Kemi Badenoch, a prominent minister within the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has once again distanced herself from her Nigerian heritage, reaffirming that she does not consider herself Nigerian despite her roots and early years spent in the country.
Speaking during an appearance on GB News, a segment that was later circulated on TikTok on Tuesday, Badenoch sought to dispel any ambiguity surrounding her national identity.
According to her, although Nigeria is a part of her ancestry, her principal allegiance lies with Britain. She explained that she identifies primarily as British and called on political figures to concentrate their attention on internal affairs rather than external ones.
In her words, “Well, I think that the BBC certainly wrote that headline. It wasn’t quite what I said, but it is true. My main identity is as British. That is what I see myself as.” Badenoch further emphasized the distinction between ethnicity and nationality, remarking, “Nigeria is a nationality. It’s not an ethnicity. There’s no such language as Nigerian. There are lots of different ethnic groups there.”
Expanding on her viewpoint, Badenoch asserted that for anyone aspiring to serve in public office in the UK, full dedication to British concerns should be non-negotiable. She said, “I think that as a politician in this country, we need to be very focused on what is happening here, not what’s happening elsewhere. And every day, I see loads of Labour MPs in particular talking about every other country except the UK.”
She went on to add, “If you come to this country, you need to be very focused on making sure that you integrate. And if you’re a politician, you need to be 100% focused on British issues. And that’s basically what I was saying.”
These latest comments follow her earlier disclosure on August 1 during the Rosebud podcast with Gyles Brandreth, where she revealed that she has not renewed her Nigerian passport in over two decades. On the show, she openly declared her detachment from the Nigerian identity despite her familial and historical ties. “I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity I’m not really. I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” she said during the podcast.
Badenoch, who was born in Wimbledon, London, in 1980, spent parts of her childhood in Nigeria and later in the United States before eventually settling back in the UK at the age of 16. Her birth coincided with the last phase of automatic birthright citizenship in the UK—before the laws governing citizenship were altered during the administration of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981.
Her recent statements add to previous critical remarks she has made about Nigeria. In a previous instance reported by Verily News, Badenoch was quoted describing Nigeria as a place where “fear is everywhere.”
What You Should Know
Kemi Badenoch, born to Nigerian parents in London, has restated her position that while she holds familial and cultural links to Nigeria, her political and personal identity is entirely British.
Her remarks come amid wider discussions about national identity, belonging, and the expectations placed on immigrants and public figures in the UK.
