British politician and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has voiced strong criticism of Nigeria’s gender-discriminatory citizenship laws, revealing that her children are ineligible for Nigerian citizenship simply because she is a woman.
In a recent statement that has sparked debate across social and political circles, Badenoch said:
“My children can’t get Nigerian citizenship because I’m a woman, yet Nigerians easily become UK citizens.”
The remark highlights a longstanding issue in Nigeria’s nationality laws, where citizenship by descent is primarily conferred through the father.
While Nigerian men can automatically pass citizenship to their children born abroad, Nigerian women married to foreign men cannot do the same without additional conditions, a disparity that has drawn criticism from human rights groups for years.
Badenoch, who was born in the UK to Nigerian parents and raised partly in Nigeria, is known for her conservative stance on immigration.
Ironically, she has faced backlash for proposing stricter UK citizenship requirements, despite benefiting from the UK’s more inclusive birthright policies herself.
Her latest comment draws attention to what many see as a double standard in global migration: while Western nations like the UK are often criticized for tightening immigration policies, some African countries, including Nigeria, still maintain outdated and exclusionary laws, particularly those affecting women and children.
Activists and legal experts have renewed calls on Nigeria’s National Assembly to reform its nationality law, particularly Section 26 of the 1999 Constitution, to eliminate gender bias and align it with international human rights standards.
Badenoch’s remarks have further stirred debate about identity, citizenship, and the responsibilities of political figures with ties to more than one country.
