Connect with us

News

Meet eight Nigerian-Americans who won seats in US midterm elections

Published

on

The midterm elections in the United States held on Tuesday threw up surprises as eight Nigerian-American politicians won legislative seats in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and the District of Columbia (DC).

The Americans of Nigerian descent who are being celebrated for breaking a jinx of some sort are Segun Adeyina, Gabe Okoye, Solomon Adesanya, Tish Naghise, Phil Olaleye, Carol Kazeem, Oye Owolewa and Esther Agbaje.

The Nigerian government has already identified with them with President Muhammadu Buhari congratulating them for bringing honour to the country while the Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, took to Twitter on Wednesday to share the news with a picture frame of the winners.

“These Nigerian-Americans won their elections in Georgia last night. A hearty congrats to them all #ProudlyNigerian,” she wrote.

But who are these celebrated Nigerian-Americans politicians who have suddenly become the beautiful brides of the nation?

Segun Adeyina

Adeyina, a Georgia-based IT expert,
contested and won a legislative seat as a Georgia State Representative on the ticket of the Democratic Party to represent District 110.

He is an experienced Information Technology specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the automotive industry with a bias in databases, IT strategy, data management and system development.

In his campaign manifesto, Adeyina promised to be committed to better education, health care, and infrastructure, among other issues.

Gabe Okoye

Gabe Okoye vied and won a legislative seat as a Georgia State Representative representing District 102. Okoye has been in politics for a while as he was a former Chairman of the Gwinnett County and a Democrat.

Okoye, a professional civil engineer, is the Chief Executive Officer, Essex Geoscience Inc, and has lived in Lawrenceville since 1992.

Solomon Adesanya

Solomon Adesanya is an entrepreneur, businessman and a politician who contested and won a seat in the Georgia State to represent District 43 which covers Marietta under the Democratic Party.

Adesanya who owns a restaurant in Cobb County, campaigned on the bases of economic development, quality public education, expansion of Medicaid, protecting women’s right to choose and preserving the climate.

Tish Naghise

Tish Naghise who describes herself as a passionate businesswoman, won a legislative seat for District 68 in the
Georgia State. Naghise is a Democrat and the owner of a thriving transport company, T & C Transportation.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Clayton State University and is currently undergoing her Master’s programme in Clayton State majoring in Strategic Leadership and Development.

READ ALSO:Buhari charges Nigerians in Diaspora on good conduct, promises to defend their interests

Phil Olaleye

Phil Olaleye, a Democrat, defeated his Republican Party opponent to become a Georgia State Representative for District 59.

Olaleye is the Executive Director of Next Generation Men & Women, an ‘education non-profit closing the opportunity gap for under-resourced high school students in Atlanta.’

Before venturing into politics, Olaleyrle had served as the Director of Performance Management at WorkSource Atlanta and as a U.S. Peace Corps Children, Youth, and Family Volunteer in the Philippines.

Olaleye who was also the ex-President of the Organized Neighbors of Summerhill, is a 2021 Georgia Trend 40 Under 40, and was a 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle 40 under Forty honoree.

He graduated from Duke University in 2007 and received a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2014.

Carol Kazeem

Carol Kazeem, a Pennsylvania-based activist, who contested and won the seat of Pennsylvania State Representative to represents District 159 under the Democratic Party.

She attended the Chester Upland School District and also earned a high school diploma from Ridley High School and an associate degree from Anthem College in 2013.

Kazeem had worked in the healthcare sector for over 13 years in various and while campaigning, Kazeem vowed to fight for $15 minimum wage, education equity, combating gun violence, ending mass incarceration, housing foa all and environmental justice.

Oye Owolewa

Oye Owolewa, a pharmacist turned politician, contested and won as the US Shadow Representative from District Columbia (DC) under the Democratic Party.

Brought up in Newton, Massachusetts, Owolewa attended Boston Latin School and graduated in 2008.

In 2014, he earned a doctorate in Pharmacy from Northeastern University and moved to Washington to practice pharmacy.

While campaigning, Owolewa said he would be committed to advocacy and community resources, the fight against prescription drugs and climate change.

Esther Agbaje

Esther Agbaje, an accomplished legal practitioner, vied and won a legislative seat as a Minnesota State Representative, representing District 59B which includes portions of north and downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County under the Democratic Party.

She graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science, a Master of Public Adminsitration (MPA) from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor (JD) from Harvard University.

Agbaje had previously served at the United States Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer and is an Associate Attorney with Ciresi Conlin LLP, where she practices in general civil litigation and medical malpractice.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now