These Seven Women of Nigerian Descent Are Proudly Flying The Nigerian Flag In The Diaspora

Many Nigerians abroad are doing a great job of flying the Nigerian flag high against all odds and in spite of their many challenges. In commemoration of International Women’s Day, we highlight seven women flying the Nigerian flag proudly in the diaspora

Uzo Aduba

American actress Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba is of Nigerian descent. She rose to prominence for her role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black from 2013 to 2019, for which she won three awards: two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2015, and one Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014.

She is one of just two actors to receive honors for the same part in both drama and comedy categories.

Aduba received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries in 2020 for her performance as Shirley Chisholm in the Hulu miniseries Mrs. America. 

She has received numerous other honors for her work in movies. She plays Aunty Uju in the upcoming adaptation of Americanah.

 Eno Oduok

Eno Oduok founded Naija Comm; the first-ever online community exclusively for Nigerian creatives and professionals in underserved career categories.

The Nigerian-American is a Houston native. Oduok is an advocate for local residents while producing culturally appropriate content for corporations.

She has participated in noteworthy projects run by renowned organizations, TV programs, events, and more. AMC Networks, The Creative Collective NYC, and other businesses are among these groups.

In recognition of her work, she was part of the 30 under 30 of Forbes 2022.

Amanda Azubuike

Azubuike is the daughter of a Zimbabwean mother and a Nigerian father who met while attending university in London. She stated that shortly after her parent’s divorce, her mother relocated to the US “in search of better opportunities”.

While Azubike was in her penultimate year of high school, she was first introduced to the US military. In 1989, she became a citizen, but not before she joined the Army National Guard. She maintained her work in the army as a public affairs and relations officer after an 11-year career in military aircraft.

At a ceremony that was widely praised, Amanda Azubuike was elevated to brigadier-general in the American army in 2022.

She was once the chief of staff and senior military advisor in the office of the secretary of defence, and she is currently a deputy commanding officer at the US army cadet command.

Ayo Tometi

Ayo Tometi is a Nigerian-American Yoruba human rights activist, writer, strategist, and community builder. She was prominent in establishing the Black Lives Matter movement and has for nine years served in various capacities in the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the nation’s first organization dedicated to advancing the rights of immigrants of African heritage.

Tometi uses the BLM movement to highlight the discriminatory injustices that black people face. She started out in her small-town neighbourhood as a passionate supporter of human rights movements, and has now fought for the growth of racial justice, migrant rights, and human rights in many different countries of the world.

Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo

Funmi Badejo, one of the lawyers appointed by US President Joe Biden as a White House Counsel, assists the President in modernizing and personalizing the federal judiciary.

Badejo has distinguished herself in practice with degrees from the University of Florida, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Prior to working for the Biden administration as an attorney in the White House Counsel’s Office, Badejo was general counsel to James E. Clyburn, the House majority whip, and chaired the select committee looking into the epidemic of the coronavirus.

In addition, during the Obama-Biden administration, Badejo worked as an attorney advisor at the Administrative Conference of the United States, counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and ethics counsel at the White House Counsel’s Office.

Amina Mohammed

Amina Mohamed, a politician, and diplomat, serves as the UN’s deputy secretary general at the moment.

She served as Nigeria’s Minister of Enviroment from 2015 to 2016, but on February 24, 2017, she resigned from the Federal Executive Council. Later that year, António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, elevated her to the position of Deputy Secretary-General.

In this capacity, she participated in the UN Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Mohammed played a significant role in the Post-2015 Development Agenda process starting in 2012, working as Special Advisor to Ban Ki-Moon, the former UN Secretary-General, on post-2015 development planning. She served as a liaison in that capacity between the Secretary-General, his High-Level Panel of Eminent People, and the Open Working Group of the General Assembly, among other parties.

Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch is a British-Nigerian politician who has held the positions of President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022 and Secretary of State for Commerce and Trade in 2023. From 2019 to 2022, she served in a number of minor cabinet roles for Boris Johnson. She is a Conservative Party member who served in the London Assembly until being elected in 2017 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden, Essex.

In 2019, PM Boris appointed Badenoch to the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. She was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities during the February 2020 reorganization.

She was made Minister of State for Local Government, Faith, and Communities in September 2021 after being elevated to Minister of State for Equalities.

Badenoch left the cabinet in July 2022 and unsuccessfully ran to succeed Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Badenoch was appointed by Liz Truss, the new prime minister, to the positions of president of the Board of Trade and secretary of state for international trade in September 2022. The following month, Rishi Sunak, Truss’s successor, reappointed Badenoch.

After the Department for International Trade and parts of the Departments for Commerce, Energy, and Industrial Strategy were combined in a February 2023 cabinet reshuffle, Badenoch was promoted to Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Badenoch continued to fulfill the duties of the equalities minister.