Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), says Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s (UK) Conservative Party, has shown no interest in identifying with her Nigerian roots.
Dabiri-Erewa spoke on Wednesday when she appeared on The
Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television.
The NIDCOM chairperson said attempts to convince Badenoch to
identify with the “Nigerianess” in her yielded no results.
“We have reached out to her once or twice without any response. So, we don’t force people to accept to be Nigerian,” she said.
“If you appreciate the Nigerianness in you and you want to
work with us, we are open to everybody. But we cannot force you to appreciate
the Nigerianness in you. You remember Miss Universe Nigeria in South Africa.
“Until she got into a little problem with South Africa, she
identified with Nigeria, came back, and we hosted her. As long as that blood is
in you, you are a Nigerian.
“So, it depends on Kemi to decide whether she appreciates
the Nigerianess in her. Whether she wants to work with Nigeria, but we cannot
force anybody.”
Badenoch was elected as the leader of the UK’s Conservative
Party on November 2. She is the first black person to become the leader of a
major party in the UK.
Badenoch was born in the UK to Nigerian Yoruba parents in
January 1980.
After her birth, she returned to Nigeria, where she grew up.
Badenoch went back to the UK at the age of 16.
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