Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, said she is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR, after the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima criticised her for denigrating the country.
TheNewsGuru.com(TNG) reports that VP Shettima during an event in Abuja highlighting the contributions of Nigerian immigrants to national development accused Badenoch of denigrating Nigeria, suggesting she could “remove the Kemi from her name” if she was not proud of her Nigerian heritage.
He maintained that while the Nigerian government was proud of Badenoch, her remarks about her nation of origin were unwarranted.
Badenoch was born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents however, returned to Nigeria, where she grew up and finally departed for the UK at the age of 16.
Badenoch before her election as the leader of the Conservative Party described Nigeria as a socialist nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.
She said, “This is my country. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from.
“I grew up in Nigeria, and I saw firsthand what happens when politicians are in it for themselves, when they use public money as their private piggy banks, when they pollute the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.
“I saw what socialism is for millions. I saw poverty and broken dreams. I came to Britain to make my way in a country where hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere.”
Badenoch also said she “grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it. Triple-checking that all the doors and windows are locked, waking up in the night at every sound, listening as you hear your neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten, wondering if your home would be next.”
Reponding to VP Shettima’s comments, Badenoch insisted on standing by her words, saying she had no intention of softening her statements. “I tell the truth. I tell it like it is. I am not going to couch my words,” she told reporters on Wednesday. “I am the leader of the opposition, and I am very proud of my leadership of the opposition in this country. I am not the PR for Nigeria.”
Olukemi Adegoke who was born to Nigerian parents married Hamish Badenoch, a Scottish banker, and took her husband’s surname.