Am I Internally Displaced? - Citizenship or indigenship

Am I internally displaced? this is a question that I have had to always ask myself for every time I fill an official document that requires my state of origin. Today I had to ask myself that same question again after coming across a viral tweet that asked to reply your tribe. Just after tapping to reply the tweet, it then hit me hard! what tribe do I actually belong to ? what state am I actually from?  

Now let me give you my background. I was born in lagos, southwest Nigeria to parents who both hail from southeast Nigeria. 18 years of my life i have lived here, schooled here, built here, I have come to speak their language and learnt to cook their local dishes but yet for every time there's an official document to fill like a bank account opening, national identification card or examination forms, I have to put Anambra state as my state of origin? This has to be amended and this has to be done soon. I doubt if it's just me but there's thing that happens in my head for every time I pen down Anambra state. it reduces my self esteem and makes me look upon myself with self pity. I often get mocked by friends and people whenever i claim Anambra or lagos. They would often say things like "you can't claim Anambra, you have never been there and your igbo is very funny. OR why call yourself a lagosian just because you were born here and you speak the language fluently" . Now, is that not me being an internally displaced person in my own country ? 

The only way i see myself and other people is similar situations getting out of this dilemma is scrapping the "state of origin"  question and replacing it with "state of residence" and "state of birth". That would be the best thing to enact right now because the question of state of origin has denied so many people opportunities, jobs, appointments and so much more! it's even better for the Nigerian man, imagine I was a woman and upon getting married to a northerner, I am even more confused more than ever as to where to call home. 
let me run you through the most recent incident of how the question of state of origin costs dearly. Akon Ikpeme, most senior judge in Cross Rivers state who ought to be appointed chief justice in accordance with the Nigerian constitution and long preserved legal custom was disqualified by state legislative assembly because they say that she is originally from neighboring Akwa Ibom state. Mind you, that Ms Ikpeme is married to a man from Cross Rivers state, she has been a resident of the state for decades, she has been in the state judiciary long  enough to be most senior judge but yet the question of " state of origin" was her only barrier. One more reason this case should interest you is that this is happening barely a year after the National Assembly made amendment to the federal character commission (established act) 2010 and allowed women choose their state of origin from either their husband's or father's state. but we shouldn't have a "STATE OF ORIGIN" should we ?! 

I am Martins Anumene and i am tired of being internally displaced in my OWN country. All that should matter is if I am a Nigerian with constitutionally guaranteed rights!

























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