UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, says she no longer identifies with Nigeria, the country of her heritage.
Speaking on Rosebud podcast on Friday, August 1, 2025, Badenoch revealed that she hasn’t renewed her Nigerian passport since the early 2000s, saying she never truly felt a sense of belonging there.
“I have not renewed my Nigerian passport I think, not since the early 2000s.
“I’ve never quite felt that I belonged there. I don’t identify with it any more. Most of my life has been in the UK and I’ve just never felt the need to”, she said.
Though she maintains an interest in Nigerian affairs, Badenoch said the UK feels more like home – where she lives with her family and serves alongside her Conservative Party colleagues.
Born in Wimbledon, South West London, the 45-year-old spent part of her early life in Nigeria before moving back to the UK, but spent part of her childhood in Nigeria, clarified that while she is a Nigerian by ancestry and birth (due to her parents) her identity is now rooted in UK, where she lives with her family.
“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”, she explained.
She has been a vocal critic of dysfunction in Nigeria, and these recent comments are the latest in a series of remarks that have sparked debate, especially among Nigerian and members of the diaspora, about identity, belonging, and how personal experiences shape one’s national connection.
I-9News Nigeria.
