Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has criticized Nigeria’s nationality laws, stating that gender-based discrimination prevents her from passing Nigerian citizenship to her children.
In a recent interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Badenoch discussed international immigration policies, using Nigeria’s citizenship rules as a striking example of legal inequality.
“It’s almost impossible to obtain Nigerian citizenship,” she said. “I have it through my parents, but as a woman, I can’t pass it on to my children.”
Badenoch drew on her personal experience to underscore what she sees as a global imbalance in immigration systems. She contrasted Nigeria’s restrictive laws with what she described as the UK’s historically more open approach an approach she believes needed reform.
“Many Nigerians come to the UK, settle down, and eventually acquire British citizenship. We’ve been too generous for too long. That’s why we’ve tightened the process under my leadership,” she stated.
When asked about cultural assimilation and concerns over immigrants recreating “mini-Nigerias” in the UK, Badenoch was unequivocal.
“That’s not acceptable. Nigerians wouldn’t allow it in their own country, and neither should we. Some behaviors people adopt here would never be tolerated back home.”
Born in London to Nigerian parents and raised partly in Lagos, Badenoch frequently references her dual heritage to inform her stance on national identity, immigration, and integration.
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