My Dad was born and bred in Lagos, my Mum, in Zaria. I was born and bred in Benin and have lived the past ten years in Port-Harcourt. But my state of origin reads Delta state, a state I have not spent up to a 100 hours in since I was born. How can that be my state of origin especially since the only thing I know about Delta state is that my Grandparents were born there and Uduaghan is the Governor. Seriously am I really a Deltan? Should I register and vote in a state I do not even benefit or contribute to? If it is not right to involve in the politics of a place that I do not live in, where else then can I vote and most importantly be voted for?

Ikengawo:

This is a perfect example of why the whole 'seperation' postulate for nigerian's problems is outdated and not-so-smart.
Nigerians in 2011 are no longer village people but are expected to identify themselves as an immobile peg of their grandfathers hut.


Most nigerians i met outside of my own village are born in places like Lagos. I know a guy thats half igbo half hausa and part fulani born and raise in Warri.

All he knows is Warri. So how can you call him a northerner or igbo? dude is just nigerian.

I met an Eshan girl that's half igbo but grew up in Ibadan and speaks Yoruba.


even P-square, igbo boys from Jos, Dbanj, Yoruba boy from Kaduna

Ikengawo:

well they're all related. my grandfather as a part of 'eastern region'
im not.

i was born in america and grew up in nigeria, sure, but most of my little cousins were born and raised in Lagos Onitsha, Port, and over seas, so it's not really their 'state of origin' anymore, they don't originate from there.

That's why I point back to the seperation issue. there are igbos that are more at home in Ibadan then Yorubas that were born and raised in Abuja, so where do you get off calling on a westerner and the other an easterner.

I think asking state of origin is counter productive. That's how we ferment this idea that a nigerian 'from' one region is less of a nigerian in another region. As if Kaduna and Sokoto aren't a part of my country as well.

My Dad was born and bred in Lagos, my Mum, in Zaria. I was born and bred in Benin and have lived the past ten years in Port-Harcourt. But my state of origin reads Delta state

edoyad:

I understand you bro, the first 18 years of my life were spent in lagos though my parents are from southern KD. I can't speak my mother tongue(jaba), yoruba or igbo, just minimal hausa i learnt from my last few years of living in KD. So you can see there're some languageless ones like us who can't fit in anywhere but the urban set up. Thats why i plan to finally settle in Lag one day; my true home.

asha 80:


tell that to the locals and to the nigerian constitution.nigeria is not US.


at least there is no seperation issue now.the poster has his own immediate issue that has nothing to do with seperation

Ikengawo:

its not a matter of me telling anything to anyone, it's a matter of my realizing a problem in our system and wanting a solution because this is what intelligent people do.


The OP is making a statement that is wide open to a broader discussion on state of origin and tribal identity in Nigeria.

FL Gators:

Hard to believe someone lived in Lagos for 18 yrs and didnt grasp the Yoruba language.

That's where most Non-Yorubas learn to speak Yoruba. . . .

I have to agree with asha. This is nothing about tribal identity, dude just wants to know what to claim for voting registration. Just like in the U.S, to vote in Florida, one has to be a resident of Florida for atleast 5 years. In Nigeria, I suppose there's no time limit, cuz some people are registering to vote in their origin. 

Ikengawo:

This is a perfect example of why the whole 'seperation' postulate for nigerian's problems is outdated and not-so-smart.
Nigerians in 2011 are no longer village people but are expected to identify themselves as an immobile peg of their grandfathers hut.


Most nigerians i met outside of my own village are born in places like Lagos. I know a guy thats half igbo half hausa and part fulani born and raise in Warri.

All he knows is Warri. So how can you call him a northerner or igbo? dude is just nigerian.

I met an Eshan girl that's half igbo but grew up in Ibadan and speaks Yoruba.


even P-square, igbo boys from Jos, Dbanj, Yoruba boy from Kaduna

KnowAll:

You are a citizen of the state where your father is born. @ poster u are a citizen of Lagos provided u can speak the Yoruba language. I believe your father who was born and bred in Lagos should be able to speak the Yoruba language, that makes u a second generation Lagosian that can speak the language.

However if you were born in lagos and soon afterwards you moved to Port harcourt or Kaduna and u can speak the local lingo in those places but cannot speak your father's first language which is Yoruba then it would be difficult to claim Lagos.

How can u be a Lagosian without been able to speak the language. You are more likely to claim those places u grew up, since u would have gone to school with citizens of those states who can vouch u are one of them.

Meanwhile your Grand father's state of Delta at anytime and  any-moment in your life u to claim it back even if u cannot speak the language. So you have 3 choices.

Guru D.:

My Dad was born and bred in Lagos, my Mum, in Zaria. I was born and bred in Benin and have lived the past ten years in Port-Harcourt. But my state of origin reads Delta state, a state I have not spent  up to a 100 hours in since I was born. How can that be my state of origin especially since the only thing I know about Delta state is that my Grandparents were born there and Uduaghan is the Governor. Seriously am I really a Deltan? Should I register and vote in a state I do not even benefit or contribute to? If it is not right to involve in the politics of a place that I do not live in, where else then can I vote and most importantly be voted for?

FORGET ALL THESE LONG STORIES FROM NAIRALANDERS. YOU ARE FROM DELTA STATE. YOU DON'T NEED TO SPEAK ANY DELTA LANGUAGE TO BE IDENTIFIED AS A DELTAN. ALL OTHER PLACES YOU STAYED IN ARE NOT YOUR STATES OF ORIGIN. FOR INSTANCE, YOU CAN NEVER BE A GOVERNOR IN ANY OF THOSE STATES. YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A FOREIGNER IN THOSE STATES WHEN IT COMES TO THAT. YOU CAN ONLY BE WELCOMED TO LEAD AS A GOVERNOR IN DELTA STATE, SINCE YOUR ROOTS CAN BE TRACED THERE.
DON'T DECEIVE YOURSELF. IF IT IS ABOUT INEC REGISTRATION, YOU CAN REGISTER ANYWHERE. BUT WHEN IT HAS TO DO WITH YOU CONTESTING FOR ANYTHING, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME CONTESTING IN ANOTHER STATE, BECAUSE NOBODY CARES IF YOU WERE BORN THERE OR NOT.ALL THEY WANT TO KNOW IS IF YOU ARE A SON-OF THE SOIL. THAT IS THE REALITY ON GROUND.

KnowAll:

That is why in the other thread I suggested once your family has settled in a place, it is always good to integrate for example taking up local first name must be encourage especially if u are a 2nd and 3rd generational settlers. For instance a name like " oluwafemi" in yoruba language means God loves me, God Wants me depends on how u want to interpret it. Why would a second generational Hausa or Igbo in lagos in which the only lingua franca in the household is Yoruba call his child Emeka or Abubakar when he can pick any of the local names around in his new environment for his child. Nobody is saying they should change their surname far from it, but for u to identify with a place it goes beyond just speaking the language.

On what this gentleman is yearning above that,  u cannot be Governor of your adopted state, forget it,  u can be anything u want,  once u have the network of the dominant party machinery in d state behind you. The wordings of this gentleman are tactics some so called indigenes use to scare non- aborigines from not running when it is obvious political office in Nigeria is based on patronage of the party hierarchy.

How come Tinubu a second generational Lagosian became the Governor of the state obviously backed by party grandees when it was clear funsho williams an indigene won the primaries. Poltical office anywhere is connection. You are most likely to have that connection amongst people u grow up with than in your grand-fathers's state of origin.

afam4eva:

Always spewing rubish because you want people to start bearing yoruba names. You must not adopt any name neither must you learn how to speak a language before you'll have the full right of a place. As long as you were born there you're a citizen.

Always spewing rubish because you want people to start bearing yoruba names. You must not adopt any name neither must you learn how to speak a language before you'll have the full right of a place. As long as you were born there you're a citizen.

Poster: You have been told. If you have ears, you better hear. The same people telling you to take up a Yoruba name are the people that will ensure that you are exposed as a non-Yoruba Lagosian when the time comes. They will easily term you an omo-Igbo and ask you about the history of your fore-fathers in yorubaland. We are not in the 50s, we are in 2011. I'm sorry, but it is the reality on ground. You can only be used as a commissioner or something like a special adviser, that is if you become a political heavyweight in Lagos.
Go to your ancestrial home and know about your roots. I don tell you my own.

afam4eva:

Always spewing rubish because you want people to start bearing yoruba names. You must not adopt any name neither must you learn how to speak a language before you'll have the full right of a place. As long as you were born there you're a citizen.

jason123:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . Why do you think I am named Jason? Is that an itsekiri name or a Uk name? Why do you find it difficult to integrate yourselve in your environment??

Justcash:

@Poster: You have been told. If you have ears, you better hear. The same people telling you to take up a Yoruba name are the people that will ensure that you are exposed as a non-Yoruba Lagosian when the time comes. They will easily term you an omo-Igbo and ask you about the history of your fore-fathers in yorubaland. We are not in the 50s, we are in 2011. I'm sorry, but it is the reality on ground. You can only be used as a commissioner or something like a special adviser, that is if you become a political heavyweight in Lagos.
Go to your ancestrial home and know about your roots. I don tell you my own.

jason123:

. . . . . . . . . . . . .  Why do you think I am named Jason? Is that an itsekiri name or a Uk name? Why do you find it difficult to integrate yourselve in your environment??

jason123:

Ode, so you use what people say on Nairaland as an overview of Nigeria? Get this into your skull, TRIBALISM IS OVERPLAYED IN NL! okay?!

afam4eva:

Was it when you travelled to the UK that you changed your name? Pls learn to talk sense. How come Indians, Chinese etc  in Britain don't change their names when they get to Britain or America.

KnowAll:

Did I SAY Yoruba names it could be vice -versa a Yoruba's who grew up in Owerr I personally don't see anything wrong in that person called ugochukwu oluwafemi. That peson has an identity than some one with a name like ugochuckwu Nnamdi claiming to be a lagosian. The problem with people like u, u want to come to a place spewing your foreign language on the locals and feel welcomed afterwards how is that possible when u are not prepared to integrate.

Yorubas who grew up in Togo and Cote Voire all have french first name in unison with the dominant culture around them. Wande Coal is from Taraba State but with a name like that I identify him as a mushin boy rather than a boy from Jalingo.

afam4eva:

As if what he said is not the truth. If i may ask. Have u ever been to Nigeria?

alj harem:

the question goes to you, have you ever been to nigeria

hve you ever been to lagos