Vice President Kashim Shettima has advised Kemi Badenoch, the UK Conservative Party Leader, to drop her Nigerian name for allegedly denigrating her country of origin.

The Vice President also said Nigeria was proud of her achievements despite her attempts at smearing Nigeria.

“Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Labour or Conservative Party. We are proud of her in spite of her efforts of denigrating her country her origin,” Shettima said.

“She is entitled to her own opinions. She has 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.”

The vice president said this at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the State House held in Abuja on Monday.

He recounted the efforts of immigrants helping to build and strengthen their host countries. He mentioned Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of X (formerly Twitter) and Tesla, who was of South African origin, and Rishi Sunak, the UK Prime Minister who is of Indian descent.

“Immigrants build nations and immigrants build civilisation. There is a need to cherish and respect immigrants. Rishi Sunak of Indian ancestry never denigrated India,” he added.

Badenoch has come under fire for her controversial opinions on Nigeria.

She accused Nigerian politicians of using public funds for personal gains in 2022.

After her election in 2024 as the UK Conservative Party leader, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said Badenoch failed to respond when the commission contacted her.