By Interface Africa Editorial Team
📍 London, UK | 🗓 August 1, 2025
Her statement has ignited intense debate across diasporic and African communities, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party and a potential future UK Prime Minister, has openly declared that she no longer identifies as Nigerian.
Speaking in a candid interview on the Rosebud Podcast, Badenoch stated that she has not renewed her Nigerian passport in over 20 years and now regards the United Kingdom as her true home. Her remarks come amid ongoing discourse on national identity, cultural belonging, and the evolving role of diasporans in African socio-political narratives.
“Home is where my now family is,” Badenoch said, referring to her husband, children, and political base in the UK. “I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth … but by identity, I’m not really.”
British by Citizenship, Yoruba by Heritage, Nigerian No More?
Born in London in 1980 to Nigerian parents of Yoruba descent, Kemi Badenoch spent much of her early life between Lagos, Nigeria and the United States, before returning to the UK at age 16, during a period of political and economic instability in Nigeria. Though her political ascent in Britain has been widely celebrated, her relationship with her Nigerian identity has grown increasingly complex and publicly strained.
This isn’t the first time Badenoch has stirred controversy. In December 2024, she publicly stated that she identifies more with her Yoruba ethnicity than with the Nigerian nation-state. During that appearance, she claimed to have “nothing in common with some northern Nigerians,” describing them as historical ethnic adversaries. These comments drew sharp rebukes from public commentators and Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, who challenged her to “drop the Nigerian name” if she truly no longer identifies with the country.
Badenoch’s recent remarks also resurrected a separate diplomatic friction stemming from her assertion that Nigerian women cannot pass citizenship to their children, a claim that Nigerian authorities have firmly refuted. According to Nigeria’s constitution, citizenship by descent can be transmitted through either parent, regardless of gender.
The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Interior, reiterated this position, calling her comments “factually inaccurate and legally misleading.”
“While we respect her personal choices, facts matter. Nigeria’s laws are clear: citizenship is conferred through either parent,” said a Ministry spokesperson.
Badenoch’s evolving stance has triggered a wider conversation on what it means to be African in diaspora, particularly for high-profile figures who shape policy abroad but have deep ancestral ties to the continent. While some argue that identity is fluid and personal, others contend that public figures have a duty to maintain respectful ties with their heritage—especially when speaking from influential platforms.
For many Africans in the UK, the conversation also intersects with themes of assimilation, race, colonial legacy, and representation in Western power structures. As Badenoch positions herself for potentially the highest office in British politics, her disavowal of Nigerian national identity will continue to resonate far beyond political circles.
