Conservative Party stalwart Kemi Badenoch has publicly distanced herself from her Nigerian heritage, revealing on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast that she hasn’t renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s. The UK Business Secretary, born to Nigerian parents but raised across three continents, stated:
“By identity, I’m not really [Nigerian]”—a remark likely to reignite tensions with Abuja after last year’s spat with Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
Badenoch, who spent formative years in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos before relocating to Britain at 16, described her upbringing as rootless: “I remember never quite feeling I belonged there.” Her family’s 1996 departure—triggered by Nigeria’s “worsening political and economic climate”—left her viewing the UK as home. The Tory MP credited this transnational childhood with shaping her anti-socialist political stance, recalling how “corruption and instability” colored her perceptions of her ancestral homeland.
The minister disclosed that when visiting Nigeria for her father’s funeral, she required a visa—an experience she called “a big fandango.” While acknowledging familial ties (“I have a lot of family there”), Badenoch emphasized her. British identity, noting: “Most of my life has been in the UK… I didn’t experience racial prejudice here in any meaningful form.” These comments echo her 2023 defense of Britain against “accusations of systemic racism”—a stance that previously drew ire from Nigerian officials.
The remarks risk reopening wounds from last December, when Vice-President Shettima accused Badenoch of “denigrating her nation of origin” after she cited childhood “fear and insecurity” under Nigerian corruption.
