Did you know that nine Nigerian-Americans contested during the November 3 general elections but only 3 were victorious? They are Oye Owolewa, Esther Agbaje and Nnamdi Chukwuocha.
The Heritage Times presents facts you should know about the victors.
Dr Oye Owolewa:
He was elected as a shadow member of the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia.
Dr Owolewa who has family roots in Kwara and Oyo states, polled 164,026 votes to defeat incumbent Joyce Robinson-Paul, who scored 18,600 votes, and Sohaer Syed with 15,372 votes.
It is worthwhile to note that he holds a PhD in Pharmacy from the Northeastern University, Boston and was elected commissioner of his neighbourhood at SouthEast DC in 2018.
What’s more, he is an advocate for DC statehood and launched TaxFreeDC as a movement to combat DC’s taxation without representation.
Ms Esther Agbaje:
She is a 35-year-old Harvard law graduate Born to Nigerian parents (an Episcopal priest and a librarian).
Ms Agbaje defeated Republican, Alan Shilepsky and Green Party candidate, Lisa Neal-Delgado with 17,396 votes to represent District 59B in the Minnesota House of Representatives on the platform of the Democratic Party.
She holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, has experience working with city government, had a stint in the U.S. State Department and boasts of accolades from a prestigious law firm.
What’s more, she has interests in prison reform, fighting racial discrepancies, housing among others.
Nnamdi Chukwuocha:
As his name suggests, Chukwuocha is of Igbo extraction,
He won re-election as a member of Delaware House of Representatives from District 1.
The democrat who has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in social work from Delaware State University, ran unopposed and won 100 per cent of the votes with 7,640.
Mr Chukwuocha has several years of experience in local politics in the state and once served on the Wilmington City Council as President Pro Tempore and Chair of the Education, Youth and Families Committee.
What’s more, he is a part of the spoken word duo “Twin Poets” which was appointed as the State of Delaware 17th Poets Laureate.
