US election: Owolewa made Nigeria proud, says youths minister

• Stephen Godonu-

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Thursday, described the feat achieved by 31-year old Oye Owolewa in the 2020 United States election as national pride.

The minister tweeted, “Congrats are in place for the 31-year old Adeoye Owolewa for making Nigeria proud by being the first Nigerian to win a seat in the United States Congress.”

Owolewa was on Tuesday elected as a shadow member of the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia, making him the first Nigerian-American to achieve the milestone.

According to election results on the website of the District of Columbia Board of Elections on Wednesday morning, Owolewa polled 81.59% of the votes, which represents 164,026 votes against Joyce Robinson-Paul, who scored 18,600 votes, and Sohaer Syed with 15,372 votes.

Owolewa, whose father is from Kwara State and mother is from Oyo State, was elected on the platform of the Democratic Party.

The PhD holder in Pharmacy from the Northeastern University, Boston, is one of the nine Nigerian-Americans on the ballot in Tuesday’s general elections.

Also, another Nigerian-American, 35-year-old Esther Agbaje, emerged victorious in the election when she won a legislative seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, congratulated both Owolewa and Agbaje in two separate statements on Wednesday, noting that “with dedication, hard work, resilience and prayer, one can achieve just about anything”.