UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has made a surprising revelation about her ties to her country of origin.
Speaking on the Rosebud podcast, she announced that she no longer identifies with Nigeria and has not renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s.
Badenoch, 45, explained: “I have not renewed my Nigerian passport, I think, not since the early 2000s.” She continued, “I’ve never quite felt that I belonged there… I don’t identify with it (Nigeria) anymore, most of my life has been in the UK and I’ve just never felt the need to.”
Born in Wimbledon, London, Badenoch spent some years of her youth in Nigeria before moving back to the UK.
Her parents had decided that Nigeria offered limited opportunities, and she echoed that sentiment during the podcast.
She recalled: “I think the reason that I came back here was actually a very sad one, and it was that my parents thought, ‘there is no future for you in this country.’”
Despite acknowledging that she follows Nigerian events with interest, Badenoch asserted that the UK now feels like home.
She lives there with her family and works within the country’s political system, making it impossible to maintain a strong connection with Nigeria.
