Kemi Badenoch is not Nigeria’s Problem
By: Deji Yesufu
Kemi Badenoch is in the news again. This time it is regarding a statement she made on CNN as a guest of Fareed Zakaria. While trying to explain the immigration policies of her party, the Conservative Party in the UK, which she leads, she stated that in Nigeria, which is her country of birth, she cannot automatically pass on citizen rights to her children because she is a woman. This was a blunder because this is not so. The Nigerian constitution automatically grants citizenship rights to children of all Nigerians, regardless of whether the person is male or female. If Mrs. Badenoch had done her research, she probably would have known this. She may have never even sought to obtain Nigerian citizenship for her children, and this is why she does not know this; it is also possible that maybe she overheard this lurid foreign policy of Nigeria from someone, but never took the time to ascertain its veracity.
After making that statement, Nigerians went for the jugular of Mrs. Badenoch. The Yorubas have a proverb that goes something like this: “… there is that fellow that people wish to burn alive but who makes it his preoccupation to continually douse himself with fuel”. In other words, Kemi Badenoch is not liked by Nigerians, both at home and abroad, but she continually puts herself in a position where she can be attacked by Nigerians. Since Kemi Badenoch became leader of the opposition in the United Kingdom last October, she has continually been at loggerheads with Nigerians. She has made it clear to Nigerians both home and abroad that she did not come into that office to launder the image of Nigeria. Kemi’s perception of Nigeria is that of her late father. Her father, Dr. Femi Adegoke, was an ultra-Yoruba nationalist. He was one of those people who holds the belief that northern Nigeria is a burden to the Nigerian state and that if this country is to move forward, it would have to let go of that dead weight. This is Kemi Badenoch’s position also. Therefore, on a personal level, she is extremely critical of the bad governance in Nigeria, and she continually uses Nigeria as an example of what a country should not be. On this latter note, Kemi Badenoch and I are completely on the same page.
My focus in this essay is to help Nigerians appreciate a few things about Mrs. Badenoch and to point out the fact that her criticism of Nigeria on the international stage might be the best thing that has happened to this country in decades. It is not Kemi Badenoch’s job description to put Nigeria in a positive light in the international sphere. That job belongs to the Nigerian foreign office, her plethora of embassies all around the world, and the way and manner its citizens behave both within the Nigerian nation and overseas. Some people have said that Kemi is not the first foreigner to lead the Conservative Party. They tell us that Rishi Sunak was not only the leader of the party, but he also became Prime Minister. And that throughout his time in office, he did not denigrate India, his country of birth. This is true. Except that we may want to ask: Has India ever been described as a shit-hole country by anyone? Is institutional corruption at the same level in India as we have it in Nigeria? Are Indian youths spending all their time learning Yahoo-Yahoo? Is there Boko Haram in India, and how has India solved the issues of insrugency in their country? Do Indians practice the kind of money politics that Nigeria practices? Someone suggested that when we make comparisons, we should not compare apples with oranges. Nigeria is not India. In fact, in the committee of nations, without Kemi Badenoch’s commentaries, Nigeria remains a big disappointment. What other nation on earth has earned so much from petroleum exports, yet its people live in abject poverty; its graduates have no jobs; its professionals are fleeing the country in large numbers, etc? Kemi Badenoch is not the problem in Nigeria.
Another criticism of Mrs. Badenoch is that she is trying to burn the bridge that she used to cross into the United Kingdom. Nigerians say Kemi is selfish. I think this is one of the most puerile criticisms one hears of Kemi. First, let us understand how Kemi Badenoch gained English citizenship. Kemi Badenoch was born in 1980. As of that time, Nigeria was just emerging from the false hope that the oil boom of the 1970s had given the country. Things were not that bad for the country then, but her parents could see that Nigeria was not a country they would wish their children to grow up in. In 1979, the country went to the polls and Nigerians chose the simpleton Shehu Shagari over and above the erudite Obafemi Awolowo. Kemi’s mother flew to the United Kingdom and had her in that country, and then Kemi was given citizenship. Birthright citizenship was abolished in 1983 in the United Kingdom. Kemi was brought back to Nigeria and was raised on the University campus of UNILAG. When she concluded her secondary school in 1996, her parents decided to send her back to England – with the hope that she could get a good tertiary education there. While in the UK, Kemi joined the Conservative Party at the age of twenty-five and became a committed member. She met her husband at that party and married him. He discovered that she was very gifted in politics, and so took a backstep in the party and supported her rise through the ranks until she became leader of the Conservative Party. Now, Kemi Badenoch cannot be a spokesperson for Nigeria because Nigeria did practically nothing for her. Kemi speaks boldly for the Conservative Party’s course because that is what she genuinely believes in. Kemi married a British person, and she is completely committed to helping her nation get better. Unfortunately, because she has Nigerian citizenship, she knows a lot that is wrong with Nigeria, and she never stops warning the British not to take the Nigerian way of descent to hell. Let me conclude by suggesting to Nigerians what our problems are and also proffering a few ways out of them.
First, the Nigerian problem is leadership. Pure and simple. The day this country finds visionary, altruistic, and selfless leadership is the day all our problems will end. Today, Nigerian politics is not dictated by any ideology. At the centre of our politics is money. The person who gains political leverage in this country is the person who can buy up everyone. Politicians come to a community to canvass for votes, and in return, Nigerians begin to ask this person for money. The politicians who have the money simply buy themselves into office. Many of them enter office in their geriatric years; they spend eight years in Aso Rock as a retirement sojourn there; and then die a few years after they have left office. They do not have the youth, vigour, and vitality that leadership in the 21st century should have. The day Nigerians decide to vote in visionary leadership, that day their problems will begin to end.
Second, the Nigerian problem is its people. The same people who spend all their time on social media venting their spleen against Kemi Badenoch – who is labouring to fix her own adopted country – do nothing for Nigeria. Nigerians hate Kemi Badenoch because she is making it increasingly difficult for Nigerians to get British citizenship. The question I ask these people is simple: if your country were good, would you go outside the country and be looking for foreign citizenship? Nigerians rose in the 1940s/50s and asked the British to leave; they said they could govern themselves – they did not want colonial rule. The question is simple: can we govern ourselves? If every Nigerian, particularly those of us who are elites, will make the commitment to better the little corner that he lives in, this country will begin to thrive. Instead, Nigerians cheat the system and then head to the church and mosque and pray that the country will get better. God will not answer stupid prayers. If Japa will stop, and Nigerians realise that life is short and the person who has lived well is the one who has endeavoured to better the lot of society around him, not the person who lives in wealth abroad, the country will begin to get better. When we realise this, we will stay back and help this country grow. Then you will understand that Mrs. Badenoch is your ally and not your enemy. Kemi is pushing policies in the United Kingdom that will make it difficult for foreigners to access different government aids, without adding anything to their society. Kem is saying that those who will be given citizenship should be contributing a healthy sum to the overall productivity of the country – especially through taxes. This makes perfect sense. But since many Nigerians do not even know what it means to pay taxes – everything in this country is done by the government – they cannot understand what the woman is saying.
I pray that Mrs. Kemi Badenoch will not only succeed as the leader of the Conservative Party, but that she will become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I pray that the conservative movement in the United States of America, through Trump and that of the UK, through Kemi, will gain such a foothold that they will ensure that many Nigerians who are not adding value to those countries will be deported. I pray that it will open the eyes of Nigerians to the realities of life: it is people who make countries great. If you want your children to enjoy a great life, make the sacrifices and commitment today. Kemi’s parents had seen that Nigeria was not a serious country way back in the late 1970s, and through vision, they ensured that their children had foreign citizenship. If you and I make certain decisions and a few sacrifices, we may bequeath a better country to our children. Kemi Badenoch is not Nigeria’s problem.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at [email protected]
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