Having read the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour, the Labour Party Governorship candidate, versus the APC I am inclined to interrogate the moral principle as against the legality or otherwise.
Simply put; if a Nigerian is born on Nigerian soil, it doesn’t matter his allegiance to any country or foreign state, the Supreme Court has decided that he/she is eligible to run for the highest office of the land. This, I believe, sets a dangerous precedent.
During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington was clear on the fact that victory could only be achieved if he could guarantee the loyalty and fidelity of his men. Hence, in 1778, he issued a general order on May 7 requiring all officers to take and subscribe to an oath renouncing King George III and supporting the United States. An experienced military commander like Gen. Washington knew the importance of sworn loyalty and fidelity to one’s country, particularly at a time of war.
In 2019, a bitterly contested presidential election in Sri Lanka saw opposition candidates question the citizenship of Gotabaya Rajapaksa who had naturalized in the United States. One opposition figure, Venerable Dr Inguruwatte Sumangala ordered a protest fast and stated publicly that “if Rajapaksa plans to be a clean leader, he must prove that he is no longer a US citizen, personally or through the US embassy. He must prove with documents to us that he renounced his US citizenship and is now a citizen of Sri Lanka.” Gotabaya would go on to relinquish his US citizenship and win the elections.
In Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who worked as an economist at the World Bank, faced huge criticism for holding dual citizenship while seeking to be president of Peru. Amidst mounting pressure, he renounced his US citizenship and went on to win the presidential election.
In 2005, Michaelle Jean, renounced her French citizenship before assuming office as Canada’s Governor-General after she faced serious criticisms from citizens. It was the same for Dr Dalia Grybauskaite, a naturalized citizen of the United States who had to give up her citizenship to become the President of Lithuania.
Interestingly, people now forget that one of the attacks on President John Kenedy from the Republicans was that he was Catholic and was likely to be more loyal to the Vatican than to the American Constitution.
I have taken time to give multiple examples to show how countries take very seriously the office of the president and why citizens never want to be placed in a position where the loyalty or fidelity of their president is in doubt. In every example above, these candidates ran with impeccable resume and were arguably the best on the ballot. Despite that, citizens of their various countries demanded that they relinquish their allegiances to the United States and went on to vote for them after they did.
The lesson here is that you cannot claim to love or sacrifice for your country if your allegiance remains to another. In whose interest will you be acting when you make a decision on the international scene and can citizens trust that their national secrets will be safe in your care if your allegiances to another country remains.
This for me is not simply a legal matter as many lawyers or partisan hacks would like it to be. It is a moral issue that goes to the heart of our sovereignty as a nation. Even if it weren’t expressly stated in the Constitution, why would any nation want to be governed by any person who has sworn to defend American interests over any other? Why would any country place their national secret and security architecture in the hands of any person who is ready to take up arms to defend the American government?
I strongly believe that just as it was resisted in Sri Lanka, Peru, Lithuania, and Canada, we must resist the urge to reward persons who have not demonstrated total loyalty to our constitution and people, with the highest office in the land.
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