By Kolawole Ojebisi
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has tackled Kemi Badenoch, leader of UK’s Conservative Party over her recent comments about Nigeria.
Badenoch, a 44-year-old of Nigerian descent, left the shores of the country in 1996 at the age of 16.
In the heat of her campaign for the position of leader of the Tories, Badenoch had used some words many considered unprintable to describe her place of birth, Nigeria.
She described Nigeria as a socialist nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.
“This is my country. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from,” she said.
“I grew up in Nigeria and I saw first hand what happens when politicians are in it for themselves, when they use public money as their private piggy banks, when they pollute the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.
“I saw what socialism is for millions. I saw poverty and broken dreams. I came to Britain to make my way in a country where hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere.”
Badenoch also said she “grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it. Triple checking that all the doors and windows are locked, waking up in the night at every sound, listening as you hear your neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten, wondering if your home would be next”.
But speaking at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the State House in Abuja on Monday, Shettima took a swipe at the leader of the Tories.
The Vice -President urged Badenoch to change her name “Kemi” which speaks volumes of her ancestry if she is so ashamed of her Nigerian roots.
“Rishi Sunak, the former British prime minister, originally from India, a very brilliant young man… he never denigrated his nation of ancestry nor poured venoms on India,” the vice-president added.
“Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Labour or Conservative Party. We are proud of her in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin.
“She is entitled to her own opinions; she has even every right to remove the Kemi from her name but that does not underscore (sic) the fact that the greatest black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria.
“One out of every three, four black men is a Nigerian and by 2050, Nigeria will surpass the United States, will be the third most populous nation on earth.”
Shettima is the first prominent leader to have criticized Badenoch for her seeming denigrating statements about Nigeria.
Recall that the former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode had in October flayed Badenoch on her official X handle.
“A very s****d little girl and notoriously self-righteous b***h barks. Ever considered staying in the place you “ran away from” and trying to fix it? You are worse than Aunty Jemima, the female version of Uncle Tom” Fani-Kayode had written
