Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, has defended her remarks about Nigeria after Vice President Kashim Shettima accused her of disrespecting her heritage.
Badenoch, born Olukemi Adegoke in Wimbledon in 1980, spent her childhood in Lagos before returning to the UK at age 16. She has often spoken about the challenges she faced growing up in Nigeria, describing it as a country “plagued by corruption.”
On Monday, Shettima criticized Badenoch during a speech in Abuja, suggesting that if she felt no pride in her roots, she might as well “remove the Kemi from her name.”
In response, a spokesperson for Badenoch told the BBC on Wednesday that she “stands by what she says” and clarified, “She is not Nigeria’s public relations representative.” The spokesperson added, “She leads the opposition and takes great pride in her role in this country; she speaks the truth and will not soften her words.”
Shettima, however, maintained that Nigeria remains proud of Badenoch despite what he called her “attempts to denigrate her country of origin.” He contrasted her remarks with those of Rishi Sunak, the UK’s first prime minister of Indian descent, whom he described as a leader who “never denigrated his nation of ancestry.”
Badenoch’s comments about Nigeria have been a recurring theme. Earlier this year, at the Conservative Party conference, she spoke of the contrast between the freedoms in the UK and the fear she experienced growing up in Lagos. Last week, during a visit to the US, she described her hometown as “a place where almost everything seemed broken.”
Badenoch, who took her husband Hamish Badenoch’s surname after their marriage, has said that her experiences in Nigeria influenced her conservative beliefs and shaped her stance against socialism.
