… Launches National Action Policy
By Palma Ileye
Federal Government has restated it’s determination to eradicate statelessness by 2024. This position was stated by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday during the launching and inauguration of high power steering committee on National Action Plan on eradication of statelessness in the country.
Delivering his key note address, Aregbesola, stated that resolving the issue of statelessness will go a long way in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, in the context of Nigeria’s Development Agenda adding that a peaceful and secured environment was a positive panacea for Nigeria to flourish with her natural and human endowment.
He said that a stateless person without allegiance or commitment to a state remained a veritable security risk, especially when statelessness was caused by war, disputed territories, nomadic-pastoralist migration, foundlings noting that a “stateless person is not detained by the high values of patriotism, love of and sacrifice for fatherland and therefore owes no allegiance to any nation.”
He pointed out that “we often take our nationality for granted, especially if we were born within a country where our race and ethnic nationalities were significantly represented while saying that not every human was so fortunate as according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, there are more than 10 million stateless persons across the globe.
“Stateless persons usually have no legal protection and right to vote. They often lack access to education, employment, healthcare, registration of birth, marriage or death, and property rights. They are vulnerable to exploitations and human trafficking.
“They are told they don’t belong to any country. UNHCR describes stateless persons as individuals who are not considered citizens or nationals under the operation of the laws of any country.”
He said that this was a global challenge in which Nigeria was also playing a leading role in eradicating and has been working in concert with other nations to find solution as Nigeria is a signatory to various International Treaties, Conventions or Declarations relating to the status of stateless persons or reduction of statelessness in West Africa.
“The endorsement of protocols in the ECOWAS Plan of Action on eradication/reduction of statelessness by 2024 prompted Nigeria to develop and domesticate her own National Action Plan, NAP, to put an end to statelessness in Nigeria.
“As you are aware, the Plan was approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on 25th November 2020. It prioritized five key areas for implementation, these are: Research, advocacy and sensitization; Preventing childhood statelessness;
Addressing statelessness caused by transfer of territory e.g. Bakasi, Eradicating gender and other forms of discrimination in the recognition of citizenship and with regards to issuance of documents of identify, as well as Protection of stateless migrants or refuges.
“These priorities were developed specifically at resolving existing situations and preventing emergence of new statelessness cases.
He argued that statelessness which diminishes human dignity does not exist even in the animal kingdom.
“Stateless persons usually have no legal protection and no right to vote. They lack access to education, employment, healthcare, registration of birth, marriage or death and property right. They are vulnerable to exploitations and human trafficking, Aregbesola said”
He added that statelessness was a global challenge in which Nigeria was playing a leading role in eradicating and has been acting in concert with other nations to find solution.
He affirmed that Nigeria was a signatory to various international treaties, conventions or declarations relating to the status of stateless persons and eradication of statelessness in West Africa.
He said “the endorsement of protocols on eradication/reduction of statelessness by 2024 prompted Nigeria to develop and domesticate her own National Action Plan to put an end to statelessness in Nigeria.
The Minister reiterated that the action plan was approved by the Federal Executive Council on 25th November, 2020.
“Ministry of Interior under my watch as the focal Ministry on implementation of National Action Plan, NAP, to end statelessness in Nigeria will partner with relevant MDAs, the National Assembly, civil right society, state governments, UNHCR, academicians etc towards speedy and timely implementation of the plan”.
In his opening remarks, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Belgore, briefly defined statelessness as a person who has no national identity, he added that it is an unfortunate situation to the affected persons.
Belgore, identified factors that lead to statelessness in countries, as displacement by war, natural disaster, conflicts of law and migration.
The event was grace by key stakeholders, including Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Faruq, Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, Director Citizenship and Business, Mrs. Moremi Soyinka-Onijala and other Directors of the Ministry of Interior and other Ministries.
