In many countries, the rights of those who are citizens from birth or by acquisition are the same; but others apply distinctions, especially in relation to the holding of public office. In addition, and very importantly, nationality by acquisition may often be far more easily withdrawn. 2.2. Pre-colonial and colonial periods Africa’s pre-colonial political and territorial entities had of course highly variable systems for determining who was or was not a member of each polity. As in other parts of the world, these questions were less urgent in an era of lower population densities and much less migration; but, again as in other parts of the world, there were systems for welcoming and managing travellers passing through a territory, or for integrating those who wished to stay. In the densely forested areas of central Africa, communities tended to be small enough that membership was effectively determined by family linkages rather than political, ethnic or religious affiliations. In larger communities, even in quite similar geographical zones, political structures varied widely, and membership systems accordingly: for example in the case of the Yoruba kingdoms, compared to the decentralised polities in the Igbo territories, both in the southern part of today’s Nigeria; or the empires — Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Kanem-Burnu — that succeeded each other across the Sahel. Membership of a political unit might be decided on the basis of male or (less commonly) female-line descent, with entry-points for strangers through initiation into membership of secret societies or age-grade structures, as well as payment of tribute as an indication of allegiance to a particular monarch, admission by a chief, or approval by an assembly of existing members. As in other continents, different levels of rights to membership and participation were common, between those of higher and lower status, and, of course, between men and women.3 Very often, belonging and membership was related to the grant of usage rights over land for farming or grazing, with “first-comers” assuming authority to grant “latecomers” such rights (the distinction being one of sequence of arrival in a location rather than ethnicity or other difference) — in the system today known as the tutorat in Côte d’Ivoire, or regulation through the chefs de terre or “earth priests” in Burkina Faso or elsewhere. In time, and depending on political circumstances, late-comers could be integrated into the community and themselves become “autochthonous” or “indigenous”; though an autonomous status could also be maintained indefinitely.4 The concept of nationality as we know it today in Africa came into being, however, with the creation of the European empires in Africa towards the end of the 19th century. Indeed, the laws of nationality developed internationally during the same period, as global migration greatly increased under the impact of the European expansion, and issues of identity and belonging became less closely connected procedure that gives less discretion to the state. However, again, terminology is not consistent and rights may vary in national laws. 3 See, for example, George B.N. Ayittey, Indigenous African institutions, Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY: Transnational Publishers, 1991; Said Adejumobi, “Identity, Citizenship and Conflict: The African Experience”, in W. Alade Fawole and Charles Ukeje, The Crisis of the State and Regionalism in West Africa: Identity, Citizenship and Conflict, Dakar: CODESRIA, 2005; Martin Uzochukwu Gasiokwu, ECOWAS : Problems of citizenship and free movement, Jos, Nigeria: Mono Expressions, 1998, pp.47-54; Ralph Austen, Trans-Saharan Africa in World History, OUP, 2011, pp.49-77. 4 Jean-Claude Willame, Banyarwanda et Banyamulenge: Violences ethniques et gestion de l’identitaire au Kivu, Bruxelles : Institut africain, Cahiers africains No.25 / Paris : L’Harmattan, 1997 ; Jean-Pierre Chauveau, “Question foncière et construction nationale en Côte d’Ivoire”, Politique africaine, No.78, 2000, pp.94-126, and other works by the same author, including the chapter (and contributions by other authors) in Richard Kuba and Carola Lentz (eds.), Land and the Politics of Belonging in West Africa, Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2006. 6