Nigerians on social media on Monday lambasted Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch over her push for harder immigration to block Nigerians from entering the UK to obtain British citizenship.

Mrs Badenoch, in an interview with CNN on Sunday, called for stricter policies to acquire British citizenship and disagreed when asked if she would support a Nigerian immigrant creating a “mini-Nigeria” in the UK.

“That is not right; Nigerians would not tolerate that,” she stated. “That’s not something that many countries would accept. There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries.”

Defending her position, the Tory leader said, “It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship; I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents, I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.

“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a relatively free period of time, acquiring British citizenship. We need to stop being naive. That’s why under my leadership, we now have policies to make it a lot harder to get British citizenship.”

Her statement has sparked reactions from Nigerians on social media. Many critised her for always attacking her country of birth to advance her political ambition in the UK.

An X user, @SholaMos1, said, “Kemi Badenoch owes Nigeria an apology for this brazen lie! What an embarrassment of a political prostitute she is. A parent who shamelessly weaponises her kids for political gain is a disgrace. Keep Nigeria out of your godforsaken mouth @KemiBadenoch!”

A UK-based lawyer, Dele Olawande, in a post on X, said, “She, @KemiBadenoch, is obsessed with Nigeria and Nigerians. She sees nothing good about Nigeria, and she is determined to unsettle those Nigerians in the UK, one way or the other.

“She always looks for opportunities to denigrate Nigeria. She will never become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom until she ‘repents.’”

Also, @ferdicson4u said, “Nigerians are not the only country that emigrates from Nigeria to other countries, Indians and Chinese lead in this regard. What exactly is she trying to prove? Africans are always too quick to sell themselves out for frivolous reasons. She is scoring herself low out of desperation? No one demarkets Nigeria like she does, but it would never be spoken about enough.”

However, another X user, @Ofudaddy, emphasised the need for better leadership to make Nigeria more attractive to immigrants.

“I see this as a challenge to our leaders to become responsible. Why can’t Nigeria be a place people want to come and acquire citizenship? We have all it takes to be that country except the needed leadership to get us there. Presidential convoy I saw  yesterday made me lose hope!” @Ofudaddy said.

Mrs Badenoch, 45, has continuously advocated tougher policies for immigrants to secure UK citizenship since she became the leader of the UK Conservative Party.

In January, Mrs Badenoch said the UK is not a hotel for everyone, adding she didn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria, a country where “terrible” government destroys lives.