By Esther Edoh
London, UK – Conservative Party figure Kemi Badenoch has publicly stated that she no longer identifies as Nigerian, despite her ancestral roots and a significant part of her upbringing in the West African nation. The former Business and Trade Secretary revealed on a recent podcast that she has not renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s, considering the UK her true home.
Speaking on former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, Badenoch, who was born in the UK but spent her childhood in Nigeria and the US, explained her evolving sense of identity. “I’m Nigerian through ancestry,” she affirmed, “but by identity, I’m not really.”
Badenoch returned to England at the age of 16 in 1996, a decision prompted by Nigeria’s worsening political and economic climate and her parents’ desire for her to continue her education. “It was that my parents thought: ‘There is no future for you in this country’,” she recounted, describing her return as “a very sad one.”
She elaborated on her decision not to renew her Nigerian passport, stating, “I don’t identify with it anymore. Most of my life has been in the UK and I’ve just never felt the need to.” She added that even a visit to Nigeria following her father’s death required a visa, which she described as “a big fandango.”
Her early experiences in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos, significantly shaped her political outlook. “I remember never quite feeling that I belonged there,” she said, highlighting how this period influenced “why I don’t like socialism.” In contrast, she recalled “coming back to the UK in 1996 thinking: this is home.”
Badenoch also used the podcast to defend the UK against accusations of racism, drawing on her personal experience. She stated she had not encountered racial prejudice “in any meaningful form” in the UK. “I knew I was going to a place where I would look different to everybody, and I didn’t think that that was odd. What I found actually quite interesting was that people didn’t treat me differently, and it’s why I’m so quick to defend the UK whenever there are accusations of racism.”
Her comments on Nigeria follow previous criticism she received last year for speaking about growing up in fear and insecurity in Nigeria amidst corruption. Nigeria’s Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, responded by saying his government was “proud” of Badenoch “in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin,” a critique which a spokesperson for Badenoch rebuffed at the time.
Despite her current stance on identity, Badenoch maintains a connection to her heritage. “I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” she noted on the podcast. However, she concluded, “But home is where my now family is.”
