Citizenship of a state by descent requires that______

Analyze the question: It asks what citizenship by descent requires. Descent means citizenship that comes through ancestry or blood ties, not through where you were born or live.

Explain the concept: Ways of acquiring citizenship include:

• By birth: being born in the country, as in the 1999 Constitution where one is born in Nigeria to a parent or grandparent who belongs to a Nigerian indigenous community.
• By descent: one's parents or grandparents were citizens, so one inherits citizenship through lineage.
• By registration: applying for citizenship, for example through marriage to a citizen or by long residence.
• By naturalization: a foreigner who meets residence and character requirements is granted citizenship.

Work through the options:

• A. Born and bred in the state: This is about birth and upbringing (place), not lineage. It is not descent.
• B. Mother born in the state: This is only one parent and is too narrow. Descent is not limited to the mother's birthplace.
• C. Grandparents were citizens of that state: This is about ancestry, which is the core of descent. It also matches the Nigerian constitutional idea that a person whose parents or grandparents belong to an indigenous community is a citizen.
• D. Domiciled in the state: Domicile is about residence, which is linked to registration or naturalization, not descent.

Citizenship by descent depends on one's ancestors (parents or grandparents) being citizens.

Exam tip: Link keywords to concepts: descent means ancestry, birth means place of birth, registration means application or marriage, and naturalization means long residence. If an option talks about lineage (parents or grandparents), it is usually the answer for "descent".