House of Reps Diaspora C’ttee Chair, Sadipe Congratulates Kemi Badenoch of Nigerian Descent on Her Appointment As UK Trade Secretary
House of Reps Diaspora C’ttee Chair, Sadipe Congratulates Kemi Badenoch of Nigerian Descent on Her Appointment As UK Trade Secretary.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe has congratulated British-Nigerian lawmaker, Kemi Badenoch on her appointment as Britain’s Secretary of State for International Trade.
Born in south London, Kemi Badenoch is the daughter of Professor Feyi Adegoke who attended Queens School, Ibadan. She spent her early years living in Nigeria.
In a statement by her spokesman, Olamilekan Olusada, on Wednesday in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, the Lawmaker representing Oluyole Federal Constituency said Badenoch’s appointment gladdens the heart of Nigerians, at home and in the Diaspora.
Akande-Sadipe said her appointment has likewise put the name of Nigeria in a positive narrative.
Rep. Akande-Sadipe, rejoiced with the British lawmaker and her family on the recognition and wished her the best in her new office.
She also expressed hope that Badenoch’s antecedents in government and international relations would strengthen Britain and Nigeria’s trade relations.
She said, “It is our hope that your office as the Secretary of State for international trade will be mutually beneficial to your father-land, Nigeria and deepen the relationship both countries have built over the years.
The Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, also congratulated United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, wishing her the best in her endeavours.
Expressing hopes that her tenure will bring socio-economic stability to the United Kingdom, she said, “we are proud that a female has once again broken the glass ceiling”.
E-signed:
Olamilekan Olusada,
S.A Media & Publicity.
September 7, 2022.
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch ( née Adegoke, 2 January 1980) is a British politician serving as the Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade since 2022. She previously served as Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities and Minister of State for Equalities from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden since 2017.
Born in Wimbledon, London, to Nigerian parents, Badenoch spent parts of her childhood in Lagos and the United States before returning to the United Kingdom at 16. After graduating from the University of Sussex, she was a software engineer at Logica before studying law at Birkbeck, University of London. Badenoch later pursued a career in banking, working for the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Coutts.
In 2012, Badenoch contested a seat on the London Assembly but lost the race. Later, she was appointed to the body after Victoria Borwick resigned in 2015. A supporter of Brexit in the 2016 referendum, Badenoch was elected to the House of Commons in 2017. After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, Badenoch was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. In the February 2020 reshuffle, she was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities. In September 2021, she was promoted to Minister of State for Equalities and appointed Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities. In July 2022, Badenoch resigned from the government and stood to replace Johnson in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, but was eliminated from the contest in the fourth round of voting. Following Liz Truss‘s appointment as Prime Minister in September 2022, she appointed Badenoch as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.
