I’m Yoruba, have nothing in common with north — Kemi Badenoch

Leader of the United Kingdom, UK, Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, says she identifies more with the Yoruba ethnic group than the Nigerian entity.

Badenoch made this statement in an interview with the Spectator, a weekly British political and cultural news magazine.

This comes amid a simmering identity row, after her previous criticisms of Nigeria’s governance terrain and society, which triggered backlash and reignited debates over her ties to the country.

Born to Nigerian Yoruba parents in the UK, Badenoch’s last name changed after she married a Scottish banker.

She returned and grew up in Nigeria, and finally left Nigeria for the UK when she turned 16 years old.

Badenoch had described Nigeria as a socialist nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity, a statement which sparked many reactions.

The Vice-President Kashim Shettima faulted her over the comment, urging her to change her first name if she no longer wants to identify with her homeland.

While speaking to the Spectator, Badenoch said she had nothing in common with people from northern Nigeria, a region Vice-President Shettima hails from, adding that she is proud of her Yoruba ancestry, which has given her a very strong identity.

“I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity (Yoruba. That’s what I really am.

“I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, Boko Haram area, where the Islamism is. Those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.

“Somebody once told me when I was very young that my surname was a name for people who were the warriors,” she said.

Reacting to her depiction of Nigeria, a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode had told her that Nigeria does not need her.