I Can’t Pass Nigerian Citizenship to My Children Because I’m a Woman — Kemi Badenoch Claims

 

UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has sparked controversy after claiming she cannot pass Nigerian citizenship to her children due to her gender.

Speaking in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Badenoch contrasted immigration laws in the UK and Nigeria, criticizing what she described as loopholes in the British system that are routinely exploited by immigrants.

Asked if she would allow Nigerian immigrants to replicate a “mini-Nigeria” in the UK as a form of cultural integration, Badenoch firmly said, “No.”

“That is not right. Nigerians would not tolerate that. That’s not something that many countries would accept,” she said. “There are many people who come to the UK and do things that would not be acceptable in their home countries.”

To support her argument, Badenoch pointed to her children’s supposed inability to acquire Nigerian citizenship.

“It’s virtually impossible to get Nigerian citizenship,” she said. “I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents, but I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.”

She added: “Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a relatively free period of time and acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”

However, legal experts have pointed out that Badenoch’s claim about Nigerian citizenship is inaccurate. According to Section 25(1)(c) of the Nigerian Constitution, a child born abroad is entitled to Nigerian citizenship by birth if either parent is Nigerian — regardless of the parent’s gender.

Badenoch, born in 1980 in the UK to Nigerian Yoruba parents, spent part of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK at age 16. She is married to Hamish Badenoch, a Scottish banker, and the couple has three children.

Known for her tough stance on immigration, Badenoch reiterated in the interview that, if elected Prime Minister, she would make it “a lot harder” for immigrants to obtain British citizenship.