Kemi Badenoch Stands by “Socialist” Label of Nigeria Despite Vice President Kashim Shettima’s Criticism

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Conservative Party, has stood by comments she made in 2022 in which she attributed Nigeria’s economic difficulties and pervasive insecurity to “socialist” economic policies. The Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shetimma, had on Monday criticised Badenoch’s comments, accusing her of “denigrating” Nigeria.

Kemi Badenoch was born in London to Nigerian parents but grew up in Lagos Nigeria before she returned to London at 16. In a speech in 2022, she recalled that her time in Nigeria was marked by insecurity and ever-present fear of armed robbery. She attributed the insecurity to Nigeria’s “socialist” economic policies which created poverty and eventually forced her family to leave Nigeria.

Her spokesman told the BBC, “stands by what she says” and “is not the PR for Nigeria”.”She is the leader of the opposition and she is very proud of her leadership of the opposition in this country,” he told reporters. “She tells the truth. She tells it like it is. She is not going to couch her words.”

Badenoch has said that her experience of growing up in Lagos has influenced her love for economic freedoms and dislike for socialist policies, implying that the policy agenda of the British left would gradually cause economic and social dislocation in Britain. She has said of her experience in Lagos, recalling the lawlessness, “neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten – and wondering if your home will be next”.