UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade and leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she no longer identifies as Nigerian, despite her heritage and formative years spent in the country.
Speaking on the Rosebud podcast, Badenoch reflected on her personal history and evolving identity, explaining that while her roots are Nigerian, her current sense of self is rooted elsewhere.
“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.”
Born in London in 1980, Badenoch spent much of her early life in Nigeria and the United States before returning to the UK at 16 to pursue her A-levels, following a period of political and economic unrest in Nigeria.
“There is no future for you in this country,” she recalled her parents saying at the time. “I think the reason that I came back here was actually a very sad one.”
While she wasn’t born in Nigeria, Badenoch explained that her connection to the country stems from her parents’ nationality.Nigeria travel insurance
However, she disclosed that she hasn’t held a valid Nigerian passport for over two decades.Nigeria travel insurance
“Finding out that I did have that British citizenship was a marvel to so many of my contemporaries,” she noted, referring to the fact that she narrowly obtained British citizenship before the abolition of birthright citizenship under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981.
Badenoch also recounted the bureaucratic challenges she faced when her father, Dr. Femi Adegoke, passed away in Nigeria in 2022.Nigeria travel insurance
“A big fandango,” she said, describing the process of securing a visa just to attend his funeral.
Despite her detachment from Nigerian national identity, Badenoch emphasized the importance of her current life and relationships in shaping who she is today.Nigeria travel insurance
“The Conservative Party is very much part of my family, my extended family, I call it,” she added, referencing her deep ties to the party she now leads.
