You can remove ‘Kemi’ from your name – VP Shettima blasts UK’s Badenoch ‘for belittling Nigeria’

Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, criticized the new leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, for making negative remarks about Nigeria.

Shettima made this statement during the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the State House in Abuja.

Badenoch, who previously accused Nigerian politicians of misusing public funds in 2022, was elected as the UK Conservative Party leader in November 2024.

Despite attempts by the Nigerian government, through the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, to reach out to Badenoch, there was no response from her office, as reported by the Chairman of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

Speaking on Monday, Shettima said, “Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Labour or Conservative Party. We are proud of her in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin.

“She is entitled to her own opinions; she has even every right to remove the Kemi from her name but that does not underscore the fact that the greatest black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria.

“One out of every three, four black men is a Nigerian and by 2050, Nigeria will support the United States, and will be the third most populous nation on earth.”