David Mark Calls For Abolishment Of State Of Origin… Prefers State Of Residence Instead

Senate President, Senator David Mark, today in Quebec, Canada said that time has come for the country to shift from the ideology of state of origin to embrace state of residence.

He said that immediate elimination of state of origin and enthronement of state of residence would go a long way to enhance peaceful co-existence and cement relationship in the country.

Mark stated this after the opening ceremony of the 127th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, with the theme “Citizenship, identity, linguistic and cultural diversity in a globalised world” holding in the North American country.

He noted that the issue of state of origin would be addressed at the on-going constitution review as he wondered why a person who has lived in a particular place for 20 years and performing all necessary civic responsibilities could not become an indigene of the area.

He said, “You should know that one of the issues we’ve been discussing in Constitution amendment is shift from state of origin to state of residence because it is an important issue.

“You are resident in a place for 20 years and still, they don’t take you as part and parcel of that place.

“I think it’s a difficult task but in my candid opinion, I think if we have an open mind and we approach it from a nationalist perspective, rather than a small, clannish perspective, I think we would get it right.

“Let’s forget the business of state of origin and go to state of residence.

“Once you are resident in a place and you perform your civic responsibilities for the period, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t benefit, provided of course you don’t claim dual residency.

“Some Nigerians may be very clever. They would come from Ondo State and are resident in Benue, when the benefits of Benue are not commensurate with their expectations, they shift to Ondo State.

“We can’t have that. Once you take a particular area, you should just be a part and parcel of that particular state.”

16 COMMENTS

  1. Mr Senate President yor idea is good but not acceptable. Nigeria is special country with different culture, background, religion e.t.c. Do u want ppl not2 rememba dier father’s land by claimin another town or state. We have our own heritage & culture, dere4 we cant imitate america or rest of d world on ds case. Introducing state of residence may resulted in2 another crisis. Pls let us kpon claimin our fathers towns/land not state of residence.

  2. Absolutely NOT. Why? So that an Igbo can become governor of Kano or Lagos. Or a Igbo or Hausa should become ruler over Ondo or Osun state. God Forbid. You people that want to rule Lagos so bad should go and fix your state instead of trying to reap where you didn’t sow. If such a thing will happen, it will be happen on its own, not by force. Go and fix your state, so that all can enjoy.

  3. I wasn’t born in Nigeria but I grew up here and I’ve spent 21yrs now in Lagos. I didn’t know my hometown, let alone my family house over there and I have been making Lagos my state of origin. This development will make me and many more people like me to be a citizen and Nigerians will benefit from it too

  4. why is this man turning things upside down, from all indication, i don’t figure out any notion towards resident instead of origin or may be u hav an interior ambion towards considering resident instead of origin cos i donLt see how it affect this nation at all. We hv so many issue at hand that will be of good help to nigerians at large like creation of new state and other thing worth doing to enhance job opportunities to our graduates who are out there dying out of abject hunger, instead you are there talking what is not necessary. Plz mark, with due respect, change this topic at once and think of something else that will be of good help to nigerian….s at large.

  5. This is what I have been saying, we need to do away with an issue of state of origin because is causing a lot of havoc in our society. A citizen instead of of I am a Yoruba-man, Hausa or Igbo-man or Oron-man should be encourage. It will be good if someone say I a citizen of Nigeria. We are not patriotic by referring someone as an Igbo-man or Yoruba etc. This is a very good one, Jos issue and the rest of the area in Nigeria will be lay to rest.

  6. Mr Senate President, state of Origin is not the main problem facing Nigeria, it is this Northerner vs Southerner, SW vs SE vs SS vs NW vs NC vs NE, Christian vs Muslim, AK47 vs LOUD SPEAKERS etc. State of Origin can not be removed from identification of an individual Nigerian because it is a natural/cultural identity. We can still have an individual register the state of origin, state of residency and state of future preferred identity. Each of these classes should then have ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES and REWARDS associated with it. For example if your state of origin is BENUE and you have been non resident from BENUE for say last 3-5yrs and have not made any commitment to be identified with BENUE in the next 3-5yrs then you should have no justifiable right to come to BENUE just for political activities and disappear when you fail.