By Citizen Richard Odusanya
I am father to three full-blown adult dual citizens. My first two — a boy and a girl — are British/Nigerian by birth. My youngest is American/Nigerian by birth. I celebrate them. I am not writing from envy, nor from bitterness.
I am writing as a steward asking: If God gave you two passports — double grace — what double responsibility do you owe the land of your blood?
For years, Nigeria’s conversation about dual citizenship has been told by two extremes. Power celebrates it as “my child is Britico.” Pessimists condemn it as lack of patriotism. Both miss the point. The real question is not whether dual citizenship is good or bad. The question is stewardship.
What did we do with the grace we were given? What did we fail to do when grace was sufficient? What did we not do right?
THE IMPLICATIONS WE HAVE REFUSED TO DOCUMENT
- The Escape Route Dynamic and Stratification:
Dual citizenship creates two classes of Nigerians. One class is bound to local realities — fuel price, insecurity, passport queues at Alausa. The other has a built-in safety net. When economic or political instability comes, they can relocate. This is pragmatic for the family, but dangerous for collective will. When those with the loudest voice have an exit, who will stay to fight for those without exit? This is what my WITNESS 2026 documentation of 37 youth showed — they have no second home. - Brain Drain vs Brain Gain — The Unbalanced Ledger:
Yes, we must acknowledge the gain. Diaspora remittances now exceed $20 billion yearly. Dual citizens channel investments, knowledge, and global networks back home. That is grace. But we must also audit the loss. How much of that movement is investment versus insurance? How much capital flight to Dubai and London, how much professional flight of doctors and engineers, is facilitated by second passport? We celebrate gain, we hide drain. - Where Lies Allegiance — Constitutional vs Functional:
Legally, Section 28 of our Constitution demands absolute allegiance to Nigeria. Emotionally, most dual citizens are proudly Nigerian. But functionally, allegiance follows where security, healthcare, children’s education, and rule of law are guaranteed. This is not betrayal, it is human survival. A mother will use the passport that guarantees hospital bed for her child. The crisis only arises when we hold public power. - The Accountability Loophole — The Core of My Concern:
This is where stewardship fails. A second passport must never become a second shield against accountability.
Consider the textbook case. A former Minister of Petroleum Resources served from 2010 to 2015 and relocated to the United Kingdom after the 2015 elections. She was arrested by the UK National Crime Agency in October 2015. In August 2023 she was charged with five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy. On June 17, 2026, a jury at Southwark Crown Court unanimously acquitted her after 46 hours of deliberation, with reports indicating the prosecution failed to produce alleged bribe-givers as witnesses.
This is not about guilt or innocence. The court has spoken in the UK, and we respect it.
It is about system. While that 11-year UK process ran, Nigerian cases reportedly stalled because she was absent from the country, despite Nigerian courts ordering forfeiture of assets worth billions of naira linked to her. Twelve years away is a full childhood. Justice delayed in two jurisdictions.
When a former public official can be unavailable for 12 years, while the youth with only a green passport must appear in court the next day, we have created single citizenship for accountability and dual citizenship for evasion. That is not stewardship.
FROM ESCAPE ROUTE TO BRIDGE — WHAT MUST BE DONE
Dual citizenship is not sin. But dual citizenship without dual stewardship is. Here is a 5-point stewardship framework for CIVICS ARCHIVES:
i. Disclosure, Not Ban: We need competence of diaspora, do not ban them. But amend Code of Conduct Bureau forms to require mandatory public disclosure of second nationality/residency during Senate screening for all politically exposed persons.
ii. Appearance Undertaking: Any PEP with dual nationality must sign irrevocable undertaking to return for criminal proceedings or accept trial in absentia with enforceable Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). No public screening without it.
iii. Fix Home First — Resident Citizenship Reform: Why do Nigerians seek foreign belonging? Because we deny local belonging. Constitution ties rights to “indigeneity” not residency. A Nigerian who lives 20 years in Kano is still called settler. Reform to 10-year residency rights will make Nigerian citizenship valuable internally.
iv. Fast-Track MLATs: Prioritize UK, US, Canada, UAE. Enable virtual testimony and asset sharing, so absence does not equal stagnation.
v. Diaspora Stewardship Bond: Turn escape route into bridge. Offer tax incentives and national honours for dual citizens who invest in verified pillars — polytechnic labs, primary health centres, NYSC innovation hubs, forensic accounting units.
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CLOSING
My children hold British and American passports by birth. I want them to hold Nigerian passport with pride by choice.
History will remember not only what we did, but what grace gave us to do that we did not do right. If you were given double grace of two passports, history will ask for double stewardship.
Let us write that third story — not that Nigeria is worst, not that all is well — but that Nigerians are builders in spite of it, and stewards because of it.
Citizen Richard Odusanya
Apostle of Conscience
Convener, WITNESS 2026 & CIVICS ARCHIVES
Conscience, Competence, Character
