By LAWAL ISHAQ ESQ.
Plateau State has lived for decades with a question America answered over 150 years ago: Who is a citizen, and who is a stranger?
In Jos North, Bassa, Barkin-Ladi and Riyom, the distinction between “indigene” and “settler” has decided who gets a job, who gets a school admission, who gets a certificate, and in extreme cases, who lives and who dies. It is the most dangerous fault line in our politics.
The United States faced a similar crisis after its Civil War. Its answer was not to leave citizenship to the discretion of governors, local government chairmen, or traditional rulers. It was to put it in the Constitution.
- Citizenship is national, not local
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution (1868) says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Note the order. You are first an American citizen. Then you are a citizen of the state where you live. Your citizenship does not change because you moved from Texas to California, or from Plateau to Lagos.
In Plateau, the reverse is true. A Nigerian who has lived in Jos for 40 years, paid tax, built a house, and buried his parents there, can still be called a “settler” and denied an indigene certificate by his Local Government. That certificate is the key to almost everything.
Lesson: Plateau should push for what America already has – a single, national citizenship that cannot be downgraded by local politics. If you are a Nigerian, you are a Plateau citizen if you live in Plateau.
- Birth on the soil confers belonging
America practices jus soli – right of the soil. If you are born in America, you are American, regardless of your parents’ origin. This is currently being debated under President Trump, but the principle has held for over a century and made America the world’s greatest melting pot.
In Plateau, a child born in Jos North to parents who migrated from Kano in 1970 is still not considered an indigene in 2026. He is a third-generation “settler.” We have created permanent strangers.
Lesson: We must move from blood to soil. A child born in Plateau, schooled in Plateau, should have the same rights as any other child born in Plateau.
- Naturalization is a clear path, not a favour
In America, a foreigner can become a citizen through a clear, legal process: live there for 5 years, pass a test, take an oath. No governor needs to like you. No traditional ruler needs to approve you.
In Plateau, there is no clear path for a long-term resident to become an indigene. It is left to politics and sentiment.
Lesson: Plateau State House of Assembly should enact a Residency Law. Anyone who has lived continuously in a Local Government for, say, 10 years, paid tax, and has no criminal record, should automatically qualify for all rights and privileges of that LGA, including indigene certificate, scholarships, and appointments.
- Citizenship protects minorities
America’s system was designed to protect freed slaves from Southern states that wanted to deny them rights. The federal government overruled local prejudice.
In Plateau, the indigene/settler dichotomy has been used to protect majorities and punish minorities. It has fuelled the Jos crises of 2001, 2008, 2010 and the recurring violence in Bassa and Mangu.
Lesson: The Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has an opportunity in his second-term bid to do what no governor has done: abolish the politics of indigene certificates and replace it with residency.
This is not about erasing culture. The Berom, Ngas, Afizere, Irigwe, Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo and all others in Plateau will keep their culture, their language, their traditional stools. Citizenship is not about culture. It is about rights.
America is not perfect. Its citizenship debate is still heated. But it teaches us one thing: a state cannot develop when half its residents feel like visitors.
Plateau cannot be the Home of Peace and Tourism while its own children are strangers at home.
The time is now for Plateau to learn from America: One citizenship, one people, equal rights.
