Kemi Badenoch defends her comments on Nigeria, responds to Shettima
Kemi Badenoch has reaffirmed her support for her past statements about Nigeria after Vice President Kashim Shettima accused her of disparaging her country of origin.
The Conservative Party leader, born in the UK but raised primarily in Nigeria, has often spoken of growing up in an environment of “fear and insecurity in a country plagued by corruption.”
On Monday, Shettima suggested that Badenoch might “remove the Kemi from her name” if she was ashamed of her Nigerian roots.
In response to Shettima’s remarks, Badenoch said she “stands by what she says” and emphasized that she “is not the PR for Nigeria.”
“I am the leader of the opposition, and I am very proud of my leadership in this country,” she told reporters. “I tell the truth. I tell it like it is. I’m not going to soften my words.”
During a migration speech in Abuja, Shettima praised Badenoch but criticized her for what he described as “denigrating her nation of origin.” He also received applause when he added, “She is entitled to her own opinions; she has every right to remove the Kemi from her name, but that does not change the fact that the greatest black nation on earth is Nigeria.”
Shettima also compared Badenoch’s views to those of her predecessor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whom he described as a “brilliant young man” who never “denigrated his nation of ancestry.”
It is unclear which specific comments Shettima was referring to, though Badenoch has regularly discussed her Nigerian upbringing in speeches and interviews.
Born Olukemi Adegoke in Wimbledon in 1980, she grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and later in the United States, where her mother, a physiology professor, lectured. At 16, she moved to the UK to live with a family friend due to Nigeria’s worsening political and economic climate, eventually completing her A-levels there.
After marrying Scottish banker Hamish Badenoch, she adopted her husband’s surname.
During the Conservative Party conference this year, Badenoch reflected on the contrast between the freedoms she found in the UK and the fear she experienced in Lagos, describing it as a lawless city where she often heard “neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten – wondering if your home will be next.”
During a recent US tour, she also described Lagos as “a place where almost everything seemed broken.” These experiences, she said, have shaped her conservative views and steered her away from socialism.
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at NeptunePrime.
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