Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has conceded that the word “Nigerian” refers to nationality rather than an ethnicity or race, yet she still insists that criticism of her is racist when it refers to her Nigerian background.
In an interview with Geordie Grieg, Badenoch was asked about the public debate over Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, describing her as a “Nigerian scammer,” in reference to her history of misleading statements about her background and record. Asked if the remark was racist, she conceded that “Nigerian is actually a nationality. My ethnicity is Yoruba,” but insisted, “They’re talking about my heritage and my race, really, in a way that they want to use to disadvantage me. So yes, I would call that racism.”
Nationality Versus Ethnicity.
Badenoch’s distinction between her Nigerian nationality versus her Yorubia ethnicity matches comments she has made previously when defining her own identity in ethno-nationalist, arguably racist terms. In a Spectator interview, she stated: “I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That’s what I really am. I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is, those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.”
Kassam’s Response.
Raheem J. Kassam responded to Badenoch’s most recent statements on X, writing: “So just to be clear, her position is now: ‘Raheem wasn’t even talking about my ethnicity, he was talking about my nationality. But he’s still racist anyway.’ Kemi’s a woke clown.”
Incidents leading to Badenoch being described as a “scammer” include claims about a Stanford scholarship that former admissions staff have called implausible, shifting positions mass migration, diversity, and net zero, and a false story planted in the press that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her not to make a deal with Nigel Farage and Reform. Nigerian officials have also contested aspects of her descriptions of her childhood circumstances in the country.
So just to be clear, her position is now: "Raheem wasn't even talking about my ethnicity, he was talking about my nationality. But he's still racist anyway."
🤡 Kemi's a woke clown.
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) November 9, 2026
