Temitope Ajayi, a Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Bola Tinubu, has accused UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch of spreading “outright lies” about Nigeria, adding that the Troy leader is “another tactless UK politician who lacks the temperament and maturity to lead a major political party.”
Ajayi’s accusation follows Badenoch’s recent comments about her upbringing in Nigeria, which she described as plagued by insecurity, corruption, and a lack of connection with the northern region of the country.
Tinubu’s spokesperson, Ajayi, in a tweet on Sunday, compared Badenoch’s disparagement of Nigeria to dishonouring one’s parents, stating that Nigerians supporting Badenoch’s comments were akin to rejecting their heritage.
Ajayi noted that Badenoch is not an example of someone Nigeria needs lectures from.
He added that Badenoch is just another tactless UK politician who lacks the temperament and maturity to lead a major political party and as a future Prime Minister.
“What I get from some of our people parroting and supporting Kemi Badenoch’s badmouth and irrational diatribes against Nigeria is that their parents do not have a right to personal honour and dignity insofar as their parents could not provide all they desire and fancy,” Ajayi tweeted.
“That Nigeria has her challenges, like any other country on earth, means we must accept every kitchen sink thrown at us even when they are outright lies like all of Kemi’s fairy tales. Saying incorrigible Kemi is correct and has a right to her opinion is like saying because my parents are poor and couldn’t give me everything I wanted as a child, I should not protect them when an outsider or a neighbour disrespects them.
“If Kemi’s party made the UK paradise in their 14 years in power, they wouldn’t have lost the election woefully. This goes to show that the UK has many problems and challenges yet to be resolved. Kemi is not an example of someone Nigeria needs lectures from. She is just another tactless UK politician who lacks the temperament and maturity to lead a major political party and as a future Prime Minister.”
Badenoch, the first Black woman to lead the UK’s Conservative Party and serve as Leader of the Opposition, has been a major headliner not only in the UK but in Nigeria for the past two months, especially because of her remarks about Nigeria.
Badenoch was born in London after her mother came to the UK for care in a private maternity hospital, but she was brought up living with her middle-class Nigerian family in Lagos.
As a teenager, her parents sent her to continue her education in the UK, at a time when military rule made Nigeria an increasingly unattractive option, and Badenoch has lived in the UK ever since.
At the Conservative Party conference this year, Badenoch contrasted the freedoms she experienced in the UK to her childhood in Lagos, “where fear was everywhere.”
Badenoch said, “I was born here, but I 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, and wondering if your home will be next.
“When you’ve experienced that kind of fear, you’re not worried about being attacked on Twitter. You appreciate how rare and precious it is to live in a country with security, democracy, equality under the law, and above all else, freedom.”
And in a speech only last week in Washington, she said, “I was lucky in my experiences. I was born to a relatively wealthy family and had a decent education. But I also know what it is like to be poor. I watched my family become poor as their wealth, income, and savings were inflated away by destructive government policies. But they didn’t call it socialism—but it definitely was.
“Capital controls, no freedom of movement, government owning the means of production. There was no freedom either, the government deciding which school your child went to, it decided which businesses could or could not operate all the way to arrests with no trial and state-sanctioned murder.
“So I know what freedom looks like. It is what I had in the UK. I know the values that can make citizens wealthier and happier and how, without them, they become engines of misery and despair.”
In another recent interview, a British journalist asked her if she trusted the UK police. In response, she said, “I do. My experience with the Nigerian police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
The interviewer exclaimed in shock.
“They took his shoe and his watch?” Kemi continued: “It’s a very poor country. People do all sorts of things. So, giving people a gun is just a license to intimidate. But that’s not just the problem. That is not the bar we should use for the British Police. When I was burgled, for example, the police were there. They were helpful before they eventually caught the person. This was in 2004, that was 20 years ago.”
Also, in an interview with The Spectator, Badenoch said, “I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba].”
Her comments, however, have been rebuked by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who accused Badenoch of “denigrating” Nigeria and suggested that Badenoch could “remove the Kemi from her name” if she was ashamed of her Nigerian heritage.
Badenoch, however, has stood by her statements, with her spokesperson stating that she “is not the PR for Nigeria.”
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