‘You Can’t Portray Nigeria As Evil And Expect Acceptance’ — Shehu Sani Tackles Badenoch

Former Kaduna Central Senator Shehu Sani has criticised UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch over her remarks about Nigeria, arguing that repeatedly portraying one’s country of origin negatively may not guarantee acceptance in Britain.

Sani made the comments in a post on X, where he questioned Badenoch’s efforts to establish her British identity while facing reminders of her Nigerian heritage.

“Kemi is fighting hard to be identified as British and the Whites keeps reminding her of her roots and where she belongs,” he wrote.

The former lawmaker cautioned that consistently portraying one’s ancestral homeland in a negative light would not necessarily make the individual more acceptable to Western audiences.

“This is a message to all; you can’t continuously tell the World that your ancestral homeland is full of evil and think that that will make you acceptable to the World,” Sani said.

He added that people could become associated with the negative descriptions they repeatedly made about their countries of origin.

“You are an extension of whatever you say about your country,” he wrote, suggesting that repeatedly depicting a country as being full of witches could influence how others perceive the person making such claims.

Sani’s comments come amid renewed debate over Badenoch’s remarks on national identity and her criticism of aspects of Nigeria’s political and social environment.

LEADERSHIP reports that Badenoch, who represents North West Essex in the UK Parliament, recently said she did not want to live in a country where the identity of her mixed-race children could become a subject of debate.

Speaking at the 2026 Conservative Party Conference, she criticised members of Reform UK over what she described as attempts to question people’s identities.

“I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, who call veterans traitors, and who debate whether my mixed-race children are English,” she said.

Badenoch was born in the United Kingdom and spent part of her childhood in Nigeria. She has previously made critical remarks about Nigeria, prompting reactions from Nigerians and members of the diaspora.