Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary and leader of the UK Conservative Party, has stated that the UK is now her home in every way and that she no longer identifies with her original nation of Nigeria. In an interview with Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast on Friday, Badenoch talked candidly about her family, identity, and her emotional distance from Nigeria despite her ancestry.
“I have not renewed my Nigerian passport; I think not since the early 2000s. I don’t identify with it (Nigeria) anymore; most of my life has been in the UK, and I’ve just never felt the need to,” Badenoch stated
She said that in order to visit Nigeria during the time of her father’s death, she needed to secure a visa. She emphasized that her identity has long ago changed, even if she admitted that she is Nigerian by origin and maternal descent.
“When my dad died, I had to get a visa to go to Nigeria. Because 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.
Kemi Badenoch claimed that despite this distance, she still has a deep interest in Nigeria, especially due to her familial links. “I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” she continued. Badenoch felt certain that her present reality has British roots when she considered her sense of belonging.
“Home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children; it’s my husband and my brother and his children and in-laws. The Conservative Party is very much part of my family, my extended family, I call it.”
She also described the circumstances behind her 16-year-old departure from Nigeria for the UK, which she explained was motivated by her parents’ lack of optimism for the future of their nation.
“I think 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”
