Lebanese Are Largest Foreign Nationals Conferred With Nigerian Citizenship – Ministry Of Interior

The Federal Ministry of Interior has revealed that the largest group of foreign nationals conferred with Nigerian citizenship recently are from Lebanon.

The Director, Citizenship and Business, Ministry of Interior, Barrister Moremi Shoyinka O, disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday during the 2022 Conferment Ceremony of Nigerian Citizenship by naturalization and registration on deserving foreign nationals at Old Federal Secretariat, Area 1, Abuja.

The new citizens converged at the Ministry of Interior building.

They will be taken to the Presidential Villa for another time with President Muhammadu Buhari and other government officials.

208 of these new citizens were by naturalization while 78 foreign women who married Nigerian men were also granted citizenship by marriage.

Moremi explained that the decision to approve their citizenship was based on their contribution to the Nigerian society.

She added that a lot of them are business men and women who have invested greatly in society, adding that some of them
run charitable organizations.

She said the development is proof that there are lot of people who believe in Nigeria “as we do.”

She said, “It’s been quite a while in the making, most of the applicants you see here, some of them have been in the queue for up to eight to ten years.

“The process is long but it’s worth the wait, alot of checks have to be carried out on them before the President and Council grants them citizenship.

“So we had too many that we felt that we should do it altogether and we are going to celebrate them for their endurance, interest and love for Nigeria.

“The largest group of new citizens are from Lebanon; and Syria, we have from United States, Italy , Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, all over the world, Asia as well.

“We have 208 new citizens by naturalization, 78 by registration, that is, foreign women married to Nigerian men; making a total of 286 new Nigerians.”

“For example, one of those whose citations will be read at the Presidential Villa has been in Nigeria for 48 years and has been taken care of orphans, people with HIV.

“We have some from the academia, there is a Professor who has taught for more than 40 years, in mathematics, so they have given a lot to society, they’ve increased our diversity, our body of knowledge and we just glad to have them here and it shows that it’s not all bad about Nigeria.”

On his part, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, appreciated the new citizens for believing in Nigeria.

“It is a huge joy for me to superintend the naturalization of foreign adult citizenship.

“I thank all of you for your willingness to be part of us and I pray that God will bless your integration and membership of our nation, ” he said.

One of the Lebanese-Nigerian told THE WHISTLER that he loves the friendly disposition of Nigerians.

“My name is Rabeeb Lawal, I’m a second generation in my father, my father is late and he was here, in Ibadan.

“So I’ve been in Nigeria since 2001, I’ve been here for more than 15 years.

“I applied for Nigerian citizenship since 2017.

“I just love Nigeria, I love the nature and the people are very friendly.

“I like some Nigerian foods, I have a lot of Nigerian friends. I’ve been living in the UK for some time but I always like to come back to Nigeria, I feel like it’s my country.

“I just got married last month to German,” he said, describing himself as a business man, who “just invests”.

A Philipine-Nigerian, Saduana Abdusala who married from Nigeria also told our Correspondent that she loves the warmth and food in Nigeria.

Paying tribute to her Nigerian husband, she said he has “character and is a good man”.

She added that she applied for Nigerian Citizenship ten years ago.

According to her, she loves Egusi and pounded yam.