Nigerian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Nigeria, as amended, and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory.
[4][5] Commonwealth countries often use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies.
[3][8] Typically, in Nigeria, there are no provisions to acquire nationality through jus soli, i.e. by birth in the territory, which means that foundlings or orphans whose parents are unknown are stateless.
[9] Those who are eligible for nationality by birth include: Naturalisation can be granted to persons who have resided in Nigeria for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the country and the responsibilities of citizenship.
The Kanem–Bornu Empire of the Kanuri arose in the eighth century and at its peak controlled territory extending across the modern nations of Chad, Nigeria and Libya.
[22] Hausa rulers lived in walled-cities and required inhabitants to pay taxes in exchange for protection from invaders.
[23][24] The various communities were involved in the Trans-Saharan trade system, which was linked to the Muslim world through Arab and Berber traders.
Missionaries were sent to the Empire in 1515 and from 1482, Portuguese merchants began establishing trading posts around Lagos and on the banks of the Benin River.
[31] He explored along the Middle Niger through 1855, reporting intact trade networks, but noted that internal strife and external attacks made the political structures vulnerable.
[32] As he made his way along the Upper Niger to Timbuktu, Barth noted that commerce networks were intact, but there was political unrest and uncertainty due largely to the aftermath of the Fula jihads.
[33] Britain purchased the Danish trading forts in West Africa in 1850 and the following year, established a diplomatic outpost at Lagos.
[28] By 1857 Britain claimed to control the entire Gambia River, which implied the government's responsibility to protect the inhabitants of the region.
[38] From 1860, war among the Yoruba states began impacting the growth of commerce from Lagos, prompting deeper consideration of establishing colonial control.
[46] Continued expansion and signing of protection treaties with local leaders established British dominance by 1882 in Nigeria.
[47] At the conference, Britain's claims of a de facto monopoly over the trade along the Niger, effectively allowed it to gain control over northern Nigeria.
The Royal Niger Company charter was revoked in 1900 and the territories which it had administrated were combined to form the Northern Nigeria Protectorate.
[52] Marriage did not affect the status of a subject of the realm,[53] but under common law, single women, including divorcées, were not allowed to be parents thus their children could not derive nationality maternally and were stateless unless legitimated by their father.
[59] Under its terms, common law provisions were reiterated for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date.
[60] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and nationality could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised.
[66] Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933.
[67] The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth.
[70][71] When Britain extended this status over a territory, it took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations.
[74][75] Until 1934, when the British Protected Persons Order was drafted, the status of BPP was not statutory, but rather granted at the prerogative of the monarch.
[82] Nigeria gained its independence on 1 October 1960, meaning that those who acquired Nigerian nationality on that date, ceased to be British.
[94] In 1974, the military government which had ruled Nigeria since a 1966 coup d'état repealed the Citizenship Act and constitutional provisions related to the automatic acquisition of nationality.
[98] Human rights monitoring organisations of international agreements like the 1999 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1961 have noted that the 1999 Constitution makes no provision for foundings or orphans with unknown parentage discovered in Nigeria or adoptees to acquire nationality.
[99] Universal Periodic Reviews have also noted that the 1999 Constitution retains gender discrimination which is prohibited under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in that while foreign wives can acquire Nigerian nationality by registration upon marriage, foreign husbands can only acquire nationality through naturalisation.