Television journalist Rufai Oseni has waded into the latest controversy involving Kemi Badenoch, saying the head of the UK Conservative Party has become a rabid tribal warrior.
Badenoch sparked fresh identity controversy after saying she identifies herself as Yoruba and has nothing in common with Northern Nigeria.
Speaking with British media recently, Badenoch detached herself from Northern Nigeria, which she referred to as a haven for Islamism and Boko Haram.
“I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba],” she said.
“I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where Islamism is.
“Being Yoruba is my true identity, and I refuse to be lumped with northern people of Nigeria, who ‘were our ethnic enemies, ’ all in the name of being called a Nigerian.
“Somebody once told me when I was very young that my surname was a name for people who were warriors. They protected the crown, and that’s what I see myself as doing.
“I am here to protect, and I will die protecting this country because I know what’s out there.”
Reacting in a post on his official X account on Saturday, TV journalist Oseni said he thinks Badenoch is being disingenuous by playing the racial card.
“That is what a rabid opportunist will always do. There is a difference between tribe and nationality, taking a swipe at the people from the North is a fallacy of ignoble proportions,” Oseni.
“Kemi Badenoch says she is a cultural warrior and with her new message has become a rabid tribal warrior too. History is replete with stories on people like Kemi, we know the score but to what end for power?
“Power is obviously insidiously corrupting her! She is fast sounding like Gobbels with her tunnel vision. I am Nigerian and I am proud,”
Badenoch’s recent interviews with the British media triggered a war of words between her and Vice-President Kashim Shettima who publicly urged her to drop her Nigerian name.
She has also come under criticism from Nigerians over her view about the state of the nation and corruption by public officials.
