The United States President, Joe Biden, has appointed two professionals who are of Nigerian descent as special advisers.

Both Osagie Imasogie and Chineye Ogwumike were part of the 12 members of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States.

The appointment was contained in a statement released by the State House on Wednesday.

The members include Silvester Scott Beaman who will chair the council, Mimi E. Alemayehou, Rosalind Brewer, Viola Davis, Helene D. Gayle, Patrick Hubert Gaspard, C.D. Glin, Osagie Imasogie, Almaz Negash, Chinenye Joy Ogwumike, Ham K. Serunjogi, and Kevin Young.

The members of the council will serve for the 2023-2025 term.

According to the statement, the establishment of the council was aimed at enhancing dialogue between United States officials and the African Diaspora.

“The Council’s members include individuals who have distinguished themselves in government, sports, creative industries, business, academia, social work, and faith-based activities.

“They will provide invaluable guidance to reinforce cultural, social, political, and economic ties between the U.S. and Africa, and promote trade, investment, and educational exchanges between the United States and Africa,” the statement read in part.

Below are the profiles of both Imasogie and Ogwumike


Osagie Imasogie

Osagie Imasogie is Chairman of the Investment Bank and SEC/FINRA registered Broker-Dealer, Quoin Capital and Quoin Advisors. In addition, Osagie is a co-founder of PIPV Capital, a private equity firm that is focused on the life sciences vertical and has invested over $1 billion into that industry. Prior to co-founding PIPV Capital, he established GlaxoSmithKline Ventures and was its founding Vice President. Osagie has held senior commercial and R& positions within pharmaceutical companies such as GSK, SmithKline Beecham, and DuPont Merck.

He has also been a Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance Partner as well as a practicing attorney with leading U.S. law firm, Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis. Osagie is a serial entrepreneur and investor who serves on the board of a number of financial institutions such as FS-KKR Capital Corp and Haverford Trust, institutions that cumulatively manage over $28 billion. He is an adviser to Brown Advisory, a firm that manages in excess of $140 billion. Osagie is the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center.

In addition, Osagie is a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Executive Committee of the University, and is also the Chairman of the Board of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he is an Adjunct Professor of Intellectual Property. Osagie holds LLM degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and is a member of the New York State Bar in addition to being admitted to practice in other jurisdictions.


Chinenye Ogwumike

Chinenye “Chiney” Ogwumike is a 2-Time WNBA All-Star for the Los Angeles Sparks and a full-time, multi-platform ESPN host and NBA analyst. Chiney stars on ESPN daily on ESPN’s NBA Today and NBA Countdown, and also stars on the court as a forward for the Sparks. Chiney is a proud first generation Nigerian-American, born in Cypress, Texas. The 1st overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft, she graduated from Stanford University with an International Relations degree under the mentorship of Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

Chiney led Stanford to three Final Fours while distinguishing herself in academics, earning multiple honors for her academic success, including being named the 2014 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year and the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Chiney Ogwumike was the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year and is a 2-Time WNBA All-Star (2014, 2018). She served as the vice president of the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) from 2018 to 2022, instrumentally helping negotiate the groundbreaking 2020 collective bargaining agreement.

In August 2020, Chiney became the first Black woman to host a national, daily sports-talk radio show. The 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree also holds the title of Executive Producer, producing an ESPN Films documentary “144” on the 2020 WNBA season. In 2018, Chiney became a full-time multi-platform ESPN NBA Analyst, becoming one of the youngest national sports studio analysts and one of the only full-time professional athletes to currently hold a regular national sports media position. She has made numerous trips to Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa with NBA Africa and other nonprofits to help launch youth empowerment and education initiatives, using basketball as a tool for development.

seunmsg:
Congratulations to our Edo and Igbo brethren. They should both work with their senior US official of Nigerian descent, Wale Wally Adeyemo to help attract investors to Nigeria.

Treasure17:
Yoruba amaka making us proud.

yarimo:
They should be more careful with CHINEYE OGWUMIKE

seunmsg:
Congratulations to our Edo and Igbo brethren. They should both work with their senior US official of Nigerian descent, Wale Wally Adeyemo to help attract investors to Nigeria.

Taylor92:


W shock abi?


Say the rejected and marginalized region in Nigeria is doing wonders abroad


Since una pack Yoruba full government you no see say Nigeria is now like Dubai


They’ll soon thief your phone

Taylor92:



Which of them is Yoruba?

Chineye or Osagie

Una wan claim them too?

Thieves

Treasure17:


The name osagie is from the word orisa(gods) in yoruba land.

seunmsg:
Congratulations to our Edo and Igbo brethren. They should both work with their senior US official of Nigerian descent, Wale Wally Adeyemo to help attract investors to Nigeria.

VinnyBaba:


The Kazeems, Kamorus, Muslius, Etc can NEVER get such Appointments.🙁😒

They Only Ronu, Wait for Palliatives or STEAL. 😟😢.

PrinceOfLagos:

As if E come from your mind .

Na eye service be this one .

Wether you congratulate the Igbo lady or not, the Igbos will continue to prosper .

Taylor92:


She will not work with any Mumu Wale to bring any Mumu investment to Nigeria


If una want foreign investment make Tinubu use him leg waka go

Una dey beg for foreign investments when the ones wey dey here already dey pack go because of hardship

Expecting an Igbo woman to bring you investments

Same Igbo you hate

Taylor92:


She will not work with any Mumu Wale to bring any Mumu investment to Nigeria


If una want foreign investment make Tinubu use him leg waka go

Una dey beg for foreign investments when the ones wey dey here already dey pack go because of hardship

Imagine no more panadol extra in Nigeria because the company don run

Expecting an Igbo woman to bring you investments

Same Igbo you hate

seunmsg:
Congratulations to our Edo and Igbo brethren. They should both work with their senior US official of Nigerian descent, Wale Wally Adeyemo to help attract investors to Nigeria.

Couldntfigurean:
In Nigeria,Tinubu would have skipped them because they are not from his tribe and picked unqualified Yorubas to get the appointments and online Yorubas will defend him with their lives