Kemi Badenoch, a top UK politician and leader of the Conservative Party, is facing criticism for her recent comments about Nigerian citizenship. Many experts have said her statements are not correct and could mislead people.
During a recent public event where she spoke about immigration and citizenship, Badenoch made some strong claims. She said that getting Nigerian citizenship is almost impossible and shared her personal experience.
She explained that she got Nigerian citizenship because of her parents, but claimed she cannot pass it on to her children because she is a woman. She also compared it to how easily Nigerians can become UK citizens after spending only a short time in the country. She warned that the UK should stop being too trusting.
However, many people, including Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana, have responded by saying her comments are not true. He pointed out that the Nigerian Constitution does allow women to pass on citizenship to their children.
Reacting to this, Femi Falana said;
“Contrary to Kemi Badenock’s misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian. Her assertion that she cannot give Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman is not in consonance with Section 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution which provides that “every person born in Nigeria after the date of independence either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria; and (c) every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria.
Furthernore, by virtue of Section 42(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, no citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth, gender, political opinion or class. To that extent, Kemi Badenoch’s children cannot be denied their Nigerian citizenship because of her gender.
Therefore, like Kemi Badenoch, her two children are Nigerian citizens. The fact that the Tory leader may not want them to claim their Nigerian citizenship is totally irrelevant. For now, they are dual citizens of Britain and Nigeria. It is up to the children to renounce their Nigerian citizenship upon the attainment of full age in accordance with Section 29 of the Nigerian Constitution.
Kemi Badenoch also said that “It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship.” Her baseless claim cannot be justified under Sections 26 and 27 of the Nigerian Constitution which state that a foreigner is qualified to acquire the citizenship of Nigeria either by naturalisation or registration upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.
No doubt, there are aspects of the Nigerian Constitution with respect to citizenship that require urgent amendment. For example, a woman who is married to a Nigerian man is qualified for registration as a citizen. But the same right is not accorded to a man who is married to a Nigerian woman because of the patriarchal nature of the society.”
