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Nigerian-Born Political Newcomer Becomes Colorado City Mayor

After a history-making victory, Nigerian immigrant Yemi Mobolade was sworn in on June 6 as mayor of Colorado Springs, the second-largest city in the western U.S. state of Colorado.

Colorado Governor Jered Polis said he is inspired by Mobolade’s story.

“Somebody who has dedicated his life to making Colorado Springs and America a better place, whose story we can all identify with, who came here, who started businesses,” Polis said at the inauguration ceremony.

Mobolade moved to the U.S. 27 years ago as a student and became a U.S. citizen in 2017. He started a family, opened two restaurants and a church, and then won election in this traditionally conservative city as its first elected Black leader.

“I wake up every morning and I think it’s a dream, and then I realize, no, this really happened,” Mobolade said.

But what earned him the trust of many residents, some said, is his stint as the small business development manager for Colorado Springs from 2019 to 2022.

Some residents told VOA that Mobolade’s electoral victory sends a message that their state is welcoming to people from all walks of life.

“Colorado Springs is lavishly hospitable,” Michael Lipede told VOA. “If the natives of Colorado have not received us with an open heart, there is no way we will accomplish all we have accomplished,” said Lipede, a lead pastor at Redeemed Christian Church of God Living Faith Sanctuary in Colorado Springs.

In a city of nearly 500,000 people that is more than 75% White, residents found hope in the fact that so many voters were willing to support someone from a different background.

“Coloradans … don’t believe in ethnicity, they believe in competence and capacity and capability, and they found out that Mr. Yemi has it all.” Olawale Akinremi, a Colorado Springs resident told VOA.

“I feel hopeful about today. I love our new mayor, Yemi Mobolade. He is a man of strength, faith, character, and courage. And we are so fortunate to have him leading our city,” Cindy Aubrey, Colorado Springs resident said.

Another resident, Nkechi Onyejekwe said “I think it is something that is very amazing to celebrate and I think it is something very timely as well,” she told VOA, adding that “Colorado Springs has a very diverse population and I think that their legislative bodies should also reflect that.”

Ami Bajah-Onyejekwe, a Pueblo Colorado resident said it is important for people to see someone they can look up to in positions of leadership. “Just by seeing someone who looks like you, who has similar background to yours and see where that person has reached, and the goals they have achieved,” she said, “gives hope and says, ‘I can do it as well.’”

Mobolade has pledged to be a leader for all of Colorado City’s increasingly diverse population.

“I think today matters for a lot of young black kids because it tells them that the sky’s the limit, that they too can step into the arena and lead,” he said.

This story originated in VOA’s Hausa Service.
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Reuters/Ipsos: Biden’s Approval Rating at 41%, Americans Concerned About Economy

U.S. President Joe Biden’s public approval was at 41% in recent days, close to the lowest level of his presidency but little changed following a tense negotiation with congressional Republicans over the federal government’s debt, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

The four-day poll, which ended on Monday, showed a marginal increase in Biden’s popularity from last month, when 40% of respondents said they approved of his performance since taking office in January 2021. The poll has a margin of error of three percentage points. 

The economy remained the top concern, amid high rates of inflation and a push by central bankers to tame prices by raising interest rates, which has made mortgages and car loans costlier.

Democrat Biden reached a deal last week with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the top elected Republican official, to suspend a limit on federal borrowing following weeks of talks. The deal averted the financial disaster that would have unfolded if the government were forced to stop paying all its bills.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed only 27% of Americans approve of how McCarthy is handling his job.

Some 56% of the poll’s respondents supported sending more U.S. weapons and financial aid to Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, about the same share as in a February poll.

But that backing is not evenly distributed across the two political parties. Some 73% of Democrats said they backed more aid, compared to 44% of Republicans.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 1,056 adults, using a nationally representative sample. 
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Biden Delivers Oval Office Remarks on US Avoiding Default

President Joe Biden delivered remarks Friday evening on the Fiscal Responsibility Act, bipartisan legislation achieved following weeks of tough negotiations that suspends the government’s debt limit and avoids a potentially disastrous default. For the first time Biden spoke from the Oval Office, signifying the occasion’s importance. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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