The Stateless Nigerian Professor of South Africa

Nigerian Edwin Ijeoma, (ex)Professor of Economics at the University of Fort Hare South Africa (SA), has lost his South African citizenship and expelled from the country because he lied about his marital status while applying for SA citizenship years ago. He married a SA lady while being already married in Nigeria. Bigamy is against the laws of SA.

With a PhD obtained from SA, it is unclear why Ijeoma would need a SA lady to become a citizen of that country. Most countries who rely on immigrants to drive one or more aspects of their development have a facilitated quota system for highly qualified applicants, starting with permanent residency. So, at face value, he should not have needed to marry a native to become a citizen. His high academic qualifications should have spoken for him on their merit. But who knows what else the public does not know about the matter. It may yet be a case of the more you look the less you see.

To make matters worse, his woes were compounded by another error of judgement he made. Put parabolically, he burned down his father's thatch house before erecting a mansion for him: he denounced his Nigerian citizenship upon becoming a SAn. As a non-native born, it was very thoughtless to have denounced his original citizenship. However, to be fair, it is plausible that SA did not permit dual citizenship at the time he obtained his citizenship; hence he had to choose between Nigeria and SA. But the country does now permit dual citizenship, I believe. Otherwise, if Ijeoma denounced his citizenship because of Biafra, a little bit of circumspection could have informed him that he could have just put his Nigerian passport inside a locker or hang it on his wall as a souvenir (rather than denounce it) until Biafra materializes and gives him a different password.

Anyways, these two misdeeds have now rendered him stateless. Where does he go to now? I guess the Nigerian authorities will have a big party humiliating him if he approaches them for reinstatement of his citizenship. This is a novelty in Nigeria and it is unclear how a court in Nigeria would rule if he tries to sue to regain his citizenship. Anyways, the deeds are done and I hope he has learned his lesson.

That being said, what he did must have brought shame to Nigerians in SA. But the good thing is that for every Ijeoma, there are hundreds of other Nigerian professors in that country. For example, Prof Nzewi (HOD of Public Administration in Ijeoma's former Department at Fort Hare); Linus Opara (Distinguished professor of Food Science and Technology, University of Stellenbosch); and Damian Onwudiwe (professor of Chemistry, North West University Gauteng), to mention a few. These folks will continue to fly the flag and, hopefully, keep upholding the laws of their adopted country.

Igbo Amaka

Chai he was his own personal "village people"

All those years of hustle gone just like that Ndo

Nigerian Edwin Ijeoma, Professor of Economics at the University of Fort Hare South Africa (SA), has lost his South African citizenship and expelled from the country because he lied about his marital status while applying for SA citizenship years ago. He married a SA lady while being already married in Nigeria. Bigamy is against the laws of SA.

Honesty is a virtue.

Op, source ?

tit:
Igbo Amaka

Your point being

post=99528391:

Your point being

Are you ok?

Even as he was expelled from that xenophobic SA, he is still better than millions of mentally blind people who still pays alligence to the zoo

To cut things short, he is currently countryless

Chikarata2020:
Even as he was expelled from that xenophobic SA, he is still better than millions of mentally blind people who still pays alligence to the zoo

Only wild animals live in zoo...... you know.

Does he eat much of Cow meat?

he is better than all those monkey living in that zoo country especially the wasteland part of the zoo

this 'sauceless' story has mischief written all over but shouldn't bother any intelligent mind because with his academic status and income, he can easily get another passport better than that of Nigeria.

Don't bother asking me how, unless you have any evidence that the man needs such info.

If he's not a Nigerian then south Africans have no legal rights to deport him to Nigeria

Decodedp:
this 'sauceless' story has mischief written all over but shouldn't bother any intelligent mind because with his academic status and income, he can easily get another passport better than that of Nigeria.

Don't bother asking me how, unless you have any evidence that the man needs such info.

If you were smart by half you'd have googled him up. You are intellectually lazy.

Monogamy:


To cut things short, he is currently countryless

Correct