The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, said the criticism of Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, about Nigeria is aimed at gaining acceptance from her party.
DAILY POST recalls that last week, Badenoch said she does not want the consequences of terrible governments like Nigeria to play out in Britain.
Badenoch, who spoke on the significance of building trust and touting the Conservative Party as the right group to fix Britain, likened the possibility of the UK becoming like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
Responding, Bwala, speaking on Monday on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television, refuted claims that Badenoch’s remarks about Nigeria would affect the country’s international relations or efforts to attract investors.
“I don’t think it would have an effect because she’s not the government in power. Usually, these international relationships or collaborations are dealings between governments.
“Because she’s not the government in power, it will not have any effect. Secondly, because she’s a Nigerian, investors will be smart enough to assess what she’s saying, whether it is born out of rhetoric,” Bwala said.
While acknowledging Badenoch’s achievements in the UK, Bwala added that she is capitalising on populism that thrives on public discontent and feeds on people’s anger.
“The only problem we have with Kemi, I think, is the rhetoric because Kemi belongs to the right base in the United Kingdom, which is what you see in this populism around the world. You can deepen your support system if you can feed off the anger of the people,” he said.
“So she’s building a rhetoric of denigrating Nigeria, demarketing Nigeria, so she can probably win the acceptance or approval of the rights in her party,” he added.
