A Nigerian-born man will make history in Poland when he becomes the country's first black member of parliament.
John Godson, who represents the governing Civic Platform party, will take up his seat in the Polish lower house of parliament following the resignation of a party colleague.
The 40-year-old university lecturer said he wants to "ensure Poland had
found a place in Africa" and that he hopes to promote race relations in
a country that is overwhelmingly white and monocultural.
Mr Godson moved to Poland in the early 1990s from his native Nigeria,
and but since taking citizenship in 2000 he has put down roots in the
central city of Lodz, marrying a local girl and serving on the city
council for a number of years.
"I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here and I want to be buried here," he said in a newspaper interview.
His arrival in the Polish parliament is remarkable given that Poland
only has a tiny number of ethnic minorities, with the country's 2002
census putting the number of people of a non-European origin at little
more than a couple of thousand.
Although
racism still occurs in Poland, and occasionally blights football
matches involving coloured players, it has dropped significantly since
the early 1990s when far-right groups flourished in the years following
the collapse of communism.
Mr Godson will also become one of just a handful of black politicians in central Europe.
Mr Godson will also become one of just a handful of black politicians in central Europe.
He has denounced abi denied his naija roots! Smdh..I don't blame him sha
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