Kashim Shettima, the vice president of Nigeria, has taken aim at Kemi Badenoch, the head of the recently elected Conservative Party in the United Kingdom.

Shettima said that Badenoch had denigrated Nigeria, her birthplace.

The Vice President gave a speech at the State House in Abuja on Monday during the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue.

Badenoch, who was running for prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time, charged Nigerian lawmakers with embezzling public funds for their personal affairs in 2022.

Additionally, it was reported that the Nigerian government attempted to contact Badenoch through the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, or NIDCOM, following her election as the leader of the UK Conservative Party in November 2024.

According to NIDCOM Chairman Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Badenoch’s office did not respond to hers.

“Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Labour or Conservative Party,” Shettima said in a statement on Monday. Despite her attempts to disparage her country of origin, we are proud of her.

She is free to hold her own views, and she even has the option to remove the Kemi from her name, but it doesn’t change the fact that Nigeria is the best black country in the world.

“Nigeria is home to one in three or four black men, and by 2050, it will be the third most populous country in the world and support the United States.”

The former governor of Borno State was emphasizing how important immigrants are to the development of society and the economy.