Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative
Party, says she cannot pass her right of Nigerian citizenship to her children
because of her gender.
Badenoch spoke on Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Fareed
Zakaria while trying to contrast the immigration policies of Nigeria and
Britain.
She told CNN that immigrants often exploit the British
system, leaving the UK vulnerable to threats.
When asked if she would permit a Nigerian immigrant to
create a “mini-Nigeria” in the UK for cultural integration, her response was a
swift “no”.
“That is not right. Nigerians would not tolerate that.
That’s not something that many countries would accept,” she added.
“There are many people who come to our country, to the UK,
who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries.”
Badenoch cited her children’s “inability” to become
Nigerians to stress her point.
“It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian
citizenship.
I have
that citizenship by virtue of my parents, I can’t
give it to my children because I’m a woman,” she said.
“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a
relatively free period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop
being naive.”
Badenoch has three children with her husband.
Contrary to Badenoch’s claim, section 25(1)(c) of the
Nigerian Constitution states that a person born outside the country is a
citizen of Nigeria if either of their parents is Nigerian.
This means having just one Nigerian parent is sufficient for
citizenship by birth.
Born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents, Olukemi
Adegoke spent much of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK at
age 16.
She later married Hamish Badenoch, a Scottish banker, and
adopted his surname, becoming Kemi Badenoch.
Before becoming the Conservative leader, she previously
worked in the cabinet for prime ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022
to 2024.
Badenoch’s popularity has been hinged on her hardline views
on immigration.
In her Sunday interview, she said she would ensure that it
would be “a lot harder” for immigrants to get British citizenship under her
leadership.
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