UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said she no longer identifies as Nigerian and hasn’t renewed her Nigerian passport in over two decades.
Speaking on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, Badenoch, who was born in the UK but spent parts of her childhood in Nigeria and the US, reflected on her complicated relationship with her country of heritage. She returned to the UK at age 16, a move she said was driven by Nigeria’s worsening political and economic situation.
“I’m Nigerian by ancestry, by birth (because of my parents), but by identity, I’m not really,” she said.
Badenoch explained that while she still has strong family ties in Nigeria and keeps up with events in the country, she no longer sees it as home. “Home is where my family is now,” she added.
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She revealed that she didn’t renew her Nigerian passport after the early 2000s and had to apply for a visa when she visited following her father’s death. “It was a big fandango,” she said of the process.
Badenoch said her experiences in Nigeria shaped her political values, especially her aversion to socialism. She also recalled not feeling like she truly belonged while growing up there.
“I came back to the UK in 1996 thinking, this is home,” she said. “My parents told me, ‘There’s no future for you in this country.’ That’s why I left. It was a sad reason.”
Addressing race and identity in the UK, Badenoch said she never felt out of place due to her skin color and rarely experienced racism. “I knew I would look different, but people didn’t treat me differently,” she said. “That’s why I defend the UK when people accuse it of being racist.”
Her remarks have sparked reactions, especially from Nigeria’s political leaders. Last year, Vice President Kashim Shettima accused her of “denigrating” her roots, a claim her team firmly denied.
