Monday, July 21, 2025 - The
leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, claims that she is
unable to pass on her Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a
woman. This is despite the fact the Nigerian Constitution does not discriminate
against any gender when passing on Nigerian citizenship.
The Nigerian Constitution states that any person born
outside Nigeria is automatically a citizen of Nigeria if either of their
parents is a Nigerian citizen at the time of the child’s birth.
Ms Badenoch, however, said on Sunday that while many
Nigerians are taking advantage of the UK’s relatively easy citizenship
acquisition process, it remains “virtually impossible to obtain Nigerian
citizenship.”
While speaking with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria during an
interview, the 45-year-old British politician said there was a need for the UK
to tighten its citizenship and immigration policy.
She used her children’s alleged inability to get Nigerian
citizenship to illustrate the stark contrast between Nigeria’s approach and
that of the UK.
“I have that (Nigerian) citizenship by virtue of my parents,
but I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman,” she said.
“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a
relatively free period of time, acquiring British citizenship. We need to stop
being naive,” she added.
Despite being born to Nigerian parents and migrating to the
UK at the age of 16, Ms Badenoch has repeatedly criticised the UK’s immigration
policy, which she says makes it too easy for citizens of Nigeria and other
countries to move to the UK.
She has consistently called for stricter immigration control
“We are allowing our tolerance to be exploited. That is not
right,” she said in the CNN interview.
“Nigerians would not tolerate that. That’s not something
that many countries would accept.
“There are many people who come to our country, to the UK,
who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries,” she added.
Ms Badenoch’s claim about Nigeria’s citizenship policy is at
best inaccurate.
Section 25
of the Nigerian Constitution states that any person born outside Nigeria is
automatically a citizen of Nigeria if either of their paparents is a Nigerian
citizen at the time of the child’s birth. This is regardless of whether that
parent is the mother or the father.
By this, a
Nigerian-born mother can pass citizenship to her child, just like a
Nigerian-born father can.
Ms Badenoch
did not provide details of her efforts to get Nigerian passports for her three
children. However, based on the constitutional provision, the children could
only legally have been denied Nigerian citizenship if she had renounced her
Nigerian citizenship before their birth. Ms Badenoch is married to Hamish
Badenoch, a Northern Irish bank official and politician. They got married in
2012.
The
Conservative Party leader said that if her party becomes the UK’s ruling party,
under her leadership, the UK would prioritise implementing stricter policies on
citizenship acquisition and immigration.
“It’s been
too easy. It is basically a conveyor belt. We want people who want to come to
the UK and be net contributors, not people who will immigrate and then need
welfare and social housing.
“That’s not right because they haven’t paid into the system,” she said
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