Conservative Party chief Kemi Badenoch has stated she now not identifies as Nigerian and has not renewed her Nigerian passport because the early 2000s.
“I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents… but by identity, I’m not really,” stated the North West Essex MP.
Badenoch returned to the UK at age 16 after Nigeria’s financial collapse within the Nineties and has lived in Britain ever since.
“Home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children, my husband, my brother and his children, in-laws. The Conservative Party is very much part of my family – my extended family,” she stated.
While she expressed ongoing curiosity in Nigeria and maintains robust household ties there, Badenoch emphasised that her life, profession, and residential are rooted within the UK.
The feedback observe earlier criticism from Nigerian officers. In 2024, Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima accused Badenoch of disparaging the nation throughout the Conservative Party management race, controversially stating she had “every right to remove the Kemi from her name.”
At the time, a spokesperson for Badenoch responded, saying, “She is not the PR for Nigeria.”
Badenoch additionally mirrored on how her early experiences in Nigeria influenced her political beliefs, significantly her opposition to socialism.
“I remember never quite feeling that I belonged there,” she added, recalling the bureaucratic challenges she confronted when returning to Nigeria for her father’s funeral.
Despite her remarks, Badenoch reaffirmed her curiosity in Nigerian affairs however made clear that her id and priorities are actually firmly centered in Britain.
