Kemi Badenoch no longer regards herself as a Nigerian, inspite of her complexion and the dialectal name – ‘Kemi’

Kemi Badenoch Distances Herself from Nigerian Identity, Declares UK Her True Home

British Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch has publicly stated that she no longer identifies as Nigerian, describing her ties to the West African country as ancestral rather than personal. Speaking candidly on the Rosebud podcast, the prominent Tory politician reflected on her evolving sense of identity and her strong attachment to the UK, which she now calls her true home.

Born in Wimbledon in 1980 to Nigerian parents and raised in Lagos, Badenoch revealed she has not held a Nigerian passport for over two decades. “I have not renewed my Nigerian passport, I think, not since the early 2000s,” she said. “I don’t identify with it any more, most of my life has been in the UK and I’ve just never felt the need to.”

Despite her Yoruba heritage and deep familial connections to Nigeria, Badenoch expressed a clear shift away from the identity she once embraced. “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, and I’m very interested in what happens there. But home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children, it’s my husband and my brother and his children, in-laws.”

She recounted her last visit to Nigeria in 2022, which was for the burial of her father, Dr Femi Adegoke. The journey, she explained, required a visa and involved what she described as a “big fandango,” highlighting her practical disconnect from Nigerian citizenship.

Badenoch also shared reflections on her childhood in Lagos, noting that although she felt both British and Nigerian growing up, her parents encouraged her to seek a future elsewhere. “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 said. “I remember never quite feeling that I belonged there.”

Now a senior member of the Conservative Party and often mentioned as a potential future leader, Badenoch described the party as her “extended family.” She said, “It’s instinct, we recognise each other, we have the same sort of squabbles… Anybody who’s got an extended family with lots of drama will recognise that.”

Her stance on Nigeria has not gone without controversy. She has previously drawn criticism for her remarks on the country’s corruption and history of military rule. In December, Nigeria’s vice president suggested that if Badenoch was not proud of her Nigerian heritage, she could drop her first name altogether. Her spokesperson responded at the time, asserting that Badenoch “stands by what she says” and “is not the PR for Nigeria.”

Having moved to the UK at age 16 to pursue her studies, Badenoch told the podcast that her experience in Britain has often defied racial expectations. “I did not experience prejudice in any meaningful form… That doesn’t mean prejudice doesn’t exist… But I didn’t, not seriously.”

As Badenoch continues to rise in British politics, her comments reflect a broader conversation about identity, heritage, and belonging—one that resonates far beyond the corridors of Westminster.