Author: chicagoinquirer

The election of Barack Obama as U.S. Senator was the closest African immigrants have been to the seat of power in the country. Obama, the only Black senator in the country, was not born in the Black continent but in Hawaii where his Kenyan father came to study economics after securing a scholarship in the east African nation. Before him, we had former East Cleveland mayor the Rev. Emmanuel W. Onunwor, who became the first African born mayor of an American city in January, 1998. Onunwor, who was born in 1954 in the Rumuomasi section of Port Harcourt, Rivers state…

Nigerians sometimes show up in unexpected places. One of such places was a meeting of Black-Americans elected officials conveyed in Chicago, the City of big shoulders, in 1993. Emmanuel A. Imoukhuede, then a first term board of trustee member of the affluence South West Village of Matteson and the first African born elected official in United States was in attendance. Imoukhuede like other Black Americans was having fun and enjoying the camaraderie until the master-of –ceremony mispronounced his name and the fire in him busted. I-mou-khuede-he corrected and advised the speaker to always learn how to pronounce names especially African…

Gene C. Mojekwu, President of  Matrix Engineering Corporation  may pass you by unnoticed. Petit, quite, easy going, cool and collected, Mojekwu radiates little or no attention onto himself especially if he did not lighten-up his handsome face with a beaming smile.      Yet Mojekwu’s  signature is hard to miss in and around Chicagoland area, Illinois and 39 other states where he is licensed to practice engineering. The Dinosaur at the Chicago’s Museum campus is one of his signature tunes.   Besides, Matrix Engineering designed the new fire stations being constructed across the Windy City and he is involved in…

Most reporters’ dream of the Joseph Pulitzer Prize for journalism. Some succeed and few, out of frustrations of missing the prestigious award, sometimes opt out of the vocation. The later is not the lot of Dele Olojede, joint winner of the 2005 prize and the first African born journalist to win the award. The award will be presented to him on May 23, 2005. He is said to be a finalist for the Pulitzer in International Reporting in 2005. Just like “Born To Run” a book on the life and times of his mentor Dele Giwa, Olojede co-authored with another…

He asserted that competing forces continue to keep Blacks suppressed, adding another Martin Luther King will rise again. “You can keep millions of people oppressed for too long. Another King will come back,” he stated. Below we publish the interview with Justice Pincham Inquirer: You’ve been around since the Dr. Martin Luther King era. He spoke about dreams. How far has the nation gone now that we have a black senator in Congress? Pincham: It’s nice that we have a new senator in Barack Obama but attaining the dreams Dr. King spoke about has been extremely slow and limited.…

In 10 years since the resuscitation of Major League Soccer (MLS) no known Nigerian player has been featured in the league. Yet, Abbey Okulaja, Gazelle Football Club President, emerged as the best MLS referee in 2004, his second year as a referee in the soccer league. He described the MLS as the fittest league in the world in an interview with Joseph Omoremi, editor of The Chicago Inquirer. Excerpts: Interview by Joseph Omoremi Inquirer: How has it been in MLS? Abbey: It’s been really good and exciting. I won the best referee of the year last year. And I’m…

By Joseph Omoremi “We may come in different ships but we are all in the same boat,” Congressman Danny K. Davis told a group of African immigrants and Black Americans recently at fundraising hosted by Dr Shaffdeen Amuwo, associate dean, community, government, and alumni affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The time, he said, has come for both groups to have a rethink their relationship and find a long-lasting way of interacting together for the overall benefit of the Black race. “I’m amazed at little interaction between African Americans and recent African immigrants,” he…

By Joseph Omoremi, editor Officials of the United African Organization (UAO) have been asked by the Democratic senator-elect Barack Obama to constantly relay to him issues affecting the African community with a pledge to address some concerns on immigration matters. “I will be very active on immigration matters in terms of visa, waiting for time, deportation and processing immigration papers for Africans both here and in Africa,” Obama told UAO officers and Africa for Obama committee members during a meeting with them after his victory last month. UAO president, Andrew Eperi, had informed the 43-year-old Democrat…

There are more than 30 African churches across Chicago land. Out of the number, only one is headed by a woman. Yet the church is growing astronomically. It recently acquired acres of land worth millions of dollars and opened another parish in the north side of Chicago. The Chicago Inquirer editor Joseph Omoremi sought the views of the Senior Pastor, Dr. Beatrice Arowolaju, on the reasons behind the astronomical expansion of the Bible Church of Rec- onciliation and the gale of miracles going on in the church. Excerpt The Chicago Inquirer: Tell us briefly about the Bible Church of Reconciliation? What…

It’s been two years since the United African Organization (UAO) was reconstituted in Chicago. Shortly after the inauguration, African Hair Braiders’ was about having their shops closed due to the implementation of a 2001 legislation that requires braiding shops to have cosmetology license . UAO officers led by Andrew Eperi moved again the move. He along with his co-leaders in the union lobbied state legislators and testified in Springfield until the then George Ryan administration saw reason why these hardworking African beautician should be allowed to continue their trade unhindered. Over 3000 workers without a license would have been forced…