“Sad to See Kemi Badenoch Denigrating Nigeria to Please the Far Right” – Bwala

Daniel Bwala, special adviser on public communications and media to President Bola Tinubu, has criticized UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch for her comments about Nigeria, accusing her of portraying her home country negatively to appeal to the far right in the UK.

In a tweet on Sunday, Mr. Bwala expressed disappointment, saying it was unfortunate that Ms. Badenoch was using damaging rhetoric about Nigeria for political gain. He noted that unlike her predecessor, Rishi Sunak, who never spoke negatively about India, Ms. Badenoch appeared to be leveraging criticisms of Nigeria to strengthen her political position.

“We are proud of her rise in UK politics, but we are equally saddened by her terrible rhetoric against Nigeria,” Mr. Bwala said. He emphasized that while Ms. Badenoch is intelligent and successful, her statements about Nigeria were harmful.

His reaction followed Ms. Badenoch’s first speech of the year on Thursday, where she described Nigeria as a “poor” country with a failing government. She recounted her personal experience growing up in Nigeria, stating that despite her family’s hard work, they became poorer due to economic instability. She said she left Nigeria at 16 with her father’s last £100, determined to seek a better life in the UK, and vowed never to let Britain face the same fate as Nigeria.