Kemi Badenoch Disowns Nigeria—Now She Must Be Treated Like Any Other UK Politician. (Opinion)

Kemi Badenoch Disowns Nigeria—Now She Must Be Treated Like Any Other UK Politician. (Opinion)

Race & Culture.

Opinion.

The news as it trends.

Kemi Badenoch’s recent public disavowal of her Nigerian identity has stirred intense reactions from Nigerians both at home and across the diaspora.

While identity is undoubtedly personal, the consequences of publicly renouncing one’s heritage—particularly while continuing to invoke Nigeria in political and cultural commentary—cannot be ignored.

For context, Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, London, and spent part of her childhood in Lagos, Nigeria. Her late father, Olufemi Adegoke, was a Nigerian medical doctor and entrepreneur.

Her mother, Professor Feyi Adegoke, is a distinguished Nigerian academic. With both parents deeply rooted in Nigeria, her recent remarks feel emotionally disconnected and politically provocative.

If Badenoch now fully embraces British identity, that’s entirely her right. But the expectation is clear: she must stop dragging Nigeria into her political narrative.

Referencing Nigeria in interviews, speeches, or critiques—especially when those statements stir racial tension or cast cultural aspersions—crosses a dangerous line.

It risks being interpreted not just as hypocrisy but as racial insensitivity or even deliberate provocation against a region she’s chosen to disown.

No regular UK politician would routinely cite Nigeria in ways that antagonize or provoke cultural unrest.

Badenoch must now be treated as any other British politician—with no special cultural leverage or emotional weight granted by her Nigerian roots.

That chapter has closed.

Her future commentary on Nigeria must be approached with caution, responsibility, and respect. Anything less may deepen mistrust and evoke outrage.

Nigerians deserve dignity—not political opportunism masked as personal evolution.

Let her choose her identity, but with that choice must come boundaries. The time for selective affiliations is over.

Yetunde B reports for Yeyetunde’s Blog.