A Nigerian woman, Victoria Obaze, was on May 15, 2019, sworn in as the first Black female Civic Mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom.
Obaze, an indigene of Imo State who contested three previous councillorship elections in 2010, 2014, and 2016 and failed, eventually succeeded in an election conducted on May 5, 2018, in Whitechapel Ward. She later became the council’s deputy speaker following her nomination by her councillor colleagues, from where she took over the mantle as mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
A statement containing a brief history of Obaze obtained by NAN from her close associate and UK Chapter Coordinator of Ugonwanne Social Club Nigeria Int’l, a Nigerian socio-cultural group in the UK, Ms. Blessing Chijekwu, revealed that the newly sworn-in mayor had lived in the borough for over 30 years.
The statement reads:
“For Councillor (Cllr) Obaze’s life is all about service to humanity with diligence. Her political experience started when she was elected as one of the board of directors to oversee the regeneration of her area, the Ocean Estate, in the 1980s.
“The move motivated her to get into politics, having noticed that there were no Black women in the council chambers, and this led her to open a project named Healthy Lifestyle for Stepney Women, East London.
“The project was funded by the local authority through the Ocean African Caribbean Association, which she and her late husband, Chief Evangelist Charles Obaze, co-founded.
“She also established Ocean Saturday School, aimed at ensuring school attainment for children, as well as Ocean Football Club, through which young boys were able to have residential football experiences with Chelsea Football Club.
“Above all, Cllr Obaze loves God with a passion; she is a member of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), as well as an Executive Council member at St Dunstan’s Church of England Parish in Stepney.
“She is also a secondary school governor in Tower Hamlets and a habitual visitor to the elderly and physically challenged in the community,” the statement quoted Chijekwu as saying.
The statement also quoted Lolo Ngozi Nwanze, President, Ugonwanne Social Club Nigeria Int’l, as saying that Obaze was chosen as life matron of the club because of her meekness and morality.
“These are the virtues that have brought her to where she (Obaze) is today.”
Victoria Obaze, who has four children and two grandchildren, attended West London College and Metropolitan University, where she studied business administration and community sector management at different times.
She also has certification in childcare, which enabled her to operate a registered charitable childcare centre in the UK named Vicharles Play Centre.
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