Seven times Kemi Badenoch has criticised Nigeria, leaders — the controversies that followed

Leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom (UK), Kemi Badenoch, is once again in the news after revealing the personal attacks she endured from British racists since becoming the first black woman to head the party, describing the scale of the abuse as “hysterical.”

Tribune Online reports that Badenoch, who has previously praised Britain multiple times as the best place in the world for black people, told the Sunday Times she had not anticipated the level of hostility that followed her election.

According to her, the criticism from fellow MPs is minimal compared to the vitriol she receives on social media, where racists target her because of her race and ethnicity.

She said: “There’s a certain cadre of people who clearly can’t cope with the fact that I won this and I’m doing it. The level of personal attacks from anonymous people it’s hysterical. Not even just from MPs. I actually don’t think it’s that many MPs. I think it’s two to three people out of 120. That’s nothing. But online as well. People used to talk about Trump derangement syndrome. I think there’s a Kemi derangement syndrome: ‘How could she possibly have done this?’.”

Badenoch, however, is no stranger to identity-related controversies. Born in Wimbledon to Nigerian parents and raised partly in Lagos before returning to Britain at 16, she has often portrayed Nigeria in ways that spark debate and, at times, outrage.

Her sharp words about the country of her parents, whether directed at its leaders, its people, or its institutions, have drawn criticism from Nigerian officials and sparked heated reactions on social media.

In this article, Tribune Online takes a look at notable times Badenoch has called out Nigeria and Nigerians in the past.

Knock on Nigeria during 2022 Conservative Party campaign 

In her first bid for the Conservative Party leadership in 2022, Kemi Badenoch leaned heavily on her Nigerian upbringing as a cautionary tale. 

She painted a stark picture of political corruption, failed governance, and broken systems, using her childhood experiences as evidence of what she believes happens when leaders put self-interest above service. 

Her campaign speech, which linked Nigeria’s dysfunction to her own political convictions, became one of the earliest and most pointed instances where she publicly invoked Nigeria in a negative light.

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 promise the earth and pollute not just the air but the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.

“I saw what socialism is for millions. It’s 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.”

2024 Conservative Party Conference

While speaking at the 2024 Conservative Party conference, Kemi Badenoch painted a grim picture of her childhood in Lagos, contrasting it with the relative stability of her life in the United Kingdom. 

She described Nigeria as “chaotic and lawless,” recalling the constant fear that gripped her family as they listened to neighbours “scream as they were being burgled and beaten” and lived with the dread of wondering if their own home would be next.

‘I’m not the PR for Nigeria’: Badenoch fires at Shettima

While Badenoch has often criticised Nigeria, she has not spared the country’s leaders either. Responding to Vice President Kashim Shettima, who called her out for making disparaging remarks about Nigeria, the MP said she stands by everything she has said about the country.

According to her, she has no interest in laundering Nigeria’s image, stressing that she was not in the business of public relations.

‘I’m a Yoruba, not Nigerian’: Badenoch not feeling it

In one of her most controversial remarks about identity, Badenoch, during an interview with The Spectator in 2024, openly questioned her connection to Nigeria as a nation. 

Rather than embracing a shared sense of national belonging, she chose instead to highlight her Yoruba roots, presenting her ethnic heritage as the truest marker of who she is.

ALSO READ: Kemi Badenoch: I’m under attacks from British racists over my race, ethnicity 

She argued that Nigeria’s national identity had little meaning for her, insisting that she related more closely to her ethnic group than to the country as a whole.

She said, “I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That’s what I really am. I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram, where the Islamism is, those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.”

Police harass, rob citizens in Nigeria, Badenoch claimed

In an interview in December 2024, Badenoch recounted her negative encounters with the Nigerian police while growing up. She described how officers would often harass and rob ordinary citizens, contrasting this with what she considered her more positive first experiences with the police in the United Kingdom.

She recalled an incident where the police stole her brother’s shoes and wristwatch, which for her illustrated the level of lawlessness she associated with Nigeria.

According to Badenoch, the poverty in the country allowed people to act with impunity, and giving guns to such officers simply became a licence for intimidation, unlike in Britain, where she believed policing standards were held to a much higher bar.

When asked if she trusted the UK police, she said, “I do. My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.

“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”

Children citizenship controversy

Badenoch also sparked debate over her children’s nationality after claiming they were not Nigerian citizens. In July 2025, during a CNN interview, Kemi Badenoch claimed that Nigerian women could not pass citizenship to their children.

The claim drew swift responses from Nigerians, including presidential aide, Dada Olusegun, who criticised what he described as her continuous attempt to malign the country.

Olusegun wrote on X, “Your children, whether born in Nigeria or abroad, are Nigerian citizens by descent, automatically under Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution. This holds regardless of the father’s nationality.

Renouncing her Nigerian identity

Earlier this month, Kemi Badenoch openly distanced herself from Nigeria, stating that she no longer considers herself Nigerian and has not held a Nigerian passport for over twenty years. 

While speaking on the Rosebud podcast with Gyles Brandreth, she explained that while her ancestry and family roots tie her to the country, she does not personally identify with it.

She described her sense of belonging as detached from the nation of her birthright, insisting that her identity is no longer shaped by Nigeria. 

According to her, although her parents are Nigerian and her background reflects that heritage, she regards herself as separate from the country and its people.

Nigeria’s leaders fire back

Badenoch’s many criticisms against Nigeria have not gone unnoticed by Nigerian leaders, who have refused to remain silent. Vice President Kashim Shettima, in a sharp rebuke last December, accused Badenoch of denigrating her homeland, comparing her unfavourably with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose public identity remains closely tied to his Indian heritage. Shettima suggested she might as well drop her Yoruba name “Kemi” if she found it a burden.

Similarly, Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, urged Badenoch to avoid disparaging her homeland to appeal to her far-right base.

Reacting to one of her criticisms, Bwala wrote on X: “I truly wish that sister Kemi Badenoch would avoid denigrating Nigeria, the country of her origin, as a weapon to please her far-right base.

“Rishi Sunak never weaponised the gang rape and other vices in India; the country of his origin just so he would impress the far-right base.”

The ‘saviour of Western civilisation’ jab by UK PM

While leaders from Nigeria have fired back at Badenoch for denigrating the country while praising the Western world, European leaders, particularly UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have also taken shots at her.

Earlier this year, during a heated exchange in the UK Parliament, Starmer publicly dismissed Badenoch’s claim of influencing government policy. Badenoch had suggested that Starmer acted on her advice by cutting the aid budget, boasting about his quick response. She also pressed him on inconsistencies in defence spending figures.

But Starmer swiftly rejected her assertion, saying she had no influence on his decisions and mocking her as someone who had appointed herself the saviour of Western civilisation in what he described as a desperate search for relevance.

“She’s appointed herself, I think, the saviour of Western civilisation. It’s a desperate search for relevance.”

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