Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye 
As Nigerian-born Olukemi Badenoch achieved a remarkable feat in the politics of the United Kingdom (UK) over the weekend, praises and encouragement should be to celebrate this amazing woman in all ramifications.
Born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke to the Adegoke family of Ondo Ekinmogun, Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria, it gladdens my heart that Nigerian blood became a conservative icon, replacing Rishi Sunak, the immediate past Prime Minister. Kemi’s journey is a testament to hope that many Nigerians if given the opportunities, would achieve feats deemed impossible even by our leaders.
She has proven to the world that we as Nigerians are capable of not just dreams, we are capable of achieving dreams of flourishing, spreading our wings even in the windiest storms if only we are given the opportunity. If only our country would enable our growth.
Today, Nigeria has almost become the poverty capital of the world with traps and snares to hold dreams bound, stifling growth, and neglecting the abundance of what our wealth of knowledge could achieve, pushing young and promising citizens like Kemi Badenoch and my humble self out of Nigeria in search for a greener pasture.
The sheer number of people leaving Nigeria highlights the missing trust for our government, abandoning their homeland in search of a greener pasture to grow and become people of history like our forefathers.
With the incessant insecurity, unemployment, economic hardship, and abuse, I can say that our leaders are our problems.
And I am elated that people like Kemi Badenoch found a way out of this dream trapper nation to shine, to lead, and make Nigerians home and abroad proud of the nationality that has done us more harm than good.
I hear many Nigerians are criticizing Kemi Badenoch for her comment about Nigeria during her campaign, but as Nigerians, are we oblivious to the fact that this is a necessary truth?
Her revelation about the growth and competition stifling environment, the corruption engorged systems, the missed opportunities, lack of fair competition, and the privileged having an upper hand over the underprivileged cuts home more than she might have meant.
All these are nothing but the truth, if not; we wouldn’t have been hit with the brain drain that occurred during the outflux of talents during the Japa syndrome.
A situation characterized by poor government and foreign countries taking advantage of the poor and underdeveloped environment provided for such intelligence that Nigerians are blessed with. Kemi Badenoch is a case study.
Nigeria would have killed her dreams if she remained in the country. Her words are a call to accountability, a voice for those silenced by poverty, exclusion, and systemic abuse and not an attack on Nigeria.
Or don’t we see how the system is treating Nigerians, making them beg for the most basic of all amenities? I do not view her choice of words as an attack on her roots, but from a place of lived experience, pain, and voicing out for those without the voice and platform she has been given.
Her journey abroad was not an abandonment of her roots but the realities that forced her to leave. Her criticism, though painful, should be a rallying cry for us to demand better. To demand that Nigeria live up to its potential and provide a nation worthy of its people’s dreams.
If Kemi Badenoch had chosen to stay in Nigeria, her story might have been like so many others – punctuated by harassment or forced into silence by those who see female ambition as a threat.
Our brightest minds are thus left to fight battles that should not exist, another reason why I am beyond happy for Kemi, her journey and achievement should be celebrated.
Either through sheer hard work or privilege from her parents, she did not allow Nigeria to hold her dreams at ransom. She did not allow Nigeria to kill her dream.
As we congratulate Kemi Badenoch on her remarkable achievements, we are left to ask ourselves: how many more Kemis have we lost?
How many have seen their dreams crushed under the weight of Nigeria’s dysfunctional system? Kemi’s success should not be an exception; it should be the rule.
But this will remain a dream until Nigeria is willing to confront its failures honestly and commit to nurturing the dreams of its people. Instead of putting the head of those who speak out on the stake.
To Aunty Kemi, I say: “Congratulations. You are a symbol of what Nigerians can achieve when given the opportunity.” And to Nigeria, I say: “May you not continue to kill the dreams of your children, for each life that leaves you is a loss you cannot afford.” And to Nigerians, I say: “May we continue to have the zeal and urge to follow our dreams and make the nation proud.”
