November 10,2022

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

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.