More than 300 Nigerians have renounced their citizenship in the past 16 years, with more than half of them renouncing last year, officials said Thursday.
“For Nigerians who renounced their citizenship, so far we have registered a total of 309,” said Shuaib Belgore, permanent secretary of the interior ministry.
Mr. Belgore, told reporters at State House in Abuja, said that between 2006 and 2021, 150 Nigerians abandoned their citizenship while 159 left in 2022 alone.
He did not state the reason why the Nigerian refused his citizenship. However, there has been a mass migration of Nigerians in recent years, some seeking to become citizens of other countries.
While many countries including the US allow dual citizenship, others like Austria do not, thus requiring applicants to renounce their previous citizenship.
In the same briefing when Mr. Belgore spoke, the interior minister, Rauf Aregbesolaalso lamented the mass migration of Nigerians.
He said Nigeria issued about 1.9 million passports (1,899,683) to its citizens in 2022, the highest in seven years.
He said the increase was a result of the massive exodus of Nigerians out of the country in search of greener pastures.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the mass migration of Nigerians, mostly middle class, in search of greener pastures. The understaffed health sector is perhaps the most affected with hundreds of doctors leaving each year to countries such as the UK, Canada and South Africa.
Mr Aregbesola said the mass migration has had a major impact on the functioning of his ministry which issues passports through the immigration service.
“It has a big impact because there is a huge demand for the issuance of passports. And if you see the trend is more in the south than in the north and we are responding,” said Mr. Aregbesola.
Others seek to become Nigerians
However, while many people reject Nigerian citizenship, many others seek to become citizens of the country.
Mr. Belgore said 286 people will take Nigerian citizenship by 2022, adding that the Advisory Committee on Nigerian citizenship will sit on February 7 to consider another 350 applications for naturalization.
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