Joe Biden appoints first black defense secretary

The President-elect of the United States of America, Joe Biden is to appoint Lloyd Austin, who played a major role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as the country’s first black defense secretary.

US media reported on Tuesday that the 67-year-old retired four-star army general has been picked by Biden ahead of favourite for the job former under-secretary of defence Michele Flournoy, amid pressure.

Further reports revealed that Lloyd, a veteran of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan was selected amid pressure on Biden to nominate more minorities for positions in his cabinet.

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Biden, according to reports, had also considered Jeh Johnson, a former Pentagon general counsel and former secretary of homeland defence.

This came after Ripples Nigeria had reported that Biden had selected an all-female senior White House communications team in what his office called a first in the country’s history.

Reports say Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris sought to inject diversity in their appointments and nominations so far, ahead of their January 20 swearing-in.

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