James Akinwande, a Nigerian living in the UK, has gone viral after personally delivering a copy of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution to the London office of British Conservative politician Kemi Badenoch. His action was a direct response to Badenoch’s recent claim that, as a woman, she cannot pass Nigerian citizenship to her children.
Akinwande, known for gifting Badenoch a watch and shoes in the past, shared a video of his symbolic gesture on Instagram. The clip shows him collecting the constitution from the Nigerian High Commission in London and walking to the Conservative Party headquarters to drop it off. He captioned the post: “Nigerian Citizenship by Descent… A quick trip to the Nigeria High Commission, London… and then, Whitehall… Conservatives HQ. If you know, you know.”
Explaining his motive, Akinwande said he wanted to educate Badenoch on Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution, which grants citizenship by descent to children born abroad to either a Nigerian mother or father.
Badenoch’s statement, made during a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, sparked widespread backlash. She had claimed that it’s “virtually impossible” to get Nigerian citizenship, adding, “I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman,” while accusing migrants of abusing UK systems and trying to recreate “mini-Nigerias.”
Her comments triggered criticism from many Nigerians, including Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, who suggested she return to Nigeria for “proper re-education.”
