“It is virtually impossible to get Nigerian citizenship, I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman – Kemi Badenoch claims

UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has claimed she is unable to pass Nigerian citizenship to her children due to her gender, while also criticizing the UK’s immigration policies as being too lenient.

Speaking in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, July 20, Badenoch argued that many immigrants take advantage of the British system in ways that would be unacceptable in their home countries, such as Nigeria. When asked if she would support a Nigerian immigrant creating a “mini-Nigeria” in the UK in the name of cultural integration, she responded firmly, “no.”

However, her claim about citizenship contradicts Nigeria’s constitution. According to Section 25(1)(c), a child born outside Nigeria is a citizen by birth if either parent is Nigerian, making her children eligible regardless of her gender.

“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 our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries.”

Using her children’s alleged inability to get Nigerian citizenship to illustrate the stark contrast between Nigeria’s approach and that of the UK, she said:

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

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