Citizenship

 MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP

The word ‘’Citizenship’’ means the legal rights a person has to belong to a particular society. A citizen is then a recognized member of a particular community or country. A citizen is a person who is a legal member and owes allegiance to a particular country he resides in which he enjoys full civil and political rights and will be ready to put his life at stake in defense of its territory when the occasion calls for that.    

It can, therefore, be said that in a country, not everybody that resides in its territory is a citizen. There are people in the state who are not legally recognized as members of the state. They are called aliens.

Ways of Acquiring Citizenship

1.By Birth: A person is a citizen by birth if either of his parents is a citizen of a country. it can also be explained as when a child is born in a particular state i.e. a child born to Nigerian couple in United State is automatically a citizen of the country.

2.By Naturalization: One can become a citizen of a country through naturalization. This is possible if he can satisfy the constitutional requirements for naturalization.

3.Marriage or Registration: If a woman is married to a person of another nationality, she can acquire the citizenship of her husband’s country through registration. For example, a Nigerian woman married to a British man or a British woman married to a Nigerian.

4.Dual Citizenship: It is legitimately possible for a person to hold citizenship of two countries. For example, a child born to a Nigerian parent living in the USA becomes a US citizen as well as a Nigerian citizen because the parents are Nigerians.

5.Honorary Citizenship: An individual could be honored with the citizenship of another country. This is made possible if the individual has distinguished him/herself in a particular area through academics or by doing something globally beneficial to a country.