Profile of 2 Nigerian-Americans who make Joe Biden’s list of first 100 appointees
London, Jan. 5, 2020 (AltAfrica)-With less than three weeks to take over the Oval Office as the president of the United State, Joe Biden has been making a number of crucial appointments across races in what has been described as a step in the right track for the biggest democracy in the world.
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The Democrat and former senator, 78, has appointed 100 people among which are two Nigerians moment his victory over incumbent Donald Trump was sealed in December 2020 by the electoral college.
The appointment of the two Nigerian-born Americans, namely Adewale Adeyemo and Osaremen Okolo as deputy treasury secretary and COVID-19 advisor respectively has sent a message of positivity.
Background of the two Nigerians
1. Osaremen OkoloA daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Okolo was appointed on Thursday, December 31, as one of the members of the Biden-Harris COVID-19 response team.
She was born by Nigerian parents and raised in Massachusetts. She graduated from Harvard College in May 2017.
She concentrated primarily in the history of science (medicine and society focus) with an allied, joint concentration in African-American studies. She also obtained a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy.
According to The Street Journal, the Democrat served as a senior health policy adviser to U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
While working for Schakowsky, she drafted, negotiated, and managed the Congresswoman’s legislation, oversight, and policy across comprehensive health care and public health agenda.
Outside of all things health, Okolo spends time writing creatively, fanatically cheering on her Boston sports teams and loves Nigerian food.
2. Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo. Adeyemo has served as the president of the Obama Foundation. He was born in Nigeria and raised in Southern California
Public service is about offering hope through the dark times and making sure that our economy works not just for the wealthy, but for the hard-working people who make it run.
— Wally Adeyemo (@wallyadeyemo) November 30, 2020
As Deputy Treasury Secretary, I look forward to helping us build back our economy better.
Adeyemo received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. He joined the Obama Foundation in August 2019 as its first president.
An ally of the US former president Barrack Obama, Adeyemo was the deputy director of the National Economic Council (NEC), the assistant secretary for international markets and development at the treasury department.
The 39-year-old has also served as the deputy chief of staff of the treasury department in 2012 and chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FPB) for 16 months, starting in 2010.
Adeyemo worked as an editor at the Hamilton Project.
