Is Kemi Badenoch’s Critique of Nigeria a Step Toward Downing Street?

In recent times, Kemi Badenoch, the current leader of the UK Conservative Party, has made headlines for her comments regarding Nigeria, which have divided citizens of her home country.

Describing Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, as one “where fear was everywhere” during the Conservative Party conference earlier this year, Badenoch almost portrayed Nigeria as a place of anarchy where citizens live in constant fear.

“Neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten – and wondering if your home will be next,” she was quoted as saying.

In a recent interview with a journalist, the Tory leader, when asked about what she thinks of the British police, made remarks about the Nigerian police, in what many believe was another attempt to discredit Nigeria.

Here’s the transcript of the interview:

Journalist: Do you trust the British police?

“I do. I do,” Badenoch repeated.

Then, she went on for a minute about her experience between the Nigerian police and the British police.

“Remember my experience with the police in Nigeria was very negative. And coming to the UK, my first experience with the police was very positive.

You know, the police in Nigeria would rob us (laughs loudly with the host). So when people say that they have this bad experience with the police (in the UK) because they are Black and they are White… I’m like, what the hell?

You know, I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch. It’s a very poor country, so people do all sorts of things, and giving people a gun is just a license to intimidate.

But that’s not the bar we should use for the British police. Obviously, it should be much higher. But my experience was so positive when I was robbed and the police were there; they were helpful. They eventually caught the thief in 2004.”

Her remarks have rubbed off badly on many ‘patriotic’ Nigerians who believe she’s denigrating her country of origin in her ambitious plan to become the Prime Minister of the UK. Others, however, have leaned on the side that, despite the crucial position she occupies, she’s speaking the realities of millions of Nigerians who face severe economic conditions, coupled with harassment and intimidation by security officers.

Badenoch’s Political Ambition

On November 2, 2024, Badenoch was elected as the leader of the Conservative Party and has since gone on the offensive as she launched an all-out campaign to criticize the current administration led by Keir Starmer of the Labour Party. While the election that could see her rise to the upper echelon of her political career and become the country’s Prime Minister is still five years away, Badenoch’s fierce opposition hinges on immigration. It is on this basis that most Nigerians believe that her recent remarks about Nigeria are nothing but a calculated attempt to further boost her political aspirations.

“Kemi knows what she is doing. Take her views on colonialism and white privilege. I guess she feels a sense of need to defend the old empire she represents,” wrote political commentator, JJ Omojuwa, on X.

Gimba Kakanda, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research & Analytics, Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, weighed into the discussion with the political correctness that most people expect Badenoch to speak from.

“Kemi Badenoch was asked about her perception of the British police, but she veered off to talk about the Nigerian police. Unprovoked. While it’s a valid story, it was an unnecessary deviation that reveals her desperation to perform for the British public in her quest to shake off any allegiance to a nationality other than British,” Kakanda said.

Nigerians in the diaspora are often held to some form of standard, with the expectation that they speak of their motherland with pride and glorification. Any negative remark, despite it speaking to the current realities facing citizens in the country, is seen as a direct attack and is condemned with layers of outrage that the Nigerian in the diaspora who has made that remark is not proud of his or her home country and has become westernized to the extent of despising Nigeria.

Nobody is spared.

Popular Nigerian-American musician David Adeleke, aka Davido, during a recent podcast show with The Big Homies House, advised Black Americans against relocating back to the continent.

“It is not cool back home. The economy is in shambles,” Davido said during the interview, which has since gone viral. Despite positively putting Nigeria on the global map through his music, Davido was attacked online, with many saying that the music star “demarketed” Nigeria in his comment.

However, the crucial question is: what does Kemi Badenoch have to gain by demarketing Nigeria?

A Look at Badenoch’s Comments and the Realities in Nigeria

On closer examination, the answer appears to be little to nothing. Badenoch, born in the UK to Nigerian parents, moved to Nigeria shortly afterward and lived there until she was 16. Her Nigerian heritage is undeniable, with her father being a doctor and her mother a professor of physiology in Lagos.

For those who follow Badenoch keenly, she’s someone who speaks loudly on issues, most times infusing her personal experiences that tend to show how she views the world. Hence, her comments resonate with the lived experiences of many Nigerians who, despite the country’s potential, suffer from systemic issues like corruption, insecurity, and inadequate public services.

Badenoch’s comment about the Nigerian police, “The police in Nigeria will rob us,” while shocking, aligns with perceptions of police corruption in Nigeria, where officers have been known to engage in extortion, theft, and other illegal activities.

In October 2020, a nationwide protest, EndSARS, was launched to end the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit of the Nigerian Police Force notorious for harassment and extrajudicial killings of the youth, sweeping across the country.

Badenoch also speaks about prevailing poverty in Nigeria, which was a reality 28 years ago before she left the country, and still remains one. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), an estimated 88.4 million people in Nigeria live in extreme poverty. It’s a reality that sneers in the face of many living in the country, but one that many become defensive of when that reality is spoken of by someone outside Nigeria.

It is true that she has her eyes set on the PM seat, but the 44-year-old is human, and some of the experiences she had here could have been traumatizing, to say the least, and insisting that she must find a way to say nice things about Nigeria is, in fact, dismissing her experience.

Her brother was robbed by the very people that were meant to protect them. How many can come out of that experience and have nice things to say about the institution or the country that allows it to thrive?

Recall that Badenoch, when she was Secretary of State for International Trade, was in Nigeria earlier this year, focusing on strengthening bilateral relationships between the UK and Nigeria, which shows her commitment to constructive engagement rather than mere criticism. Expecting her to be politically correct at the expense of her personal truth is unjust.

Kemi Badenoch is ambitious, hence, it’s understandable that her comments are viewed through a political prism – one that suggests that by demarketing Nigeria, she’s trying to appeal to Britons. However, I honestly believe that Badenoch’s comments about Nigeria are not about demarketing her country of origin to ascend the political ladder in the UK but about sharing her truth, shaped by personal experiences and echoed by many within Nigeria itself.

Her critique should be seen as an opportunity for introspection rather than an attack. Her voice adds to the chorus of those who believe in the potential of Nigeria but are frustrated by the realities of its governance and societal norms.