By Tony Amokeodo
Unlike the Leader of the Opposition Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (Kemi Badenoch for short), who claims to be British with Yoruba heritage but denies any affinity with Nigeria, the three Nigerian global icons – the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina; the Director -General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations (UN), Amina Jane Mohammed, are proudly flying Nigeria’s green, white, and green flag worldwide and demonstrating their cerebral capacities and resourcefulness in their different endeavours.
Adesina, Okonjo-Iweala, and Mohammed are universally acknowledged as esteemed intellectuals who have made—and continue to make—immense contributions to global economic development, food security, world peace, and the betterment of humanity. In any international forum, their insights are regarded with the highest respect.
It is pure fallacy for ‘Madam Kemi’ to say, on the one hand, “I’m of Yoruba race” and then go on to say, “I don’t associate myself with Nigeria.” For the benefit of wailing wailers and prophets of doom, Nigeria’s greatest asset lies in its diversity. It’s like a Catholic marriage where there is no room for divorce.
Madam Kemi and her associates in Nigeria should be told in clear terms that “we are greater together”. This writer is a very proud Nigerian and offers no apologies for this conviction. It is a pity that someone who is from a privileged home and who once lived in highbrow Victoria Island, Lagos, will be saying nasty things about her home country, Nigeria.
There are obvious missing links in Kemi Badenoch’s account of her experience while living in Nigeria. It is even shameful for the UK opposition leader to paint Nigeria in a bad light and portray Britain as a perfect place when she is aware that there is no perfect place in the world. There is no doubt that Nigeria is grappling with security issues, but tell me, which country isn’t? While the Nigerian police and other security agencies are doing their best to reduce violent crimes and other social evils to the barest minimum, the United Kingdom is no Eldorado. This piece will highlight some of the ugly incidents in the UK.
Let us be clear: God loves Nigeria and has blessed it with many achievers of repute, including three global icons presently. Adesina is of Yoruba lineage, Okonjo-Iweala is from Igboland (though from Delta State but married to an Igbo man), while Amina Mohammed is from the North. I call them three icons of unity as they stand for WAZOBIA – the three major tribes in Nigeria: Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo. For the record, Adesina, Okonjo-Iweala, and Amina Mohammed’s credentials are quite intimidating. They are people of excellence and all had their early education in Nigeria, just like Kemi.
Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2015, is a globally renowned development economist and agricultural development expert with 30 years of international experience. He was the first student to obtain first-class honours in agricultural economics at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1981. He holds a master’s degree (1985) and a PhD in Agricultural Economics (1988) from Purdue University, USA. He won the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Fellowship in 1988, which launched him into his international career.
Okonjo-Iweala graduated from Harvard University with an AB in Economics in 1976. She earned a master’s degree in City Planning in 1978 and obtained her PhD in Regional Economics and Development in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received an international fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), which supported her doctoral studies. At the World Bank, she had a 25-year career as a development economist, rising to become managing director for Operations from 2007 to 2011. Okonjo-Iweala was the first Nigerian woman to serve two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria, initially under former President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003 to 2006 and secondly under former President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015. Subsequently, from June to August 2006, she served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria.
The third of the trio, Amina Mohammed, attended Henley Management College in the UK in 1989. She is serving as the 5th Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, she was the Nigerian Minister of Environment from 2015 to 2016 and played a role in the post-2015 Development Agenda process. She is also the chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
For Badenoch, she studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, completing a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in 2003. Kemi also studied Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, graduating with an LLB in 2009. As a British politician, she has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024, the first Black person to hold those offices. Badenoch previously served in the Cabinet under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2024. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Essex, previously Saffron Walden, since 2017.
In terms of credentials, on a comparative note, Kemi can hardly touch the feet of Adesina, Okonjo-Iweala, and Amina Mohammed. These technocrats have global recognition and accomplishments, holding top continental and global positions; on the other hand, Kemi is arguably a local champion, her influence limited to UK politics and affairs at the moment. So why the flexing from Madam Opposition leader in the UK?
The last time I checked, I did not see the name of Kemi Badenoch in the list of prominent Nigerians in the Diaspora. To date, we are yet to receive a missing prominent Diasporan report from the chairman of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
I support the patriotic admonition from Vice President Kashim Shettima, asking her to drop Kemi from her name. I think that the decision will be in her political best interest. After all, what is her ilk primarily known for? Is it not pursuing their self-interest before anything else? Madam Kemi Badenoch, you are free to remove Kemi from your name and take a British name.
That will definitely augur well for your political career since your ultimate goal is to become the British Prime Minister – for which you appear ready to do anything, including throwing the kitchen sink at Nigeria. This explains your infamous words on immigrants in the UK and your tough stance on sanitizing British society. I have no grudge against you over this except to remind you that the British voters will decide who they want as prime minister.
On Madam Kemi’s unsavoury words about the Nigeria Police Force and what she claimed experience with some errant police officers while in Nigeria, there are also ugly incidents in the UK where she said the crime rates were very low and police officers were perfect gentlemen. Here are a few of the documented cases of UK police officers who were caught stealing: On November 30, 2015, two police officers, Stephen Phillips and Michael Stokes, were jailed for stealing £10,000 during a drug raid in South Wales, UK. Christopher Spence, 44, was sentenced to prison on November 28, 2024, for shoplifting, where he stole nuts, cheese, and other treats from Lidl stores at Bideford on February 12 last year. Kashif Mahmood, a Metropolitan police officer, was sentenced to prison on May 13, 2024, for stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds belonging to drug dealers. This list is by no means exhaustive.
So when a viral video showed Kemi Badenoch turning up her nose, saying that some officers of the Nigeria Police Force steal from people, and inferring that such doesn’t happen in her UK, one can only pity her jaundiced narrative. Stealing by anyone, including the few disgruntled officers and men from the Nigeria Police, is condemnable and unacceptable. But Madam Kemi surely knows, if she’s grounded in state affairs as she claims, that UK police officers are no better, so why sound off in such a cheap manner?
Anthony Joshua, Proudly Nigerian A British-Nigerian boxer and two-time world heavyweight champion, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, is not playing the ethnic card like Madam Kemi Badenoch; he insists that he is proudly Nigerian and shows his love and respect for his motherland. Like the aforementioned, Anthony Joshua spent some of his early years in Nigeria as a boarding school student at Mayflower School in Ikenne, Ogun State, before he left the country for further studies. The boxer is the son of Yeta and Robert Joshua, with a lineage from Sagamu, Ogun State. His mother is Nigerian, and his father has Nigerian and Irish ancestry.
Joshua recently paid a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu in Lagos, and the president described him as a true champion and worthy ambassador of Nigeria. Like the president said, Joshua’s achievements will continue to inspire millions daily. And Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun also announced plans to construct a new Anthony Joshua Indoor Boxing Ring as part of his administration’s sports development initiative. During Joshua’s visit to his office in Abeokuta, Abiodun also announced plans to provide him with a new house in Sagamu, considering his expected frequent returns for his new role. This is how to be a country’s ambassador.
It is not too late for Madam Kemi to have a rethink – to prevent some kind of identity crisis in her future political career. Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not denigrate his home country, India, and he attained the peak of his political career. Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris has not spoken evil of her lineage from Jamaica, and she contested the United States presidency but lost the race to former US President Donald Trump. As the saying goes, nobody knows tomorrow.
Madam Opposition Leader, if you think bashing Nigeria, your home country, gives you political mileage, please have a rethink: politics is unpredictable; when the chips are down, it is a matter of vested interests and not where the individuals come from.
Amokeodo, a senior journalist and media consultant, contributes this piece from Abuja.
