Nigeria Grants Citizenship To 174 Foreigners

The Federal Government on Wednesday
granted Nigerian citizenship to 174
foreigners.
Briefing journalists after the weekly
meeting of the Executive Council of the
Federation, FEC, chaired by President
Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, the
Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, said a
breakdown of the applications submitted
included those from 45 ‘Niger
Wives’ (foreigners married to Nigerians), and
129 from persons that were born by
naturalised Nigerians.
Mr. Moro said another 27 applications were
rejected and were not approved by FEC
because “they did not meet the basic
requirements of tax payment and ability to
live their lives in Nigeria without being
economic burdens and security problems”.
“A series of factors were taken into
consideration, but much more importantly
the issue of security that have become very
serious consideration especially when
foreigners from countries that are prone to
violence such as Lebanon and Syria apply to
become Nigerian citizens,” the minister
said.
The minister also criticised Nigerians who
were losing faith in the country.
“We are in this country losing some level of
faith in the viability of Nigeria, on the
brightness of the future of Nigeria given
the level of potential that we have in this
country today by some Nigerians and cynics,
especially opposition political parties or
persons creating an impression that Nigeria
is gravitating towards a failed state.
“Yet we have foreigners who have very
serious economic interest in Nigeria who
have lived in this country, some since
independence who are eager to become
Nigerian citizens by taking into
consideration the economic viability and
potential of Nigeria and hoping that their
lives can better be lived in this country as
Nigerian citizens than citizens of their
countries,” he said.
Mr. Moro said the applicants were from
diverse countries as Venezuela, Mexico,
Thailand, South Korea, Cameroun, Syria,
Lebanon, Greece, India, and Singapore.
According to a working document of the
FEC, the Interior Minister had presented a
memo to Council seeking approval for the
report of the cabinet committee to review
the recommendations of the Advisory
Committee on Nigerian Citizenship (ACNC)
for the grant of Nigerian citizenship to
foreign applicants.
The council had inaugurated a seven-
member committee to review the
recommendations for the ACNC on the
grant of the Nigerian citizenship. The
committee then concluded its assignment
with a report to council.
The EFCC also submitted its report on the
79 applicants referred to it in 2012; and
recommended only 51 out of the 79
applicants for citizenship.