The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that Nigeria will not pressure Kemi Badenoch, the newly elected leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, to identify with her Nigerian heritage.
Dabiri-Erewa shared that her office had reached out to Badenoch several times but received no response.
“It depends on if she identifies the Nigerianess in her,” Dabiri-Erewa explained during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday. “We have reached out to her once or twice without any response, so we don’t force people to accept to be Nigerian.”
Dabiri-Erewa added, “If you appreciate the Nigerianess in you and you want to work with us, we are open to everybody, but we cannot force you to appreciate the Nigerianess in you. You remember the Miss Universe Nigeria in South Africa. Until she got into a little problem with South Africa, she identified with Nigeria, came to Nigeria, and we hosted her.”
Badenoch, 44, was recently elected to lead the Conservative Party after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak resigned following the party’s poor performance in the general election. She won 57% of the votes against her rival, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, making her the first black leader of a UK-wide political party.
Badenoch, who was born in London, spent part of her childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, before returning to the UK at 16. On winning the leadership, she said, “It is an enormous honour to assume the role, but the task that stands before us is tough. We have to be honest about the fact we made mistakes… It is time to get down to business, it is time to renew.”
Dabiri-Erewa reiterated that as long as a person has Nigerian heritage, they are welcome to connect with Nigeria, but ultimately, the decision to do so lies with the individual. “It depends on Kemi to decide whether she appreciates the Nigerianess in her, whether she wants to work with Nigeria, but we cannot force anybody,” she said.
