Uzoma Asagwara, a 39-year-old Nigerian, has been sworn in as the province of Manitoba’s new Health Minister and Deputy Premier.
Asagwara, who was born in Eastern Nigeria to Nigerian parents, was sworn into the new office on Thursday after serving in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly.
In 2019, the deputy premier was elected to the Manitoba Legislative Assembly to represent the Canadian Union Station. This made her the first black person to be elected to the legislature, breaking a 150-year jinx. She was also the first black lesbian and gay legislator.
As the new health minister, the Canadian-Nigerian’s responsibilities will cross with the bioeconomy in various ways, and she will be expected to foster bioscience innovation and health breakthroughs.
Asagwara has worked as a psychiatric nurse for almost a decade. In 2008, the new minister earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing and finished a dual degree at the Universities of Winnipeg and Brandon, both in Manitoba.
The new minister also participated in basketball until his official retirement from the sport.
When her parents moved to Winnipeg, Canada in the late 1970s, Asagwara was born.
