, they don’t take you as part and parcel of that place.

“I think it’s a difficult task but in my candid opinion, I think if we have an open mind and we approach it from a nationalist perspective, rather than a small, clannish perspective, I think we would get it right.

“Let’s forget the business of state of origin and go to state of residence.

“Once you are resident in a place and you perform your civic responsibilities for the period, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t benefit, provided of course you don’t claim dual residency.

“Some Nigerians may be very clever. They would come from Ondo State and are resident in Benue, when the benefits of Benue are not commensurate with their expectations, they shift to Ondo State.

“We can’t have that. Once you take a particular area, you should just be a part and parcel of that particular state.”

He described the theme of the conference as extremely relevant.

The theme of the conference, he said, is not “just international, it is also national because that is the only way we can domesticate and implement the theme.”

 

 http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news-update/why-state-of-origin-should-be-abolished-in-nigeria-mark/

this is not necessary, this is not what we should be addressing in this country, stte of origin is the fact , we can still consider stste of residende but not wise abolishing state of origin

Why can't the two be used? Is there any problem with that?

What plagues us most in this country is corruption and so called federalism. State of origin or state of residence, what he should rather be addressing is rewards, employment and appointments by merit and not by quota! This has so killed our country, reason we have morons sitting in the exalted chambers and snoozing through entire plenary without making a single useful contribution to national progress or ministerial appointees that know no jack of what the so called ministry is about or employees that laze about and wait for month end to chop salary or ...if u doubt it let's give it a try and before we know everyone sits up and this country will move ahead.

For once I absolutely agree with Senator David Mark.
And for the record, not a few Nigerians are already way ahead in this matter.
You will be surprised how many people of Yoruba ancestry (specifically Offa, Ogbomosho and environs) are already claiming a northern state as state of origin.
You will be surprised how many people of Igbo descent use lagos and a few other northern states as state of origin.
You will be surprised to know this has been going on since 1920s.
You may be surprised to know that Zungeru in Niger state is the birthplace of two of the top Igbo leaders in history. Ojukwu and Azikiwe.
You may be surprised to know that Zungeru has been ethnically integrated (well...it was a former capital of the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria) for nearly 100 years (almost 4 generations)now.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying Mark's suggestion is a magic wand. I am saying it is doable. In fact it has already been done by some people. Maybe just not talked about.

I doubt it will ever happen. A friend of mine was dismissed in his last month of training at the Nigerian Army short military service, because he claimed to be an indigene of Bauchi state, whereas he is from Ekiti state. In his defence he said he was born and raised in Bauchi and has only been to Ekiti a few times. all this was to no avail.

Just passing

kayswag100: In Nigeria? Not in a million years!

Imagine Audu Usman as the Igwe of Iboland

or Nnamdi Uche as the Ooni of Ife

or Taiwo Adebayo as the Asagba of Asaba

or Eseoghene Edewor as Gbon Gwon Jos

just because they reside in d states...

C'est nes pas possible!!!!!

For me i would have loved to see a bill that will ENCOURAGE inter ethnic marriages thus promoting NATIONAL UNITY.
Encouragement could be in the form of
1. Govt pays ALL educational bills of children from such a marriage
2. Govt takes care of the medical bills of such children
3. Little stipends/allowy paid to both parents as an appreciation fot fostering NATIONAL UNITY

I think this will go a long way and may be similar to the purpose of NYSC but this thing called state of residence etc is gibberish to me

Mark must be high on some cheap drugs....

This is Africa where ancestral land do matter...
and who is that idiot clamouring for pidgin english? Inferiority complex must have eaten your brain....

This s right direction towards nation building. Leaders are not daunted by what they see in the physical but,motivated by what they picture in their mind. If Nigerians can own landed properties and conduct their economic activities in places other than their present state of origin,why can't they exercise political and social rights as well? This topic reveals the calibre of leaders we are breeding in this country.

This a right direction towards nation building. Leaders are not daunted by what they see in the physical but,motivated by what they picture in their mind. If Nigerians can own landed properties and conduct their economic activities in places other than their present state of origin,why can't they exercise political and social rights as well? This topic reveals the calibre of leaders we are breeding in this country.

The biggest obstacle to this is religion.I can accept a Yoruba christian as a councillor or chairman in my state in the east but not a yoruba moslem.The spirit that controls Islam is evil.I do not want that evil in the east.

And allow the Igbo man to work and thrive in a meritocratic environment where the best man actually gets the Job? Naaaaa... The northeren elites will fight another biafran war over that. Read the sultans comment about the Igbo man. He was so frank, paranoid and full of bigotry and it encapculates view of nigeria hence why this nation will remain shafted. It will not happen my dear.

Although it may seem a welcome development but abolishing state of origin will not do the trick.

One will still be judged by his first or last name. So if I'm bearing a northern name, no matter how long I've lived in the south, I wouldn't be recognized as one of them...I'll be seen as a foreigner in their midst.

Our leaders just like to scratch the surface. They don't want to go deep to tackle the problem facing Nigeria.

samkoro: The biggest obstacle to this is religion.I can accept a Yoruba christian as a councillor or chairman in my state in the east but not a yoruba moslem.The spirit that controls Islam is evil.I do not want that evil in the east.

hypocrisy, hatred is really running in your blood. . .why can't you say you are a stu.pid tribalist since you generalize every muslim evil and dont forget there are igbo muslims in that eastern region and since islam is tag to them your brothers and sisters who are igbo muslims are evil?? I can see how stu.pid you are for calling yoruba muslims evil, can you start stating the violence yoruba muslims have display since you call them evil. . .because boko haram are from the north that inflicted violence and claim muslims that makes you to generalize it to all muslims as if they all support violence, why can't look into individual act not Islam cuz Islam is a religion and muslims are people in it(people can misbehave and do wrong things that never goes with islam teachings) . . .stop the hatred cuz Jesus never preaches to hate but to love, people like you will be rejected by Jesus in heaven(according to the bible). . .BTW come to south-west and see how muslims and christians are living peacefuly and happily it seems you don't stay in yoruba land that is why spit RUBBISH post in this thread. . .there are EVIL CHRISTIANS and you know that, stop being stu.pid and ignorance. . .use your empty brain to think though it's empty

I no gbadun ds idea, how must someone 4get his/her state of origin...
The issue of state of residence has been solved by the contact address.
Note again that state of origin has a long meaning/mile 2 tell about someone.
so kindly cancel that idea....

Excellent!!! God bless David Mark and curse those who curse him in this particular proposal. If we are truely one and a united entity, we should embrace such concept to forge ahead. Anyone can become a member of National assembly, President, Governor etc regardless of tribal affiliations/ state of origin. Sound idealism from a sound senate president, i pray the distinguish senators to adhere to this proposal and adopt it in the upcoming constitutional ammendment, come 2013.

tintingz: hypocrisy, hatred is really running in your blood. . .why can't you say you are a stu.pid tribalist since you generalize every muslim evil and dont forget there are igbo muslims in that eastern region and since islam is tag to them your brothers and sisters who are igbo muslims are evil?? I can see how stu.pid you are for calling yoruba muslims evil, can you start stating the violence yoruba muslims have display since you call them evil. . .because boko haram are from the north that inflicted violence and claim muslims that makes you to generalize it to all muslims as if they all support violence, why can't look into individual act not Islam cuz Islam is a religion and muslims are people in it(people can misbehave and do wrong things that never goes with islam teachings) . . .stop the hatred cuz Jesus never preaches to hate but to love, people like you will be rejected by Jesus in heaven(according to the bible). . .BTW come to south-west and see how muslims and christians are living peacefuly and happily it seems you don't stay in yoruba land that is why spit RUBBISH post in this thread. . .there are EVIL CHRISTIANS and you know that, stop being stu.pid and ignorance. . .use your empty brain to think though it's empty

pig! Who told u that there are igbo muslims in the east ? You must have figured it out from ur empty skull because they don't exist really in the east. You can only see few igbo muslims in the north and not east.

kingoflag:


State of Residence does not mean an Igbo man should be allowed to contest Kingship in Ondo State just because he has satisfied the requirements of residency in the state, it just means he cant be discriminated against based upon the lineage of his ancestors.

You are making no sense at all. It gives an Igbo the right to contest in any of the three tiers of govt, or in state house of assembly, or in National Assembly, or the Presidency from Lagos or any of his/her state of residence as far as he could win. And so is a yoruba person or Hausa. I surpport that notion! Say one Nigeria.

The time is not yet ripe for this.

Antivirus92: pig! Who told u that there are igbo muslims in the east ? You must have figured it out from ur empty skull because they don't exist really in the east. You can only see few igbo muslims in the north and not east.

bat! Read what your igbo muslim leader said in this thread
"The Challenges Of Igbo Muslims"
https://www.nairaland.com/997009/challenges-igbo-muslims
BTW igbo muslims in the north as you said are they not ndigbos who converted to Islam??

Zeus I: You are making no sense at all. It gives an Igbo the right to contest in any of the three tiers of govt, or in state house of assembly, or in National Assembly, or the Presidency from Lagos or any of his/her state of residence as far as he could win. And so is a yoruba person or Hausa. I surpport that notion! Say one Nigeria.

He said 'kingship!' Okoro, can you read at all, or is comprehension your disability?

Zeus I: Excellent!!! God bless David Mark and curse those who curse him in this particular proposal. If we are truely one and a united entity, we should embrace such concept to forge ahead. Anyone can become a member of National assembly, President, Governor etc regardless of tribal affiliations/ state of origin. Sound idealism from a sound senate president, i pray the distinguish senators to adhere to this proposal and adopt it in the upcoming constitutional ammendment, come 2013.

But we are not one and united. We are but a mere geographical expression. What do I have in common with an ibo man to make me want to be one with him? Nada! That's what!