*Nigerian Vice-President Kashim Shettima, GCON, criticises Kemi Badenoch, newly-elected UK Conservative Party leader, for reportedly disparaging her country of orhin, stressing she has even ‘every right to remove the Kemi from her name but that does not underscore the fact that the greatest black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria’

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has taken a swipe at Kemi Badenoch, newly elected Conservative Party leader, in the United Kingdom (UK), for purportedly disparaging Nigeria recently.

Shettima stated this Monday, December 9, 2024, in his address at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue, held in the State House, in Abuja, FCT.

According to Patricio T. Murphy, IP Specialist and researcher at the think tank Red Argentina de Profesionales para la Pol铆tica Exterior (Red APPE), Buenos Aires, in Argentina, in his piece published on the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) corporate Web site, the concept of nation branding generally refers to “a country鈥檚 strategy to convey a particular image of itself beyond its borders to achieve certain beneficial goals.”

The expert stated: “The notion is associated with the existence of a ‘great global market’ where countries, cities and regions, compete with each other to attract the largest number of tourists, investors, consumers, students, events and so on.”

Going down the memory lane in his speech at the event, Nigerian Vice-President Shettima recalled how several great men and women globally, who are migrants but did not belittle or run down their countries of origin despite their new statuses.

He cited several examples of global citizens, including American Madeline Albright, Sergie, Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk, and Rishi Sunak, the immediate past British Prime Minister (PM), who is originally from India.

Shettima stated: 鈥淜emi Badenoch, the leader of the British Labour or Conservative Party.

“We are proud of her in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin.”

The Vice-President further said: 鈥淪he is entitled to her own opinions; she has even every right to remove the Kemi from her name, but that does not underscore the fact that the greatest black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria.

鈥淥ne out of every three, four black men is a Nigerian and by 2050, Nigeria will support the United States, will be the third most populous nation on earth.鈥�

Besides, the Vice-President mentioned the significant roles migrants play in shaping society and economic growth worldwide.

He restated the Nigerian Government’s commitment to protecting the rights of migrants, celebrating their legacies and contribution the national development.

It is recalled that Badenoch, a UK member of parliament of Nigerian descent and then UK Prime Minister hopeful, in 2022, had accused Nigerian politicians of using public funds for their private matters.

Subsequently, following her recent election as the UK Conservative Party leader November 2024, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), disclosed that her office reached out to Badenoch but received no response.