Nigerians have expressed anger and frustration over recent comments by Kemi Badenoch, a Conservative Party candidate vying to succeed former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as party leader, after she criticized Nigeria in a bid to bolster her leadership credentials. In an interview with the Mail, the 44-year-old British Nigerian stated she did not want Britain to resemble the country she “ran away from.”
“This is my country,” Badenoch said. “I love it the way it is. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from. I want it to get better and better, not just for me, but for the next generation.”
Her remarks follow earlier statements describing her childhood in Nigeria as filled with fear and insecurity, claiming she grew up amid neighbors’ screams at night due to constant attacks.
Many Nigerians, however, questioned the authenticity of Badenoch’s accounts, given her upbringing in the University of Lagos community, an area known for relative safety.
Former Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, was among those who publicly condemned her statements. “A very stupid little girl and notoriously self-righteous barks,” Fani-Kayode posted on social media platform X on Saturday. “Ever considered staying in the place you ‘ran away from’ and trying to fix it? You are worse than Aunty Jemima, the female version of Uncle Tom.”
On social media, Nigerians echoed his sentiment, with @AmobiMunir remarking, “What’s she going to gain from putting down Nigeria at every given opportunity? Shame on her.” Another user, @Galacticus_Obsaid, criticized her for “disparaging the country” she was raised in, noting that “her level of intellectual submission to the UK is both shameful and deeply disappointing.”
Badenoch, known for her controversial stance on immigration, recently referred to migrants as “people who come to the UK to watch their buttocks,” further angering Nigerians who feel misrepresented by her rhetoric.
