A 39-year-old Nigerian, Uzoma Asagwara has been sworn in as the new Health Minister and Deputy Premier of the Province of Manitoba in Canada.

Asagwara, who was born to Nigerian parents from Eastern Nigeria, was sworn into the new office on Thursday following a tenure in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly.

The deputy premier was elected to represent the Canadian Union Station in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly in 2019.

This made her the first black person to win a seat in the assembly, breaking a 150-year jinx. She was also the first black queer legislator.

As the new health minister, the Canadian-Nigerian’s duties will intersect with bioeconomy in different ways and she will be expected to drive innovation and health advancements within the biosciences.

Asagwara has a career spanning over a decade as a psychiatry nurse. In 2008, the new minister got a Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing and also completed a joint programme between the University of Winnipeg and the University in Brandon, both in Manitoba.

The new minister also played basketball actively until official retirement from the sports.

Asagwara was born in Winnipeg Canada when her parents migrated there in the late 1970s.