Former Lagos State governor and immediate past Minister of Works Babatunde Fashola has dismissed claims that he holds dual citizenship, saying he is Nigerian by choice and conviction.
Mr Fashola made the statement on Tuesday in Abuja during his keynote address at the Nigeria Reputation Summit 2026, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
He spoke on national identity, migration, patriotism and Nigeria’s global image, urging Nigerians at home and abroad to take collective ownership of the country and its challenges.
“I don’t think we own Nigeria enough. So, I hear some of our colleagues and our compatriots who, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, have dual citizenship. But I have only one,” Fashola said.
“And when they talk to me, they say, your country. I say, stop. It’s our country. Your problem is our problem. There must be a common ownership on every platform. If we have common ownership, we will solve it,” he added.
Fashola said his sense of identity was shaped from childhood, stressing that his education and formation were entirely within Nigeria.
“So, from my childhood experience, I tell people I’m not just a proud Nigerian, I’m an arrogant one. I’m arrogant about my country,” he said.
“I tell people that I have not received one day’s education outside this country. All my education was here. So, proudly made in Nigeria. Arrogantly, too. So everything, every inch that we think that we have lost, we can get back if we decide to.”
Reflecting on migration trends, Fashola said the movement of Nigerians abroad, now popularly called “Japa”, has existed for decades.
“When we graduated from the University of Benin, not a few of our colleagues left Nigeria. The wave of the movement at that time, in the 80s, was checking out,” he said.
“It was not unusual to hear things like, ‘I’m tired of this country, I want to check out.’ Now it’s Japa, 35 years after. So the more things change, the more they seem to remain the same. But you know what has happened? Almost all of them have come back.”
He argued that Nigeria continues to offer opportunities for social mobility.
“So, why is this? Nigeria is a land of opportunities. This is a land of unending possibilities. This is where the biggest rags-to-riches stories have happened and where people of the most humble beginnings have risen to the top of leadership,” he said.
“Look at Nigeria’s history. Which son of a king or a billionaire ever made it to our presidency? Think about it. We spend so much time valorising other people’s dreams.”
Fashola cautioned against allowing the actions of a few individuals to define Nigeria’s image.
“Yes, there are a few people amongst us who choose a path that gives us cause for concern. But they do not define us. They do not reflect what right-thinking and well-meaning people believe about us,” he said.
He also recalled an encounter in London where a shopkeeper reacted positively on learning they were Nigerians.
“He left us in the shop, went upstairs, excited, brought his wife and his children down, and asked if we would please take photographs with them,” Fashola said.
According to him, such experiences occurred at a time when Nigeria faced security challenges.
“The point I wish to make from that is that there is no country without its challenges. And how we embrace those challenges is what defines us, not the challenges themselves,” he added.
