Badenoch: My Children Can’t Get Nigerian Citizenship Because I’m a Woman — Yet Nigerians Easily Get UK Citizenship
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has claimed that her children are unable to acquire Nigerian citizenship because she is a woman — a situation she contrasted with what she described as the relative ease with which Nigerians obtain British citizenship.
Badenoch made the comments during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, while discussing immigration policies and national identity. Responding to a question on whether she would permit a Nigerian immigrant to replicate a “mini-Nigeria” within the UK in the name of cultural integration, she responded pointedly: “No. That is not right. Nigerians would not tolerate that. That’s not something that many countries would accept.”
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She further argued that some immigrants exploit the British immigration system in ways that would not be acceptable in their own home countries.
“There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries.”
Citing her personal experience, Badenoch claimed her children’s inability to obtain Nigerian citizenship highlights a gender bias in Nigerian law.
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“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.”
However, legal experts have pointed out that Badenoch’s assertion is inaccurate. According to Section 25(1)(c) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), a person born outside Nigeria is deemed a Nigerian citizen by birth if either parent is a Nigerian citizen — regardless of whether that parent is the mother or the father.
Badenoch, born Olukemi Adegoke in 1980 to Nigerian-Yoruba parents in the UK, spent part of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to Britain at 16. She is married to Hamish Badenoch, a Scottish banker, and is known for her hardline stance on immigration.
Before her rise as Conservative leader, she served in the cabinets of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2022 and 2024.
Reiterating her party’s position on immigration during the CNN interview, Badenoch vowed to make it “a lot harder” for immigrants to secure British citizenship under her leadership.
Her comments are expected to stir fresh debates on immigration, dual citizenship, and the evolving definition of national identity in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom.