Badenoch Laments Gender-Based Citizenship Law in Nigeria

British Minister for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, has expressed frustration over Nigeria’s gender-discriminatory citizenship laws, revealing that her children cannot obtain Nigerian citizenship because she is a woman.

Speaking in a recent interview, Badenoch, who is of Nigerian descent, highlighted the irony in the system: “My children can’t get Nigerian citizenship because I’m a woman, yet Nigerians easily become UK citizens.”

Her comments have reignited debates around Nigeria’s citizenship laws, which currently deny Nigerian women the equal right to confer nationality on their children — a right that is granted to men under the constitution.

Activists and legal experts have long called for constitutional reform to address this inequality, describing the law as outdated and inconsistent with global human rights standards.