As a Nigerian citizen, how do you decide where you are from?

Is it where you were born?

Is it where you have a house, live and invested in?

Is it where you have lived for a certain number of years?

Is it where you father or mother is from?

Is it where your grandparents are from?

And how do you decide where your grandparents are from. Is it where they were born or lived in?

BTW, thanks to Kokoye.

So my people what exactly decides where one belong in this country?

A very interesting question

for one thing I would say, "where you father is from is where you are from"

You see, cultural identity defines where you are from really and it would never ever change as far as Nigeria 2011 is concerned

If a Kanuri man have lived all his life in Sokoto, He still remains a Kanuri man thus he is not an indigene of Sokoto but that of Yobe or Borno.

If a kalabari man lived all his life in adamawa, he still remains a kalanari man thus from river state

Now reason for this is because people do not like to drop there cultural identity and acclimatise to there new environment.

How can you say you are Yoruba or Ijaw and still want to be an indigene of Benue state ?  It does not work because people are very protective.

Or you say you are a SEerner and an indigene of Lagos ? life does not work that way

Reason:- To claim two identities is very dangerous of the Indigenes of the place and thus a form of division has been created.

Same question has bothered me all my adult life. I hate it when I tell people i'm a core northerner and they disbelieve me telling me where my father is from is where I am from. Thats rubbish!!!

alj_harem:

A very interesting question

for one thing I would say, "where you father is from is where you are from"

You see, cultural identity defines where you are from really and it would never ever change as far as Nigeria 2011 is concerned

If a Kanuri man have lived all his life in Sokoto, He still remains a Kanuri man thus he is not an indigene of Sokoto but that of Yobe or Borno.

If a kalabari man lived all his life in adamawa, he still remains a kalanari man thus from river state

Now reason for this is because people do not like to drop there cultural identity and acclimatise to there new environment.

How can you say you are Yoruba or Ijaw and still want to be an indigene of Benue state ?  It does not work because people are very protective.

Or you say you are a SEerner and an indigene of Lagos ? life does not work that way

Reason:- To claim two identities is very dangerous of the Indigenes of the place and thus a form of division has been created.

Typical Nigerian move, so what if you do not know your father, or  he disowned you? Also, on what stone are these rules written? Or is that how the constitution defines it?

^^^ Ever questioning but never learning, what's that illness called?

@Topic, it definitely is your Father's place, while you may be accepted according to your maternal roots, your rights are very much limited. All those place of birth and residence do not mean a thing, all people want to know is where your father's from.

You're from where your father is from.

egift:

As a Nigerian citizen, how do you decide where you are from?

[s]Is it where you were born?

Is it where you have a house, live and invested in?

Is it where you have lived for a certain number of years?
[/s]

Is it where you father [s]or mother is from?

Is it where your grandparents are from?

And how do you decide where your grandparents are from. Is it where they were born or lived in?
[/s]

According to Nigeria standard, YES !

Kobojunkie:

Typical Nigerian move, so what if you do not know your father, or  he disowned you? Also, on what stone are these rules written? Or is that how the constitution defines it?

Nigerians need to rise above these MY RULE BECAUSE IT IT MY WAY way of looking at issues. The Constitution DOES NOT stipulate that as a Nigerian you are from where your father is from, so why do we assume that is the way it SHOULD BE, even when there is evidence it does not apply in all cases??

tpia@:

You're from where your father is from.

Who knows what the constitution states on that? I am also interested on the residence aspect too. How many years one have lived in a places - can it be a factor?

Let me help you egift, and all those Igbos who were born and raised outside Igbo land get it into your skulls; you are from Igboland. FULLSTOP. That's all. End of story.

Onlytruth:

Let me help you egift, and all those Igbos who were born and raised outside Igbo land get it into your skulls; you are from Igboland. FULLSTOP. That's all. End of story.

^^^
Trying to make this about my person makes you alot more tiny than most person see you. We are talking about a very important National issue, and you blabbing around.

I am 100% Oye Igbo. Travelled around. I may even be more Igbo than you are - Here is my stuff - http://www.facebook.com/thecoalcity

How can a person live years in a place and be treated a complete stranger in his own country.

I think according to the constitution its where your dad is from actually. If I was in charge it'd be where you're born though.

I'm from delta, how can I claim that when I've never been to the place before. I was born in lagos, I will probably die in Lagos. And I'd want to be buried here, unless I moved somewhere else and developed an affinity for it.

With the way Nigeria is, you're from where your parents are from. That's because people are identified based on ethnicity in Nigeria. It's easier for a Yoruba person claim to be from Lagos than for an Igbo person to claim the same. Even though technically it's not supposed to be like that.

Kobojunkie:

Typical Nigerian move, so what if you do not know your father, or  he disowned you? Also, on what stone are these rules written? Or is that how the constitution defines it?

Then the only culture you would learn is that of your immediate environment unless the mother trained the person up to have an identity then I am sure he can claim his mother's root

afam4eva:

With the way Nigeria is, you're from where your parents are from. That's because people are identified based on ethnicity in Nigeria. It's easier for a Yoruba person claim to be from Lagos than for an Igbo person to claim the same. Even though technically it's not supposed to be like that.

Yes the state you claim is very much based on ethnicity. You can not call yourself a batu man and claim to an imolite, It does not work that way.

alj_harem:

Yes the state you claim is very much based on ethnicity. You can not call yourself a batu man and claim to an imolite, It does not work that way.

In an ideal setting, a batu man can claim to be an Imolite. Mind you the name of the state is Imo and not Igbo. Even if it's Igbo sef. Are there no Nigerian citizens of England? Is English not an ethnicity?

afam4eva:

In an ideal setting, a batu man can claim to be an Imolite. Mind you the name of  the state is Imo and not Igbo. Even if it's Igbo sef. Are there no Nigerian citizens of England? Is English not an ethnicity?

My brother, England is a country. Ok let me use Igbo as an analogy.

If an Igbo man grew all his life in Kaduna state, does not understand Igbo and only hausa language, and does like the locals then You can say he is a kaduna indigene.

Majority of Igbos in Lagos are JJCs and some do not understand Yoruba or know the way of life, In fact some are more Igbo than the ones in the east, There is NO WAY they are Lagosian.

The culture in Lagos is distinct and it is either you conform or leave, These other groups are well adapted to eg the Ijaws.

Now to the England analogy.

The way of life inn England is distinct and you cannot or you can NEVER claim to be British if you do not know the way of life there. If you do not understand English or know the british culture, you cannot claim to be British.

I guess same works in Nigeria.

Man_51ut:

I think

according to the constitution its where your dad is from actually.

If I was in charge it'd be where you're born though.

I'm from delta, how can I claim that when I've never been to the place before. I was born in lagos, I will probably die in Lagos. And I'd want to be buried here, unless I moved somewhere else and developed an affinity for it.

Where in the constitution did you find this?

alj_harem:

Then the only culture you would learn is that of your immediate environment unless the mother trained the person up to have an identity then I am sure he can claim his mother's root

Think . . . . what business of yours is it what culture individuals choose to learn??    I don't think it is up to individuals OR STATE to decide for anyone, where they are from, as long as one is legally within a state.

The constitution DOES NOT STIPULATE that one needs claim his father's place as his place of origin, nor does it stipulate that one needs to subscribe to one culture/language or the other.

Kobojunkie:

um . . . . what business of your is it what culture individuals choose to learn?? T[b]his is what I am speaking to -- this need to suggest for others how they ought to live their lives. It is WRONG!!! Unless you are going to tell us all that Orji, in Abia State, did the right thing by chasing people who he pretends are not from Abia, out.[/b]

The constitution DOES NOT STIPULATE that one needs claim his father's place as his place of origin, nor does it stipulate that one needs to subscribe to one culture/language or the other.

Kobo, If the non- abians have acted like the Abians then I believe Orji would not have known the difference or would he ?

I am not telling anyone how to act or behave but if you want to pass as an indigene of a place, then I believe it is imperative you act like an indigene

If the non-abians . . . . how exactly do abians act??

alj_harem:

My brother, England is a country. Ok let me use Igbo as an analogy.

If an Igbo man grew all his life in Kaduna state, does not understand Igbo and only hausa language, and does like the locals then You can say he is a kaduna indigene.

Majority of Igbos in Lagos are JJCs and some do not understand Yoruba or know the way of life, In fact some are more Igbo than the ones in the east, There is NO WAY they are Lagosian.

The culture in Lagos is distinct and it is either you conform or leave, These other groups are well adapted to eg the Ijaws.

Now to the England analogy.

The way of life inn England is distinct and you cannot or you can NEVER claim to be British if you do not know the way of life there. If you do not understand English or know the british culture, you cannot claim to be British.

I guess same works in Nigeria.

You have to learn to seperate an artificial creation from an ethnicity. Lagos is a state and not an ethnicity. There's no where it states that Lagos is a Yoruba state. You can only see something like "Lagos is predominantly occupied by Yorubas". That does not mean that someone that's not Yoruba cannot be from there. And the person musn't know how to speak Yoruba.

Btw, what do you mean by "british culture". If there's anything like that. Then british culture will include being caucasian. Don't you think so?

Kobojunkie:

If the non-abians . . .  . how exactly do abians act??  

I have not been to Abia before so I can not really say.

afam4eva:

You have to learn to seperate an artificial creation from an ethnicity. Lagos is a state and not an ethnicity. There's no where it states that Lagos is a Yoruba state. You can only see something like "Lagos is predominantly occupied by Yorubas". That does not mean that someone that's not Yoruba cannot be from there. And the person musn't know how to speak Yoruba.

Btw, what do you mean by "british culture". If there's anything like that. Then british culture will include being caucasian. Don't you think so?

Now you are bring colour and race into this. It has nothing to do with race, if you look at the people living in england and are non-white Majority of them that are british have so level of command of English and understand the way of life.

About Lagos, I really do not want to discuss about it

alj_harem:

Now you are bring colour and race into this. It has nothing to do with race, if you look at the people living in england and are non-white Majority of them that are british have so level of command of English and understand the way of life.

If you're talking of being british don't you think you need to possess all the attributes of a briton? Mind you English is not the language of Britain. It's only England that's an English speaking country.

afam4eva:

If you're talking of being british don't you think you need to possess all the attributes of a briton? Mind you English is not the language of Britain. It's only England that's an English speaking country.

Afam, A welsh man does not speak English as his native language but once he gets to england, He quickly adapts and Learn English with the way of life in England thus I believe he can past as an English man isn't it ?

GAR3TH:

You are from were you were born and/or grew up. Your roots is were your parents are from/their culture.

Example if you were born and/or grew up in America but your parents are mexican you will be considered an American of Mexican descent.

If you were born and/or grew up in lagos to igbo and hausa parents you will be considered a Lagosian of Igbo and hausa descent.

atleast thats how it is in a normal world.

the funny thing is that Nigeria does not act like it is a normal world

alj_harem:

Afam, A welsh man does not speak English as his native language but once he gets to england, He quickly adapts and Learn English with the way of life in England thus I believe he can past as an English man isn't it ?

A welsh man, even though he has his language understand English very well. He doesn't pass as an English man because he now lives in England. He remains a welsh living in England, with all the rights that accrue to people living in England.

afam4eva:

A welsh man, even though he has his language understand English very well. He doesn't pass as an English man. He remains a welsh living in England, with all the rights that accrues to people living in England.

But can an English man know he is not English but a Welsh man even if he speaks english and without any form of identification ?

alj_harem:

But can an English man know he is not English but a Welsh man even if he speaks english and without any form of identification ?

The welsh have a different accent from the English people. Have you noticed the way Alex ferguson of Manchester united who's a Scot speaks? With your logic, it means an English Canadian will pass as an American simply because they sound like Americans.