₦airaland Forum

UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has addressed questions about her nationality and identity, explaining why she “no longer identifies as Nigerian.”

Speaking on former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, she had said she was "Nigerian through ancestry" but "by identity, I'm not really".

Clarifying the statement in an interview with GB News, Kemi, who was born in the UK and spent part of her early years in Nigeria, acknowledged her Nigerian roots but stated that she primarily sees herself as British.

“It wasn’t quite what I said. But it is true. My main identity is British. That is how I see myself.

Nigeria is a nationality, not an ethnicity. There’s no such language as Nigerian, there are many different ethnic groups there.

Watch the video here https://gistandmore.com/my-main-identity-is-british-that-is-how-i-see-myself-kemi-badenoch-clarifies-reports-of-her-denying-her-nigerian-identity-video/

Self deception is the worst type of deception.
It doesn't change reality

Identify, identify, identify!? Why is kemi sounding like Igbqt folks all of a sudden....

Oya ......tr@ns & ga¥ pple..... kingly remind kemi that your sexual & gender fluidity weréy is not allowed in race and nationality ......so therefore, she cannot un-nigerian or unafican herself

Nigeria is a nationality, not an ethnicity. There’s no such language as Nigerian, there are many different ethnic groups there.

She's right about this. What she said also applies to being British. It is a nationality and there's no language called British. There are also different ethnic groups in Britian.
The big question is if her ethnic ancestry is included among the ethnic groups that identify as British or it is included among the ethnic groups that identify as Nigerian. The next question is if the identity is transferable between nationalities

It seems she does not know there's no difference between Britain and Nigeria

HeyMeNot:
Self deception is the worst type of deception.
It doesn't change reality

Ultimately, it is her choice. Many are in her shoes who see themselves as Nigerian-Brits or British Nigerian, rather than insist on identifying as British entirely, so her mindset is her own.

One has to only look at Bukayo Saka, Anthony Joshua, Ademola Lukman etal who rep their Nigeriansess proudly to understand we are no longer in an age where being Nigerian is seen as a negative thing even if Badenoch tries too hard to make it seem like that.

Ikaeniyan0:
It seems she does not know there's no difference between Britain and Nigeria

Most things she does and says are a result of political compromises she has imposed on herself. Many are in her shoes.

I.e Brits by birth or naturalisation while Nigerian by origin. Many have even opted for the option of dual citizenship which Britain and Nigeria allow.

Most today, in her situation, simply see themselves as well-placed citizens of the world because of their powerful British passport and affiliation with one of the most well-regarded nation on Earth and their currently cool origin as Nigerians.

They don't claim to be one fiercely at the expense of ungraciouly rejecting or denigrating the other as Kemi does.

She is over-doing it trying to please her conservative Party peers who are not called conservatives for nothing.

The opinion of most today is similar to that of the author of the article below which is that Nigeria, while it is acknowledged she has problems, is now a place many can be proud to be affiliated with for the good her people are about while Kemi is in the minority always wishing to demonise Nigeria. For personal gains I must add.

https://trenchtrenchtrench.com/features/how-the-rise-of-british-nigerians-like-john-boyega-skepta-solved-my-identity-problem

Not to the real White Brits, you are just an immigrant that they can expel at anytime. They deported Jamaicans who were born in UK by immigrant parents over 50yrs ago so who are you? As long as you are not an ethnic Brit, you are there to pay taxes. This desperation by Kemi is too much. No one respects someone who insults their root.

You can be great as an immigrant with British passport without embarrassing yourself and your parents. Anyone telling you to go on this clown show is enjoying your ridicule. Indians don’t need to do this, neither do Pakistanis who have succeeded in the UK without talking everyday explaining themselves.