Open Letter to Kemi Badenoch - By Abioye Tosin Lawrence

 

Dear Madam Badenoch,

I write this not as a critic, but as someone who understands that displacement, whether geographical or emotional, can scar more deeply than silence.

It’s clear that you’ve been reconfigured into the rhythms of British public life, shaped by a system where discipline is a doctrine and defiance a language of its own. Watching the political process that led to Boris Johnson’s exit from Number 10, I observed not just scandal or party drama, but a system at work, something many Nigerians are striving to fully experience.

Your recent rebuttals and criticisms of Nigeria and Nigerian leaders echo something deeper: pain. A pain that comes not from contempt, but from disillusionment. Because like many of us, you probably once believed that being Nigerian was a birthright wrapped in divine intention, yet Nigeria, as you now know, often feels like a British relic.

Still, I want you to know this: not all Nigerian politicians are merchants of misfortune. Some are on their knees asking God to reform the complexion of our political system. A few are fighting, sincerely and stubbornly, the way any honest official in the House of Commons would.

This letter is not to challenge you, but to remind you to heal. Nigeria is still writing its script, and though the pen often wobbles, it hasn’t stopped.

Your voice is powerful, and I urge you to begin aiming some of your messages not just at Nigeria's broken past, but toward its hopeful future, the younger Nigerians. Those who still believe. Those trying to build, side by side with the old guard, like the young Conservative leaders elected in Britain. We need guidance, not just warnings.

To love a country is to work for it, even when it breaks your heart.

I wish you strength, clarity, and peace.

Sincerely,

Abioye Tosin Lawrence is the publisher of Oriontimes Online Newspaper, Memoirist, and author of the upcoming memoir Voices from the Fire: My Journey Through a Hollow Empire