British Minister Badenoch’s ‘Not Nigerian’ remark sparks widespread backlash

Speaking on the Rosebud Podcast with Gyles Brandreth, Badenoch revealed that she hasn’t renewed her Nigerian passport in over 20 years and now fully identifies with the United Kingdom, where she lives with her family.

“I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity I’m not really,” she said, adding that, “I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I am very interested in what happens there.”

The comment struck a nerve in Nigeria, where national identity and diaspora pride remain deeply significant especially when expressed by someone of Nigerian heritage in such a prominent international role.

As a beneficiary of automatic British citizenship by birth, Badenoch noted that she was one of the last individuals to receive this privilege before the policy was scrapped in 1981.

For her, discovering her British citizenship was a game-changer. “Home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children, it’s my husband and my brother and his children, in-laws” she emphasized, also considering the British Conservative party as an integral part of her extended family.

Kemi Badenoch highlighted that her decision to relocate to the UK as a teenager was driven by her parents’ concerns about Nigeria’s unstable political and economic climate.

“I think the reason I came back here was actually a very sad one, and it was that my parents thought: ‘There’s no future for you in this country,’” she said.

Her remarks, including past claims about difficulty transmitting Nigerian citizenship to her children, have reignited debate over national identity, diaspora disconnection, and the cultural politics of belonging.

The backlash to Kemi Badenoch’s remarks intensified as prominent Nigerian voices, including former Senator Shehu Sani, publicly condemned her comments.

“If she has rejected Nigeria, she should at least return our name,” Sani wrote on social media, referring to her Yoruba first name, Kemi.

He questioned why Badenoch, who claimed she cannot transmit Nigerian citizenship to her children, would seek rights from a country she has disavowed.

Badenoch made the citizenship claim during an earlier CNN interview, remarks that have since been widely countered.

Sani responded sharply: “Why should Kemi Badenoch be bothered about getting Nigerian citizenship for her offspring from a country she rebuked and rejected? She should just enjoy her adopted home and leave us alone in our father’s home.”

In further posts, he accused Badenoch of projecting disdain for her heritage while benefiting from its cultural visibility. He also countered her claim about citizenship, noting that Nigeria’s constitution does not bar women from passing on nationality to their children.

He doubled down in subsequent posts, accusing Badenoch of projecting disdain for her heritage while benefitting from its visibility.

“Enjoy your adopted home and leave Nigeria alone,” he wrote, reflecting frustration over her repeated efforts to distance herself from the country of her ancestry.

Sani also challenged her claim about citizenship, noting that Nigeria’s constitution does not discriminate against women in passing on nationality.

Presidential aide, Dada Olusegun, also criticised the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, over her comments on Nigerian citizenship.

Reacting to the claim in a post via his X handle, Olusegun accused Badenoch of deliberately misrepresenting Nigeria’s laws.

“Aunty @KemiBadenoch, why do you continue to lie against your motherland? Why this continuous, dangerous, and desperate attempt to malign Nigeria?” he wrote.

He added: “Chapter 3, Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution states that if the Nigerian woman is a citizen by birth, her children, whether born in Nigeria or abroad, are Nigerian citizens by descent, automatically under Section 25 of the Constitution.

“This holds regardless of the father’s nationality. You do not need to apply for registration or naturalisation for her child to be a citizen.”

Prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) echoed this constitutional clarification. According to Section 25 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, a child born to either a Nigerian father or mother is entitled to citizenship by birth.

“Badenoch’s claim that her children can’t obtain Nigerian citizenship because she’s a woman is legally incorrect and misleading,” Falana said in a televised interview.

He argued that such a statement reflects ignorance of Nigerian law and risks misinforming the public, especially those in the diaspora.

This is not the first time Badenoch has come under fire for comments on race, identity, or heritage. Her positions on issues ranging from colonialism to Black Lives Matter have frequently drawn criticism for catering to right-wing audiences.

Her latest remarks have only deepened the divide.

As diaspora voices grow louder and Nigerian officials demand greater respect from their global descendants, Badenoch faces increasing scrutiny, not only over what she said, but why she felt the need to say it at all.