She speaks with an unhurried, meticulous cadence, not raising her voice, even in moments of high emotion. Every gesture, every nuance of body language reminds you of Dr Femi Adegoke, your deceased friend and Chairman of Voice of Reason, who bore the moniker ‘Fariga’ from his early days of youthful rebellion against injustice.
On Saturday, November 2, 2024, Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch shattered the glass ceiling and became the leader of the Conservative Party of Great Britain.
Her election to the most significant political position ever attained by a person with Nigerian roots in the diaspora might have been expected to generate great excitement in Nigeria.
“Elsewhere, the reception has not been so kind. And the reason is obvious. Kemi has lately given the impression that she is ready to throw her Nigerian antecedents under the bus.”
Indeed, there has been some commendation in the press and social media for her resilience and her ability to present herself as something new and fresh to a highly critical political group. A young lady, born in England but reared for the most part in Lagos, has become, by the common consent of her peers, an authentic exemplar of British political culture and values.
Elsewhere, the reception has not been so kind. And the reason is obvious. Kemi has lately given the impression that she is ready to throw her Nigerian antecedents under the bus.
She speaks glowingly of her pride at the ‘honour’ of being ‘British’, and she contrasts the values of her new country with ‘the country I ran away from.’ She seems to feel a need to underline her ‘Britishness’ by intensely repudiating her ‘Nigerian-ness’. She doesn’t, she says, wish for Britain to become like Nigeria.
Even in her victory speech, there is nary a word for Fariga, the man whose manner of speech and bold, unquenchable spirit she displays. It is as though her parents never existed.
Many people think they know Kemi and are quick to pass judgement.
Some supporters see her as the next Margaret Thatcher, another incarnation of ‘La Passionara of Privilege.’
Some others see her as a black quisling, an apologist for White Privilege, and someone whose worldview is defined by a pathetic self-abnegation.
Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke was born in Wimbledon, London, in January 1980. Her mother, a Professor of Physiology, had travelled to the UK for the delivery. She returned to Lagos shortly after the event, and Kemi spent most of her early life in Lagos
She travelled to the UK after secondary school to attend university, qualifying as a software engineer.
She joined the Conservative Party in 2005.
Read also: Nigeria’s Kemi Badenoch, 44, elected new leader of UK opposition Conservatives
In 2010, she gave her first indication of who she was and her intention to contest for Parliament, circulating a document that read as follows:
‘Hi Everyone… Like you I am sick and tired of reading that Nigerians are fraudsters, terrorists…Our generation has suffered enough from the mistakes of the past……I am asking for your help now to support a Nigerian who is trying to improve our national image…If I get elected…, I will…use whatever influence I have to speak out against those who are cheating and robbing Nigeria…This is a chance to have someone who has real influence…on British-Nigerian relationships. It will not be about personal gain…Kemi’.
Kemi was not voted into Parliament until 2017. She went on to occupy ministerial offices, first under Liz Truss and then Rishi Sunak, until she became the leader of the Conservative Party.
Which is the voice of Kemi – the 2010 voice appealing for support to ‘improve our national image’ and support the aspirations of Nigerian youths—or the voice of 2024 talking about Nigeria as ‘the place I ran away from?’
Fariga sadly passed on in 2022. He was ferried to London, where he had surgery and stayed with Kemi and Hamish, the husband she married in 2012, and their three children. He came back to Lagos and died shortly afterwards.
On the day of tributes in Lagos, his favourite anecdotes were shared, along with affirmations of his commitment to the restructuring of Nigeria and the universal advancement of the culture and fortunes of the Yoruba, which his VOR stood for.
At the end of the day, Kemi stood up to give the vote of thanks.
Earlier this year, Kemi was in Lagos on a private visit with Hamish, ‘our in-law’. She met with her father’s friends at their gathering and received words of quiet encouragement. Becoming leader of the opposition and possibly eventually making it to ‘Number 10’, were already in prospect.
No General ever won a war by alienating and leaving their army behind. Yoruba Omoluabi ethos stipulates no one should ‘point to their father’s homestead with a left hand’ and enjoins Omoluabi to acculturate without cutting off their roots, wherever they go.
Fariga’s daughter is not a freak or a ‘Black Briton’ who dropped from the skies. She has Oriki and is a unique product of generations. In politics, she wants the UK to define its values and take on board only people who are ready to identify with those values. She wants the excesses of ‘Woke’ to be reined in. She wants the abuse and infantilising tendency of the Welfare State curtailed. Citizens should be ready to work.
It is a perfectly legitimate political platform and the basis of her grassroots popularity in the party, in addition to an undoubted underpinning of pro-Jewish muscle.
Some people may not agree with her views. That is perfectly valid too.
But it is wrong for anyone to assume that all black people must be ‘Vote Labour’ or ‘Support Immigration.’ Black people are entitled to hold diverse political views, like everyone else.
Kemi will ‘remember 2010’ and ‘reconnect.’ After all, Nigeria is not just thieving politicians and malfunctioning public utilities. Nigeria is also Kemi Badenoch and other young men and women doing great things all over the world.
It will be a joy to see her deploy her ‘Fariga’ speech and body mannerisms as she faces off with Keir Starmer across the dispatch box at Prime Minister’s Question Time.
Congratulations, Kemi. Go, Girl! Go!
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