VIDEO: KEMI BADENOCH DEFENDS STANCE ON CITIZENSHIP, SAYS HER MAIN IDENTITY IS BRITISH

Read Time:2 Minute, 0 Second

By: Sefiu Ajape

United Kingdom Conservative minister, Kemi Badenoch, has reaffirmed that she no longer identifies as Nigerian, despite her Nigerian heritage and time spent growing up in the country.

Appearing on GB News in a clip shared via TikTok on Tuesday, Badenoch stated that her primary identity is British and urged fellow politicians to prioritise local affairs.

Badenoch said, “Well, I think that the BBC certainly wrote that headline. It wasn’t quite what I said, but it is true. My main identity is as British. That is what I see myself as.

JUST IN: BYE-ELECTIONS, PROTESTERS STORMS INEC HQ, DEMAND RESTORATION OF LP CANDIDATES

“Nigeria is a nationality. It’s not an ethnicity. There’s no such language as Nigerian. There are lots of different ethnic groups there.”

Further elaborating, she added, “I think that as a politician in this country, we need to be very focused on what is happening here, not what’s happening elsewhere. And every day, I see loads of Labour MPs in particular talking about every other country except the UK.

“If you come to this country, you need to be very focused on making sure that you integrate. And if you’re a politician, you need to be 100% focused on British issues. And that’s basically what I was saying.”

Her clarification comes after her August 1 comments on the Rosebud podcast with Gyles Brandreth, where she revealed she had not renewed her Nigerian passport in over two decades and no longer identifies as Nigerian.

“I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity I’m not really. I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” Badenoch said.

Born in Wimbledon, London, in 1980, Badenoch spent part of her early years in Nigeria and the United States before relocating permanently to the UK at 16.

She is among the last individuals to receive UK birthright citizenship before the law was amended under Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1981.

Badenoch had previously made critical comments about Nigeria, describing it as a place where fear is everywhere.

See video below: