Kemi Badenoch knocks UK immigration as ‘too lenient’ compared to Nigeria system

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has sharply criticised the country’s immigration policies, describing them as too lenient compared to the stricter approaches in countries like Nigeria.

Speaking on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS on Sunday, Badenoch argued that many migrants take advantage of the UK’s system in ways they wouldn’t even consider in their home countries.

“There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries,” she said.

When pressed by Zakaria on whether she would tolerate immigrants recreating what he described as a “mini-Nigeria” in the UK under the guise of cultural preservation, Badenoch rejected the idea outright.

“That is not right. Nigerians would not tolerate that. That’s not something that many countries would accept,” she responded sharply.

To underscore her point, Badenoch pointed to her personal experience with Nigeria’s citizenship law. Despite holding Nigerian citizenship herself, she noted that she is unable to pass it on to her children due to her gender.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

Badenoch, a mother of three with her husband Hamish Badenoch, has stated that if she becomes Prime Minister, she would implement stricter policies to make acquiring British citizenship significantly harder.

Born in London in 1980 to Nigerian parents of Yoruba descent, she spent much of her early childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16.

Her political rise accelerated through ministerial roles under Prime Ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2022 and 2024.

Now leading the Conservative Party, Badenoch’s stances on immigration, integration, and national identity continue to stir debate across the UK political landscape.