British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, is once again at the centre of controversy following her recent comments describing her experience at a Nigerian federal secondary school as akin to imprisonment. Her remarks have reignited accusations that the UK lawmaker consistently disparages her country of ancestry, despite having grown up in Nigeria.
Speaking in a viral clip that has sparked outrage across social media, Badenoch recounted her time at Federal Government Girls College, Sagamu, Ogun State, as traumatic. According to her, the boarding school resembled a prison environment, where students were subjected to “maltreatment and forced labour.”
“I went to a secondary school called a Federal Government girls’ school in a place called Sagamu. And that was like being in prison,” she said. “Using a machete and having to fetch buckets of water… the machete was for cutting the grass — because who else is going to cut the grass?”
Badenoch, who was born in Wimbledon, London, in 1980 but spent much of her early life in Lagos and the United States, returned to the UK at 16. She has since renounced identifying as Nigerian, stating on the Rosebud podcast on August 1 that she had not renewed her Nigerian passport in over two decades.
“I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth… but by identity I’m not really,” she said.
Mounting Criticism
Her latest comments have drawn sharp criticism from Nigerians at home and abroad who view her statements as a persistent pattern of negative portrayals.
This is not the first time Badenoch has taken a swipe at her Nigerian roots. In a 2024 speech during her campaign to lead the Conservative Party, she described growing up in Lagos as an experience marked by “constant fear.”
“You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it… listening as you hear your neighbour scream as they are being burgled and beaten, and wondering if your home would be next,” she said.
In a 2024 interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Badenoch also criticised Nigeria’s nationality laws, saying her children could not inherit citizenship from her because she is a woman. “Not all cultures are equal,” she said, adding that Nigeria’s societal practices undermine gender equality.
History of Contradictions
Yet, despite her harsh assessments of Nigeria, evidence has surfaced of Badenoch’s past efforts to court Nigerian support. During her 2010 UK parliamentary campaign for Dulwich & West Norwood, she appealed directly to the Nigerian diaspora for votes.
“I’m asking for your help now to support a Nigerian who will improve our national image and do something great here,” she wrote on her campaign platforms. “This is a chance to have someone with real influence over British-Nigerian relations.”
A Legacy of Selective Identity?
Observers have accused the British minister of leveraging her Nigerian heritage when politically convenient, while distancing herself when it suits her current conservative rhetoric. Her contrasting stances have raised broader questions about diaspora identity, representation, and the responsibilities of public figures with multicultural backgrounds.
Badenoch has defended her position, arguing that her criticisms are rooted in lived experiences and a desire for reform.
“I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments,” she said earlier this year. “And I don’t want Britain to follow the same path.”
Nonetheless, the backlash from Nigerians appears far from over, with many accusing her of weaponising stereotypes and personal grievances to score political points abroad.
As the debate continues, it remains unclear how Badenoch’s complex relationship with her Nigerian heritage will influence her growing prominence on the British political stage.