The former presidential candidate and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has criticised Nigerians for focusing more on British politician Kemi Badenoch’s denial of her Nigerian identity than on citizens who still embrace their nationality.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Mr Sowore said Nigerians appear overly fixated on Ms Badenoch’s recent remarks, while neglecting to celebrate or support those who continue to identify with the country.
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“Nigeria is obsessed with Kemi Badenoch because she said she no longer identifies as Nigerian, and then we don’t care about those who still identify or are identified as Nigerians!” he wrote.
Background
Ms Badenoch, a senior minister in the United Kingdom’s Conservative government and a prominent figure in British politics, sparked controversy over comments she made about her national identity during an interview on Rosebud, a podcast hosted by Gyles Brandreth.
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In the episode, Ms Badenoch said she no longer identifies as Nigerian, despite her heritage and early upbringing in the country. She also revealed she has not renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s.
“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. “I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there… But home is where my now family is… The Conservative Party is very much part of my extended family, I call it.”
Born to Nigerian parents in London in 1980, Badenoch spent much of her childhood in Nigeria and the United States. She returned to the UK at age 16 to continue her education amid political and economic instability in Nigeria. She said her parents felt there was no future for her in Nigeria at the time.
“I think the reason that I came back here was actually a very sad one, and it was that my parents thought: ‘There is no future for you in this country.’” She added that she “never quite felt” she belonged in Nigeria.
Ms Badenoch’s remarks have reignited long-standing criticisms of her political stance and public comments on Nigeria.
She has previously faced backlash for her incessant commentaries on her Nigerian heritage.
In 2022, when her father, Femi Adegoke, a medical doctor, died in Nigeria, she described her experience obtaining a visa as a “big fandango” due to bureaucratic hurdles.
In December 2024, Vice President Kashim Shettima publicly accused Ms Badenoch of repeatedly disparaging Nigeria.
While acknowledging her right to express personal views, Mr Shettima said she was free to stop using her first name if she no longer wished to be associated with the country.
“One out of every three, four Black men is a Nigerian, and by 2050, Nigeria will support the United States and will be the third most populous nation on earth,” Mr Shettima said.
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