Group to LASG: Issuance of digitalised Indigeneship certification by private firm should be reversed

By Our Reporter 

Indigenes of Lagos State, under the aegis of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, have kicked against decision by the state government to outsource the indigeneship certification process to a private firm, saying that it was a quiet decision by the state government that must be strictly scrutinised and immediately reversed. 

The indigenous group, while opposing the move, in a statement titled: "The Capture of Lagos Identity by an inactive sole proprietorship concern," and signed by Comrade Lasisi Robert, said it was a quiet decision by the state government that must be strictly scrutinised and immediately reversed. 

The indigenous Lagos State socio-cultural group said what appeared on the surface as digitization "is the most far-reaching attempt yet to centralize, commodify, and ultimately dilute the indigeneship of Lagosians." 

This was just as De Renaissance Patriots Foundation noted that historically and constitutionally indigeneship certificates in Lagos had been issued by two authorities. 

The group identified the Local Government Authorities, which it said possessed detailed historical knowledge of families, lineages, and communities, and the traditional institutions, especially the Oba of Lagos, whose custodianship predates colonial administration. 

“These institutions are not incidental; they are the lawful pillars of identity verification. To replace them with a private vendor that is worse, inactive and sole proprietorship is to elevate convenience over culture, software over sovereignty, and opacity over legitimacy,” the group said. 

The body also claimed that lately the University of Lagos (UNILAG) reportedly began rejecting indigeneship certificates issued by local governments and insisting on the new, state-generated certificates. 

"This development has triggered alarm among communities, students, and families across the state. For the first time in history, local governments are no longer the primary issuers of identity and Traditional institutions have been bypassed by an unregistered contractor who has been positioned as a gatekeeper of lineage. This is not progress," the group said. 

The group warned that with the situation, Lagos risks becoming a "captive state" where its identity can be easily claimed by non-indigenes.