Vice President Kashim Shettima has criticised the leader of the UK Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch for her remarks about Nigeria.
Badenoch, born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents, spent much of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16. During her campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party, Badenoch described Nigeria as a socialist country plagued by corruption and insecurity.
“This is my country. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from,” Badenoch said, referencing her upbringing in Nigeria. She spoke of witnessing political corruption, poverty, and widespread insecurity, claiming these experiences shaped her conservative values.
“I grew up in a place where fear was everywhere,” Badenoch added, recalling triple-checking locks, hearing neighbours scream during burglaries, and fearing her family might be next.
Speaking at the 10th annual migration dialogue at the State House in Abuja on Monday, Shettima responded to Badenoch’s comments, emphasising the importance of migrants and expressing disappointment in her remarks.
“migrants are the source of lives in all societies,” Shettima said. “Rishi Sunak, originally from India, never denigrated his nation of ancestry. Kemi Badenoch… we are proud of her in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin.”
“She has every right to remove ‘Kemi’ from her name,” Shettima continued, “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.”
“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 the fact that the greatest black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria,” she added.
Badenoch, 44, who previously served as the UK’s shadow business and trade secretary, has been known for her hardline immigration policies and defence of Britain’s colonial history.
