Jul 31 2011 Written by Michelle Farnborough
A provision of the Nigerian Independent Act 1960 which states that any person born outside Nigeria but whose father or mother or grand mother or grand father was born in Nigeria during the colonial administration of that country shall be treated as a Nigerian at all times, is to be challenged in a Federal High Court in Nigeria, in September 2011.
Three Committees of the Nigerian Senate, – Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Committee on Internal Affairs are to appear as Respondents.
Mr. John-Salakov says that he would be asking UK Attorney General if he would be kind enough to send a senior lawyer to observe the proceeding.
Mr. Andre John-Salakov, 68, Founder / Leader of the PLC Party, UK Registered political party of British at home and abroad, commenced proceedings in the Federal High Court on 8th July 2011 under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009. He is seeking 3 Declarations and 3 Orders. The Hearing of the suit is fixed for the end of September 2011…
According to Mr. John-Salakov, Section 25 – 1 of the Independent Act is “racially exploitative; it is oppressive, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.
He went on to say that the said provision of the Nigerian Independent Act conflicts with Article 2 of the European Convention on Nationality of 1963, which defines “Nationality” as “the legal bond between a person and a State and does not indicate a person’s ethnic origin”
“The International Court of Justice (ICJ) considered the issue of Nationality in the course of determining Nottebohm (ICJ Reports 1955 p.23) – The Court defined “Nationality” as “a legal bond having as its basis a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments, together with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties”, he said.
Mr. John-Salakov went on to say – “I have 8 adult children, 13 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. They were born in England. None of them can speak a word of Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba, none of them has ever set foot on any part of the African Continent. Yet, this ridiculous piece of Constitutional provision empowers the UK Border Agency to remove any of my adult children and their own children and dump them on the Nigerian soil, without due process”.
He also noted that the “Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Hungary, Spain and other Member States of the European Union have been using Section 25-1 as a vehicle to forcefully transport many Black people to Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, people whom they link to, or associate with Nigeria”.
“In conclusion”, said Mr. John-Salakov, “I would argue that the intention of the British government in imposing the said citizenship provisions on Nigeria is to drive any black person with the remotest association with Nigeria out of the Continent of Europe in breach of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and so that they could live the rest of their lives in penury”
Section 25 – 1 (a) (b) and (c) as written into the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:
25. – (1) The following persons are citizens of Nigeria by birth; namely
(a) every person born in Nigeria before the date of independence, either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents belongs or belonged to a community indigenous to Nigeria:
Provided that a person shall not become a citizen of Nigeria by virtue of this section if neither of his parents nor any of his grandparents was born in Nigeria:
(b) every person born in Nigeria after the date of independence either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria, and
(c) every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a a citizen of Nigeria
Posted in Federal High Court of Nigeria, NIGERIA - Tagged British colonial law
For more (use the link to
http://www.johnsalakov.com )
(Public Law Centre/Public Defender Service/Lawyers Without Frontiers)
