By Hamilton Nwosa
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the United Kingdom Conservative Party, has stirred the honest nest again as she publicly declared that she no longer identifies as Nigerian, emphasizing her British identity.
Speaking with the press, Badenoch, who was born in London to Nigerian parents and raised in Lagos, stated: “I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity, I’m not really. I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there. But home is where my now family is.”
Badenoch, born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke in Wimbledon in 1980, spent her early years in Nigeria and the United States before returning to the UK at age 16.
She highlighted that she has not renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s, underscoring her shift in identity.
“I don’t identify with it anymore; most of my life has been in the UK, and I’ve just never felt the need to,” she added.
Her remarks have sparked discussion, particularly in Nigeria, where some have criticized her for distancing herself from her heritage.
This also comes after Nigeria’s Vice-President Kashim Shettima previously suggested Badenoch could “remove the Kemi from her name” if she was not proud of her “nation of origin,” a response to her comments about corruption and insecurity in Nigeria during her upbringing.
