UK-based Nigerian pastor, Tobi Adegboyega, has dismissed claims made by British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, suggesting that Nigeria’s societal issues are unique. Adegboyega argued that similar challenges also exist in the United Kingdom.
Badenoch, who recently criticized Nigeria’s police force, accused them of engaging in robbery and intimidation, recounting a personal experience of her brother being robbed of his shoes and watch. In a widely discussed interview, she compared this to her positive experience with British police, highlighting their support during a burglary incident in the UK back in 2004.
Badenoch said: “My experience with the Nigerian police was very negative. The police in Nigeria will rob us. My brother’s shoes and watch were taken. It’s a very poor country, so people do all sorts of things. Giving people a gun there is a licence to intimidate.”
However, speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Monday, Pastor Adegboyega countered Badenoch’s remarks, insisting that crime and social ills are not exclusive to Nigeria. He pointed out staggering crime figures within the UK itself.
“I completely disagree with that statement. Between 2023 and 2024, about 78,000 bags and phones were snatched in the UK alone,” Adegboyega said.
He further highlighted issues plaguing the black community in Britain, such as youth violence and systemic inequalities. “There’s a very strong Nigerian black community in this nation. For people like the leader of the opposition party to rise to such positions, they’ve had to fight on the streets. There have been funerals where children were killed here in the UK—three children from the same family, buried. That’s how severe it can get.”
Adegboyega acknowledged Nigeria’s challenges but stressed that the country, as a younger nation compared to advanced economies like Britain, is still in the process of development.
“We are not denying that our country has issues, but we cannot say things are all dark. That is simply not true,” he emphasized.
The pastor also drew attention to the overrepresentation of young black people in UK prisons and mental health institutions, calling for a balanced perspective. “We know that prisons and mental hospitals here have more young black people than schools. We see this on the streets; we know what’s happening.”
Adegboyega referenced the efforts of his now-defunct church, SPAC Nation, to empower youths and combat societal challenges. “When SPAC Nation began, we started sending people to Harvard, Cambridge, and we had the highest number of young people at Imperial College.”
He concluded by encouraging Nigerians at home and abroad not to allow unfair narratives to diminish the nation’s potential.
