The Citizenship and Indigeneship Bill championed by the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, is a classic example of "While Men Slept," a phrase from the parable narrated by Jesus Christ in the Bible. In July, Kalu announced the withdrawal of the bill after mounting pressure from civil society organisations and pressure groups, who all raised the alarm on the danger it portends. The bill seeks to grant indigenous rights to every Nigerian who has resided in an indigenous area for up to 10 years or is married to a person indigenous to the area. This means that an Adamu from Sokoto who has spent 10 years trading in Ibadan can become an indigene of Ibadan and basically has the same rights as the original indigenes. It means a Sola from Oyo can become an Indigene in Kano, where he does business, and a Chioma from Enugu can also become an indigene of Ogun State by marrying someone from the state.

On the surface, this is a great idea for fostering national unity and cohesion. However, a closer look at the proposal reveals its dangers, especially when considered in light of the Bible, which is the word of God on how humanity should operate on earth. When God created man, he said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." However, man disobeyed God by congregating in one location instead of spreading abroad. That was when they decided to build the Tower of Babel. Instead of obeying God, they decided to do things their own way. Taking action to ensure his directive was obeyed, God confused their tongues. The people who had spoken one language suddenly realised that they couldn't understand each other because they all now spoke in different tongues. After God's action, those who spoke a similar tongue had to converge together. "So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city (Genesis 11:1-9)." God didn't stop there, because his design led to races, ethnicities and tribes. He did all these things to ensure that humanity is not united, because such unity is usually in disobedience to God and breeds evil. Even when He granted inheritance to the Israelites of the Bible, who were His chosen people, He ensured that they were divided into 12 tribes, each allocated lands separate from the others. He also warned them not to mingle or get married to aliens or people of other nationalities, especially those around them. This brief Sunday sermon highlights the fact that God Himself approves of the current structure, which establishes a demarcation and distinct identity in the world.

DSP Kalu, like the humans of old, is trying to lead Nigerians against the will of God. Citizens of this country are still suffering from the concoction created by the British colonialists, who lumped different nations together as one. Imagine the great height the Yorubas would have attained if they managed their affairs without bothering about what an Igbo man or a Hausa man thinks. And this goes vice versa. We were lumped together like crabs in a bucket, pulling each other down, yet a Deputy Speaker seeks to worsen our situation. Despite the shortcomings of the British, they still left the three major ethnicities with regional autonomy. Even though we lost the autonomy due to some people's greed, we've managed to operate in a semblance of it, leaving Nigerians with some level of peace. This will be eroded permanently if DSP Kalu's bill is passed. Identities will be lost, cultures destroyed, heritages trampled upon, and disaster unleashed. Are we okay with suffering all of these and more, all in the name of proving to the colonialists that their experiment, which goes against God's will, is superb and improving?
As I speak as a Yoruba man

Even as Nigeria has yet to pass the Indigeneship bill, we have seen someone parading himself as the Obi of Lagos, when we already have the Oba of Lagos, with ancestral ties dating back centuries. In essence, the absence of the law proposed by DSP Kalu is why Nigeria is still enjoying a semblance of peace. If the bill is passed, you can rest assured that the bandits hiding and operating illegally in every forest in the country will automatically become owners of such places. It is worth noting that they are currently displacing the indigenes via violence, kidnapping and genocide. A Fulani man who is Sarkin Hausa in Lagos State can be elevated to the same status as the Oba of Lagos, on a land he and his ancestors never bled for. He can never love that land and keep it protected like those who bled for it to be peaceful. With DSP Kalu's bill, Yoruba traditional adherents may find it challenging to carry out Oro and other traditional practices dating back over a hundred years due to opposition from Emeka and Adamu, who are unfamiliar with and uninterested in the traditions of the land they will now become indigenous to, as a result of a pen.
I love Lagos so much and was born and raised in the city. However, nothing can replace my beloved Ogbomosho in Oyo State, which is my hometown and origin. The last thing I want to do is wake up and see that everybody can now claim to be from Ogbomosho, despite decades of mocking it as a "brown roof republic." Even though DSP Kalu's bill will make me an indigene of Lagos, I do not fancy it because I cherish my state of origin. I believe every soil has its own blessing from God, who bestowed it with everything needed for prosperity. It won't be very intelligent of me to embrace Lagos indigeneship while discarding Ogbomosho simply because I'm too myopic to see the untapped riches the land has to offer.
Who will be the new indigenes?

I still speak as a Yoruba man. Won't it be very foolish of me to share indigene rights with an Emeka that has spent the last 13 years screaming "Biafra or Death"? How will Yoruba land accommodate an Adamu who only wants to be guided by Sharia laws and sees banditry as some form of freedom fighting? The people who will benefit greatly from DSP Kalu's bill are the same individuals who guard their own region and property with great care. They employ all forms of violence to ward off migrants and investors to the point of displacing their people. How can people who do such things to their own lands be trusted to keep the peace in the region they will now become indigenous to? How can people who boast daily that they have "bought all your lands" be trusted with not displacing you once they have the numbers?

God, in His infinite wisdom, has blessed every race and ethnicity with gifts and everything necessary for survival. Every ethnicity in Nigeria is blessed, regardless of how minority that ethnicity may be perceived to be. It is the spirit of covetousness that makes you want what others have when you have yours. DSP Kalu's bill embodies that spirit, which explains the irregularities surrounding its passage into law. When he noticed that pressure was mounting from Nigerians against the bill, he quickly announced its withdrawal. This prevented Nigerians from debating it at the ward, state, and regional levels. It doused the pressure as many thought the battle against the bill had been won. Unfortunately, DSP Kalu resurrected this same bill "While Men Slept" and included it among others that were discussed at the National Public Hearing on Nigeria's ongoing Constitutional Review held on Monday. The review, which was the culmination of the state and regional reviews, was held in Abuja, far from the indigenes who would soon see their rights snatched from them and given to strangers who are not content with being citizens alone. Such people can never be pleased, even with indigene rights. You can't placate them. With his withdrawal, DSP Kalu prevented those indigenes from debating his proposal. How many of them could afford to travel to Abuja for the final public hearing? Why was the announcement for the final hearing issued barely 24 hours before D-Day? These are among the questions that expose the ill intentions of the bill, which will be vehemently opposed by man and by God Almighty, whose will will always reign, as it happened at the Tower of Babel.

ASA