Citizen but not Indigene: A Constitution Quagmire: The Case Study of Nnanna in Across the Gulf

Nigeria is one of the most ethnically diverse nation in the world. Unfortunately, the constitution negatively weaponised this into tribal-nations through indigeneship as against clear-cut citizenship. Over a century of her formation, the country stills grapples with the ugly reality of ethnic divides. This is the idea the novel Across the Gulf encapsulates through the protagonist, Nnanna. The study is based on hermeneutics literary theory cum Hans-Georg Gadamer’s approach. While there are burgeoning publications on the challenges of being a citizen yet not on being an indigene, this paper analytically studies the effects of the constitutional provisions and questions the logic of instituting indigene-settler quaalude as seen in life of Nnanna in the novel. The study finds that the past inundates the present especially on the children. The paper therefore calls for the abolition of the indigeneity clause from the Constitution and the Native Authority Law of 1954 for the sake of tangible patriotic national unity. Our national identity should not be hinged on indigeneship but citizenship.