In a recent exchange between Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, and Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, two prominent figures have engaged in a spectacle of misplaced pride and denial that only highlights their disconnect from the harsh realities facing Nigeria today. Badenoch, who has openly criticized the country of her birth, and Shettima, who represents the very political class responsible for Nigeria’s current state of disarray, have both displayed a level of delusion that must be condemned.
Badenoch’s remarks about Nigeria are sharp and uncompromising. She describes a country plagued by corruption, insecurity, and political dysfunction, a place she fled at the age of 16 to escape what she witnessed as systemic misgovernance. Her words echo the experiences of millions of Nigerians who, like her, have endured the ravages of poor leadership, social inequality, and violence. From her own harrowing memories of constant fear, poverty, and instability, Badenoch’s criticisms are rooted in personal experience — and they are undeniably valid. To be clear, her comments are not the reckless slander of a detached outsider; they are the anguished reflections of someone who has lived through the very conditions she now condemns.
Yet, it is her critics, particularly Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who must bear the greater responsibility for the current state of Nigeria. Shettima, an architect of the status quo, represents a ruling elite that has presided over a nation where more than 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty, where insecurity reigns supreme, and where basic human dignity has been eroded by the very political leaders tasked with safeguarding it. His criticisms of Badenoch ring hollow, for they come from a man who is part of a government responsible for the suffering of millions of citizens. Shettima, whose administration has overseen rampant corruption, a failing economy, and an out-of-control insurgency, has no moral ground to stand on when chastising anyone for speaking out against Nigeria’s ills.
To quote the seminal work of Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, both Badenoch and Shettima embody the psychological scars of colonialism and the profound effects it has on identity. Fanon’s exploration of how colonized individuals internalize racial inferiority and disassociate from their own culture resonates deeply in the case of these two figures. Badenoch’s comments reflect a complex, albeit painful, relationship with Nigeria — a country marked by colonial legacy and an inability to reconcile its past with its present. Shettima, on the other hand, represents the perpetuation of colonial structures within the Nigerian state, where the political elite remains disconnected from the suffering of the masses, clinging to power while the country disintegrates under its own weight.
Badenoch’s dismissal of Nigeria as a “socialist nation” is misinformed but not entirely unfounded, considering the pervasive corruption and mismanagement that define much of the political landscape. However, her view of Nigeria as a hopeless, irredeemable place is dangerously simplistic. As Fanon would argue, colonialism and its psychological aftermath are not an irreversible sentence; they are a system that can, and must, be dismantled. In this regard, Nigeria’s potential for transformation remains strong, and its people, despite the betrayal of their leaders, possess the resilience and capacity to reclaim their country.
The reality is that Nigeria’s greatest hope does not lie in figures like Shettima or Badenoch, who are too distant from the daily struggles of ordinary Nigerians to understand the depth of their pain. Rather, the hope lies in the Nigerian people themselves — those who continue to fight against overwhelming odds, who struggle to survive in the face of monumental challenges, and who dream of a better future. They are the ones who will eventually push back against the incompetence and corruption that have held the country hostage for so long.
In the words of Frantz Fanon, “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” The Nigerian people, despite being betrayed by their leaders time and again, will not give up on their mission of creating a just, prosperous, and secure Nigeria. The battle for Nigeria’s future will be long and hard, but with a new generation of committed, fearless Nigerians emerging from the social firmament, there is hope that a new dawn will emerge after the defeat of the current crop of disastrous leaders.
In conclusion, while Kemi Badenoch may find solace in her new identity and career in the UK, and while Shettima may continue to play the part of Nigeria’s status quo defender from the comfort of power, the real heroes of this story will be the Nigerians who, against all odds, continue to fight for a better tomorrow. The road to that better future will not be easy, but with unwavering resolve, Nigerians will take their country back and build a nation worthy of pride — a pride that is, and will always be, rooted in their struggle for justice, dignity, and freedom.
