House Considers Bill on Settler, Indigene Squabble
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja THISDAY | Feb.22.2010

In an effort to reduce to the barest minimum the recurring ethno-religious crises in the country, the House of Representatives will soon commence consideration on a bill seeking to make it mandatory for state governments to consider persons other than their bona fide citizens as indigenes of the states.

The Bill for an Act to provide the right for Nigerians to be indigenes of any local government area or area council in Nigeria will ensure that persons, whose parents migrated to any local government on or before October 1, 1960, are indigenes of that local government.

The Bill sponsored by Hon. Sama’ila Mohammed (ANPP, Plateau State) will restrict the issuance of indigene certificates to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as against the current trend where only state and local governments issue indigene certificates.
But another lawmaker, Hon. Bitrus Kaze (PDP Plateau), has faulted the bill, saying it is controversial to the extent that it will on the long run limit the rights of persons born before 1960 from enjoying their fundamental rights as citizens of Nigeria.

The Bill reads in parts: “A person is an indigene of a local government area or area council in Nigeria, if - (a) he or she or any of his parents belong to a tribe indigenous to the local government area or area council in which they reside; or (b) he or she or any of his parents is a migrant from another local government area or area council and has resided in the new local government or area council on or before the 1st day of October 1960 and continues to reside there; or (c) he or she or any of his parents is among the first to reside in the local government area or area council and he resides in it; or (d) he or she is a person born in that local government area or area council and he subsequently continues to reside in it; or (e) he or she is a spouse of a person who is an indigene by virtue of any of the circumstances mentioned in this subsection; or (e) he or she is a person who has resided in the local government area or area council for a period of at least five years.

“The government of every state shall ensure that - (a) all persons residing in local government areas or area councils enjoy equal economic, political and cultural rights; (b) the property, life, well-being, religion and culture of all persons residing in that state are secured, respected, honoured and protected;(c) no person suffers any form of discrimination, deprivation, disentitlement, stigmatization, or ostracisation on grounds only that such person or persons does not or do riot belong to any of the predominantly ethnic groups in which lie resides; (d) no person living in any local government area or area council in Nigeria shall be denied the right to observe and practise such cultural activities.”

The Bill also prescribes punishment for any state government that breaches the law; pointing out that the states are liable to any public disturbance resulted by indigene/settler conflict.

It says: “The government of a state in which any inter-ethnic violence has occasioned the death, displacement, disablement and injury of persons, groups or community, loss of property, shall in addition to any other punitive measure that shall be applied under Section 13 of this Act, be liable to pay adequate compensation and resettlement to the affected persons, groups or community; (2) For the purpose of section 14, the funds of the state in question shall be applied in the payment of compensation to the victims of the violence or their families and the reconstruction of the villages, places of worship, markets, houses or other dwelling place.”
The bill may have been rooted in the recent ethno-religious crisis in some states especially Plateau where the Hausa/Fulani and the indigenes of Jos have been at loggerheads over rights to land and property.

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