By Citizen Richard Odusanya

I am the father of three grown-up children who hold dual citizenship. My first two children, a son and a daughter, are British-Nigerian by birth, while my youngest is American-Nigerian by birth.

I celebrate them and the opportunities their dual citizenship provides. I am not writing out of resentment, jealousy or bitterness.

I write instead as a steward asking a simple but difficult question: When God gives you two passports — double grace — what additional responsibility do you owe the country of your blood?

For years, Nigeria’s debate over dual citizenship has been trapped between two extremes. Some celebrate it as a status symbol, proudly declaring that their children are “Britico,” while others condemn it as evidence of declining patriotism.

I believe both positions miss the deeper issue.

The real question is not whether dual citizenship is inherently good or bad. The question is stewardship.

What have we done with the opportunities we have received? What responsibilities have we neglected? And what could we have done differently with the privileges placed in our hands?

THE IMPLICATIONS WE HAVE REFUSED TO DOCUMENT

1. The Escape Route Dynamic and a New Form of Stratification

Dual citizenship can create two different realities for Nigerians.

One group remains completely tied to local circumstances — rising fuel prices, insecurity, overcrowded hospitals, difficult passport processes and the everyday struggles of living in Nigeria.

Another group possesses something fundamentally different: an alternative destination.

When economic or political conditions deteriorate, those with a second passport have the option of leaving.

From an individual family perspective, that may be a practical and understandable decision. But collectively, it raises an uncomfortable question:

When some of the people with the loudest voices have an exit route, who remains behind to fight for those who have nowhere else to go?

This is one of the issues I encountered in my WITNESS 2026 documentation involving 37 young Nigerians. Many of them have no second country to call home.

That difference matters.

2. Brain Drain or Brain Gain? The Ledger Must Balance

There is undoubtedly a positive side to the Nigerian diaspora.

Diaspora Nigerians send billions of dollars home every year. They bring investments, professional expertise, international connections and new ideas. Dual citizens can serve as bridges between Nigeria and the countries in which they live.

That is grace.

But stewardship requires us to examine the other side of the balance sheet.

How much of the movement of people and capital represents investment in Nigeria, and how much represents insurance against Nigeria?

How much capital moves into London, Dubai and other destinations because people want an alternative to the Nigerian system?

How many doctors, engineers, academics and other professionals leave permanently because their second country provides opportunities and security they cannot find at home?

We celebrate the gain.

But are we honestly measuring the drain?

3. Where Does Allegiance Lie — Constitutionally or Functionally?

Legally, the Nigerian Constitution provides for allegiance to Nigeria.

Emotionally, many dual citizens remain deeply connected to the country. They identify as Nigerians, maintain family ties and contribute to communities back home.

But functional allegiance can be more complicated.

When security, healthcare, children’s education and the rule of law are at stake, people naturally gravitate toward the environment they believe offers greater protection.

That does not necessarily make them traitors.

It is human survival.

A mother will naturally choose the passport that can give her child access to a hospital bed when the child is critically ill.

The real crisis begins when the holder of multiple nationalities also occupies public office and the second passport becomes more than an avenue for personal security.

It becomes a possible shield from accountability.

4. The Accountability Loophole — The Heart of My Concern

This is where I believe stewardship becomes particularly important.

A second passport should never become a second shield against accountability.

Consider the case of a former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources who served between 2010 and 2015 before relocating to the United Kingdom after the 2015 elections.

She was arrested by the UK’s National Crime Agency in October 2015 and was later charged in 2023 over allegations involving bribery and conspiracy.

On June 17, 2026, a jury at Southwark Crown Court acquitted her after extensive deliberations. Reports indicated that the prosecution had been unable to produce alleged bribe-givers as witnesses.

The court has spoken, and its decision must be respected.

This argument is therefore not about declaring anyone guilty or innocent.

It is about examining the system.

While the long-running UK proceedings unfolded, Nigerian legal proceedings reportedly faced delays because of her absence from the country. Nigerian courts had also reportedly ordered the forfeiture of assets worth billions of naira connected to her.

Twelve years is a very long time.

A child can be born, grow up and enter secondary school within that period.

If a former public official can remain outside the country for years while legal proceedings struggle to progress, while an ordinary Nigerian with only one passport is expected to appear before a court when summoned, then we have to ask whether our system has unintentionally created different standards of accountability.

One citizenship for accountability. Two citizenships for escape.

That cannot be the standard we should aspire to.

FROM ESCAPE ROUTE TO BRIDGE — WHAT MUST CHANGE

Dual citizenship is not a sin.

But I believe dual citizenship without corresponding responsibility creates a stewardship problem.

Here is the five-point framework I propose through CIVICS ARCHIVES:

i. Disclosure, Not a Ban

Nigeria should not reject the expertise and resources of its diaspora.

Instead, we should demand transparency.

Code of Conduct Bureau forms should be strengthened to require politically exposed persons seeking Senate screening or other public appointments to disclose second nationalities and foreign residency.

The goal should be disclosure, not exclusion.

ii. Appearance Undertaking

Politically exposed persons who hold multiple nationalities should be required to commit to returning to Nigeria when required for criminal proceedings.

Where appropriate legal mechanisms exist, trial in absentia and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties should be strengthened so that a person’s physical absence does not automatically bring proceedings to a standstill.

iii. Fix Belonging at Home

We should also ask why Nigerians seek belonging elsewhere.

Nigeria itself has struggled with questions surrounding indigeneity and residency.

A Nigerian who spends decades living and contributing to another part of the country can still be labelled a “settler.”

That weakens the meaning of citizenship.

We should consider reforms that give long-term residents stronger rights in the communities where they live and contribute.

If citizenship becomes more meaningful within Nigeria, Nigerians may have fewer reasons to see foreign citizenship as their only route to security and belonging.

iv. Strengthen International Legal Cooperation

Nigeria should deepen and accelerate Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements with countries where large numbers of Nigerians live, including the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

Virtual testimony, cross-border investigations and effective mechanisms for asset recovery should become easier to use.

Physical absence should not automatically translate into institutional paralysis.

v. Turn Diaspora Privilege Into National Investment

The second passport can become a bridge rather than an escape route.

Nigeria could provide incentives and national recognition for dual citizens who make verifiable investments in critical areas such as polytechnic laboratories, primary healthcare centres, NYSC innovation hubs and forensic accounting institutions.

The objective should be simple:

Convert privilege into service.

CLOSING

My children hold British and American passports because they were born with that privilege.

But I want them to carry a Nigerian passport with pride because they have chosen to remain connected to the country of their heritage.

History will not only remember what we did.

It will also remember what we were given the opportunity to do — and what we failed to do despite having the grace to do it.

If you have been given the double grace of two passports, perhaps history will demand from you a double measure of stewardship.

Let us write a third story.

Not the story that Nigeria is the worst place in the world.

Not the story that everything is already fine.

But the story of Nigerians who choose to build despite the difficulties, contribute despite the frustrations and serve because they understand that privilege carries responsibility.

Citizen Richard Odusanya
Apostle of Conscience
Convener, WITNESS 2026 & CIVICS ARCHIVES
Conscience, Competence, Character