Femi Fani-Kayode, Kemi Badenoch and a Nigerian from Leicester

BY MOHAMMED BELLO DOKA

In an attempt to remain relevant, Olusola Oni, a self-proclaimed Yoruba nationalist residing in Leicester, United Kingdom, has published a lengthy tirade ( titled Fani Kayode’s Fake Outrage About Kemi Badenoch) defending Kemi Badenoch’s recent ascent in British politics while launching an unprovoked attack on Femi Fani-Kayode.

If there’s one thing Oni’s article accomplishes, it’s confirming that he’s grasping for significance in the political world he abandoned decades ago. His attempt to glorify Badenoch while denigrating Nigeria reeks of nostalgia, detached from the harsh realities faced by his fellow citizens back home.

Misguided nostalgia and misplaced allegiances

Oni’s nostalgia shines through his meandering history lesson on Badenoch’s family background. He devotes an inordinate amount of space recounting irrelevant anecdotes about schools like Queen’s School in Ede and Ibadan Grammar School, desperately trying to paint Badenoch’s roots as noble and Yoruba-centered. But let’s get real: Badenoch’s success has nothing to do with these irrelevant family histories and everything to do with the British Conservative Party’s agenda—a reality Oni conveniently glosses over. He even had the audacity to dismiss the criticisms as “misguided Nigerians” who refuse to celebrate Badenoch’s “success”.

Here’s the reality Oni refuses to accept: Kemi Badenoch’s policy positions, including her dismissal of reparations for slavery and her selective immigration stances, have drawn criticism for good reason. They are not about “protecting the UK from becoming another Nigeria,” as Oni implies, but are reflective of a hardline political stance that marginalises minorities, including Nigerians.

Convenient amnesia about Nigeria’s realities

In his article, Oni lambasts Fani-Kayode for criticising Badenoch, suggesting that he is somehow stuck in the past. According to Oni, “Fani-Kayode thinks it is ok to live in a country where Fulani barbarians and savages use cattle to destroy Yoruba farmlands,” carelessly generalising the entire Fulani population to fit his narrow narrative. The truth is, Fani-Kayode’s criticisms are about holding public figures accountable, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background—a principle Oni seems to have abandoned in his allegiance to a fellow Yoruba.

Oni’s declaration that “Fani-Kayode is angry because Kemi Badenoch does not want the UK to transform into another Nigeria” is laughable. He criticises the entire Nigerian system while comfortably residing in the UK, enjoying the privileges and comforts afforded by his long-abandoned citizenship. Yet, he condemns Nigerians like Fani-Kayode who choose to remain and challenge the status quo.

Hypocrisy and double standards

While Oni praises Badenoch for her achievements, he criticises Abike Dabiri-Erewa for seeking to engage with the diaspora, dismissing her efforts as “an alarming emptiness” and deriding her attempts to connect with Nigerians abroad. The arrogance of such a statement is staggering, coming from someone who admits he has never spoken to Badenoch but feels qualified to speak on her behalf simply because he “knew her parents”. Oni’s notion of Yorubaness is limited to the privileges and accomplishments of those who, like him, abandoned Nigeria for greener pastures.

The attempt to undermine Dabiri-Erewa’s role by asserting that the UK High Commission alone should handle such engagements is an excuse to delegitimise any effort that doesn’t come from his narrow definition of authority. He writes: “Dabiri-Erewa has no standing and no mandate to demand audience with the UK Leader of Opposition.” Oni, the reality is that engaging Nigerians abroad goes beyond your outdated notions of bureaucracy—it’s about fostering meaningful connections with the diaspora.

Selective history and misinformation

In Oni’s world, Badenoch is the embodiment of Yoruba pride, yet he offers little to substantiate his claims apart from vague recollections of Badenoch’s father’s nationalist leanings. He even dredges up old treaties from the 19th century, like the “1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty,” to bolster his fanciful claim that “Yorubaland is a state within the confines of the country called Nigeria”. This distorted view of history conveniently ignores the realities of Nigeria’s current federal structure, which Badenoch, if anything, is less interested in engaging with than the average British politician.

Furthermore, Oni’s defence of Badenoch’s refusal to support reparations is rooted in a flimsy argument. He justifies it by pointing out that “David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, a descendant of slaves, does not support ‘reparation’.” Yet he fails to grasp that reparations are not merely about “cash compensation” but acknowledging historical injustices and taking concrete steps toward equity. His claim that “up to 90% of Black people in the UK are ambivalent about ‘reparation’” is an exaggeration unsupported by any factual evidence.

An old man’s attempt to rewrite history

Oni’s final assault on Fani-Kayode’s father, whom he labels a “political prostitute,” is a transparent effort to discredit the younger Fani-Kayode’s standing by invoking the sins of the father. His claim that Fani Power’s actions “arguably led to the 1966 coup d’état” is an exercise in historical revisionism, twisting facts to serve his present-day agenda. The reality is that Oni, having lived comfortably abroad for decades, is in no position to pass judgment on those who continue to fight for Nigeria’s future.

Oni’s concluding plea for a “Yoruba Homeland” in response to reparations reveals his true intentions—a separatist agenda wrapped in the guise of Yoruba nationalism, divorced from the complexities of modern Nigeria. His portrayal of Yorubaland as a distinct state within Nigeria is nothing more than the wishful thinking of an old man yearning for a past that never was.

A hollow defence

Oni’s tirade is nothing more than a hollow defense of Kemi Badenoch—a woman he admits to never meeting—while dismissing the valid concerns of Nigerians like Fani-Kayode, who remain on the ground. Oni has chosen to glorify Badenoch’s achievements as if they somehow absolve her of accountability for her controversial political stances, and he has done so by disparaging those who dare to question her. In reality, his defence is a transparent attempt to remain relevant by attaching himself to a rising political star.

On a final note, it is worth noting that the worst part of the essay was his attempt to disparage the memory and legacy of Femi Fani-Kayode’s father with all manner of lies and historical revisionism in an attempt to defend Kemi Badenoch. Thankfully he failed because we know Fani-Kayode’s distinguished father who, like FFK himself, was a great and proud patriot and illustrious Nigerian who believed in our country and people passionately and who has established an enviable legacy.

His name was Remilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode Q.C. SAN, CON who most politicians referred to as ‘Fani Power’ in his day!

He was a brilliant, courageous and distinguished elder statesman and nationalist who was amongst those who fought for Nigeria’s independence from the British, who successfully moved the motion for that independence in Parliament in 1958, who was the third Nigerian lawyer to be made Q.C., who was the third Nigerian lawyer to become a SAN, who studied law at Downing College Cambridge University in 1941, who came top in the whole of the old British Commonwealth in the British Bar Exams and was called to the British Bar in 1945, who set up the first indigenous law firm in Nigeria with Chief FRA Williams and Chief Bode Thomas, who was the Balogun of Ile Ife, who was Deputy Premier of the old Western Region in the First Republic, who was Regional Minister for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the First Republic and who played a leading role in the politics of the First and Second Republic in our country.

We also know Fani-Kayode’s grandfather, Justice Victor Adedapo Kayode, who studied law at Selwyn College, Cambridge University in 1917, and was called to the British Bar in 1922. He was also the third Nigerian to be appointed as a judge.

We also know Femi Fani-Kayode’s great grandfather Rev. Emmanuel Adebiyi Kayode who got a degree and a masters degree in Theology at Furrogh Bay College in Sierra Leone (which at that time was an extended campus of Durham University in the UK) in 1897, who was ordained as an Anglican priest, who established the first Anglican Church in the ancient town of Ile-Ife, who went on to build and pastor churches in the old Ondo and Ijebu provinces for many years, who dedicated his entire life to Christian ministry and spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who was a well-respected, deeply courageous and highly inspirational preacher.

It is pertinent to mention the fact that Fani-Kayode himself studied law at both London University (SOAS) and Pembroke College, Cambridge University in the early 1980’s and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985.

Oni may consider himself the “Leader of The Yoruba Party in the UK,” but in truth, he is a relic of a bygone era, trying desperately to rewrite history to suit his narrative. His selective outrage is as stale as his attempts at Yoruba nationalism, a nationalism that seems more interested in building castles in the air than addressing the pressing challenges Nigerians face today.

Let me leave you with the words of prominent a Nigerian and loud voice in the UK, Shola Mos-Shogbamimu: “Kemi Badenoch is a caricature of the very system we’re saying needs to go; she is the black face of white supremacy. She is a racial gatekeeper; she did everything possible to suppress and oppress Black people… Kemi, at every opportunity she gets, throws Nigeria under the bus. I’ve never seen Rishi, Suella, Priti—none of them—throw their country of heritage under the bus.”

This reflects the genuine sentiments of every right-thinking Nigerian who refuses to trade their conscience for crumbs at the altar of political relevance.

Mohammed Bello Doka is a journalist and a blogger at Abuja Network News