BRITISH politician and Conservative Party minister, Kemi Badenoch, has said she no longer identifies as Nigerian, despite her ancestral ties and upbringing in the country. In a candid interview on the Rosebud podcast hosted by Gyles Brandreth, Badenoch revealed she hasn’t held a Nigerian passport for more than two decades and now sees the United Kingdom as her true home.
News Point Nigeria reports that born Olukemi Adegoke in Wimbledon, London in 1980 to Nigerian parents, Badenoch spent much of her early life in Lagos and the United States before moving to the UK at the age of 16. Despite her deep-rooted connections to Nigeria, she now firmly distances her identity from it.
“I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents,” she said. “But by identity, I’m not really.”
Badenoch noted that while she remains interested in Nigerian affairs and still has family there, her personal connection to the country has faded. “I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” she added.
The minister, who currently serves as the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, recounted her early challenges, including arriving in the UK alone at 16 and having to fend for herself by 18. She also recalled a sense of disconnection during her time in Nigeria, describing how she “never quite felt” she belonged there.
Speaking about her sense of belonging now, Badenoch said: “Home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children, it’s my husband and my brother and his children, in-laws. The Conservative Party is very much part of my extended family, I call it.”
Badenoch’s conservative worldview, she revealed, was shaped by her experiences in Lagos, which she described as a place where “fear was everywhere.” She recalled hearing neighbours scream during burglaries and living in a city that felt “lawless.”
Her harsh depiction of Lagos resurfaced last week during a tour of the United States, where she described her childhood city as “a place where almost everything seemed broken.” These experiences, she said, pushed her away from socialism and toward the conservative ideals she now upholds.
Despite her Nigerian ancestry, Badenoch emphasized the transformative impact of discovering her British citizenship, which she received just before the UK’s 1981 policy change ended birthright citizenship.
“Finding out that I did have that British citizenship was a marvel to so many of my contemporaries, so many of my peers,” she said.
Now married to Scottish banker Hamish Badenoch and fully settled in British political life, Kemi Badenoch’s recent comments have reignited discussions around identity, diaspora experiences, and the evolving perceptions of nationality for those with African roots living in the West.
