Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, a former minister of foreign affairs, has criticised Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, for her persistent negative remarks about Nigeria.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Monday, Akinyemi accused Badenoch of deploying disparaging remarks against Nigeria to advance her political career.
Badenoch has faced backlash in Nigeria following a slew of uncomplimentary comments against her nation of origin.
In December, Vice-President Kashim Shettima advised Badenoch to drop her Nigerian name if that would make her feel better.
Before assuming leadership of the Conservative Party, Badenoch described Nigeria as a socialist country with a corrupt political class and widespread insecurity.
She also took aim at the Nigerian police and bemoaned the poverty she experienced while growing up in Lagos — Nigeria’s commercial capital and most populous city.
Last week, Badenoch said Nigeria destroys lives and that she does not want that for Britain. “And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has. I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life. So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
During the programme, Akinyemi said Badenoch is making a huge mistake if she intends to advance her political career by dragging the nation of her birth through the mud.
The professor of political science described Badenoch’s darts at Nigeria as a betrayal of her heritage. “How can the daughter of a professor of UNILAG (University of Lagos)—her father was a medical doctor—a girl who went to the international school at UNILAG, make it sound like she was selling groundnuts and selling water in Lagos in order to advance her political career?” Akinyemi asked.
“She would soon learn that you don’t throw your people and your culture under the bus in order to advance your career. She is making a mistake but she would soon learn.
“After all, right now, there is even a right wing political party in the United Kingdom that is even to the right of the Conservative Party. So, what she should be focusing on is how to regain that right wing profile of the Conservative Party and leave Nigeria alone.
