Adeoye Owolewa Breaks Ground as the First Nigerian-American Elected to the US Congress
Nigerians across the globe are celebrating the landmark victory of Adeoye Owolewa, the 31-year old Nigerian-American to make history as the first Nigerian congressman in the United States. Adeoye Owolewa has been elected as a shadow member of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Columbia, following the elections held on the 3rd of November, 2020. He will be representing Washington DC in the House of Representatives.
Adeoye Owolewa who hails from Kwara State was elected on the platform of the Democratic Party. He makes one of the nine Nigerian-American on the ballot in the United States 2020 General Elections.
From the outcome of the result seen on the website of the District of Columbia Board of Elections on the 4th of November, Adeoye bagged 81.59% of the votes cast, which represents 164,026 votes against his contenders, Joyce Robinson-Paul who had 18, 600 votes and Sohaer Syed with 15, 372votes.
Adeoye Owolewa has a PhD in Pharmacy from the Northeastern University, Boston. Since 2014, he has been a member of RESET, a coalition of STEM professionals who volunteer in public schools to engage students through hands-on science experiments, with the goal to inspire young people to become tomorrow’s scientist.
Read Also: Meet the Nine Nigerians who Contested in the November 2020 United States Election
The campaign website of Adeoye revealed that he was elected commissioner of his neighbourhood, Southeast DC in 2018. Under his leadership, he served as the medium between the community and the local government. He also worked hard to support the underserved with resources, by advising DC lawmakers based on continued community feedback.
He has fueled science enrichment programs in Southeast elementary schools, adding traffic safety measures and spearheading a Senior Day Centre to the neighbourhood. As a commissioner, Adeoye learned and inculcated the value of being an advocate and a community resource.
Adeoye has been fully committed to the growth of DC as he has channelled energy to educate and advocate for DC statehood and equality. In March 2019, he participated in the historic lobby day which earned DC first time support from the majority in the House of Representative.
Nigerians keep rewriting history at home and in the diaspora. We congratulate Adeoye Owolewa for making us proud.