Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the United Kingdom (UK) Conservative Party, says she is not interested in laundering the image of Nigeria after Vice-President Kashim Shettima criticised her for denigrating the country.

Badenoch was born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents. She returned to Nigeria, where she grew up. Badenoch finally departed for the UK when she turned 16.

Before she was elected leader of the Conservative Party, Badenoch described Nigeria as a socialist nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.

“This is my country. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from,” she said.

“I grew up in Nigeria, and I saw firsthand what happens when politicians are in it for themselves, when they use public money as their private piggy banks, when they pollute the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.

“I saw what socialism is for millions. I saw poverty and broken dreams. I came to Britain to make my way in a country where hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere.”

Badenoch also said she “grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it. Triple-checking that all the doors and windows are locked, waking up in the night at every sound, listening as you hear your neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten, wondering if your home would be next”.

On Monday, Vice-President Kashim Shettima hit back at Badenoch, accusing her of denigrating Nigeria.

Shettima compared Badenoch to Rishi Sunak, a “brilliant young man” who “never denigrated his nation of ancestry”.

Former Prime Minister Sunak hails from India.

However, a spokesperson for Badenoch said the politician stood by her statement.

“Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR; she is the leader of the opposition in the UK,” the spokesperson said.

“She tells the truth. She tells it like it is. She’s not going to couch her words, and she stands by what she says.”

Shettima had urged Badenoch to change her first name if she no longer wanted to identify with her homeland.

Born Olukemi Adegoke to Nigerian parents, the lawmaker married Hamish Badenoch, a Scottish banker, and took her husband’s surname.