The current literature on diasporic political participation is sparse, limited in geographical scope and focuses mostly on traditional forms of participation such as lobbying and voting. These limitations leave a gap in the study of both the African diaspora, and the individual-level factors which motivate diasporans to engage in homeland politics, such as those which determine their national/ethnic identities. Thus, I conducted a survey to study identity formation within a sect of the African diaspora – Nigerians in England – and how various factors, including the extent to which one feels Nigerian, affects the level and types of engagement in homeland politics among the diaspora. I find that generally, Nigerian identities and political engagement are strong and positively correlated. I use Pan-Africanism as a new framework for understanding why African identities persist among the diaspora despite past events/cleavages which have the potential to tear the diaspora apart.