Badenoch’s Nigerian roots back in spotlight after Johnson’s future PM remarks

By : 'Sola Akinsanmi

Date: 5 December 2025 9:17am WAT

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Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Boris Johnson, has reignited debate over Kemi Badenoch’s political ascent after he described the Conservative Party leader as a “future United Kingdom prime minister” and credited Nigeria for “sending” her to Britain.

Johnson made the remarks on Thursday in Owerri at the Imo Economic Summit, where he spoke on bilateral ties and the exchange of expertise between both countries. He said Britain exports pharmaceuticals, financial services, automotive parts and whisky to Nigeria, while receiving “oil and gas; Nollywood movies; brilliant doctors and nurses; technicians; and tech geniuses” in return.

“And we send you former United Kingdom prime ministers, and you send us a future United Kingdom prime minister in the form of Kemi Badenoch, who comes from Nigeria and is doing better and better these days,” he said. Johnson’s comments come at a time when Badenoch’s own public statements on identity continue to shape political discourse at home and abroad. In multiple interviews over the past year, Badenoch has distanced herself from a Nigerian identity, despite her heritage.

In August, she said on the ‘Rosebud’ podcast that although she is Nigerian “through ancestry,” she no longer identifies as such. “By identity I’m not really,” she said. “Home is where my now family is.” In a separate interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in July, Badenoch said she cannot transfer Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman, describing the process as “virtually impossible.” She used the example to argue that immigration systems differ significantly between countries.

“I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents, I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman,” she said. Her comments were immediately disputed in Nigeria, where section 25(1)(c) of the Constitution confers citizenship by descent if either parent is Nigerian. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga criticised Badenoch, saying she misrepresented the law and “owes her fatherland some apology.” He added: “Britain should send our lost daughter Kemi Badenoch home for a proper re-education.”

Badenoch, who was born in London in 1980, spent part of her childhood in Lagos and later returned to Britain at 16. She has said her personal identity is shaped primarily by her current family and political commitments. “The Conservative Party is very much part of my family, my extended family, I call it,” she said. Johnson’s endorsement comes as internal Conservative Party conversations evolve over the party’s future direction ahead of the next general election, with some polling showing discontent among segments of the membership following poor electoral performances.

Potential successors cited in recent political commentary include Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly, both of whom previously contested leadership positions.

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