Ondo seeks to make citizenship available to everyone with issuance of residency cards

ONDO State is on course to become the first Nigerian state to categorise its citizens according to residency rather than by origin with the issuance of residency cards as from July 2 that will entitle them to social amenities.

 

At the moment, citizenship in Nigeria is based on origin, only qualifying you to privileges and rights in the state where your parents were born. However, there have been strident calls for this to be changed, with the National Conference which held last year, urging the federal government to pass laws to this effect.

 

Millions of Nigerians were born in, live and work in states where their parents did not originate from and are subsequently denied rights and privileges as a result. Seeking to address the problem, the Ondo State government has announced the implementation of the residency card scheme, otherwise known as Kaadi Igbeayo, on July 2.

 

Kayode Akinmade, the Ondo State commissioner for information, said that ownership of the card would, from the said date, become a condition for residents of the state to access government services. He added that parents who want their wards to continue to enjoy the school shuttle scheme and mothers who want to access government hospital facilities as well as those interested in subsidised agric inputs, among other social benefits, would only be able to do so if they possess the card.

 

Mr Akinmade listed other advantages of the cards to include the facilitation of efficient record keeping, higher levels of service delivery in health, education, transportation and agriculture. He directed those who have not obtained their cards to visit the civic data centres in their respective local governments to obtain them.

 

At the launch of the card scheme, the federal government had described it as a tool that will fast-track the socio-economic development of the state. Former federal information minister Labaran Maku, said the card would revolutionise the Ondo State economy.

 

At the time, Mr Maki lauded Governor Olusegun Mimiko for standing firm by building on the developmental legacies left behind by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, adding that his administration had placed an emphasis on social welfare, targeted at making life better for the people. So far, over 850,000 residents have obtained their residency cards.