The 1st African-Origin Leader in 126 yrs in Leeds | Councilor Abigail Katung – DOSI S1 E1

Politics in any country in the world

drives every single industry. When

people say to me they're not interested

in politics, I say no, you should be

because it affects every single thing

>> about your life

>> about your life.

>> How did you get into uh the government,

into politics, into all the things as an

immigrant in this country?

>> Politics is about people. Politics is

about serving. And for me, I enjoy being

part of where decisions are being made.

I want decisions to be made with me and

not for me. Grassroots politics is very

important because that's where it starts

at the branch level. Look at me as an

example, a little girl from Zarya all

the way as a student here in the

university and then to become the first

elected African Lord Mayor of the city.

It was 126 years before I became I

didn't even realize I was the first. I

got a call from the press to say that

you're about to make history that if I

got elected I was going to be the first.

I studied politics. My biggest

disappoint from Abuja, Nigeria.

>> Have you ever felt like you didn't get

something because you were black?

>> My biggest disappointment? Gosh, there's

so many of them. I'm not sure this one

is just the biggest.

>> I know that the political space is

people from black backgrounds. You don't

find a lot of them.

>> If I want to go into politics, where do

I start from?

Diary of Successful Immigrants.

>> Hello there. Thank you so much for your

support thus far uh on this podcast. Uh

please continue to like, continue to

subscribe, continue to comment and also

if you're interested in sharing your

story, please get across to us um just

by using um the contact details you can

see on the screen at the moment. Um this

is diary of successful immigrants and

the aim is to continue to share success

story. It's not about the politics, it's

about the journey to success. Abigail

Marshall Katung is an accomplished

leader in governance with over two

decades of experience. [music]

Elected to lead city council in 2019 and

reelected in 2023,

Abigail has held senior leadership

positions across infrastructure, [music]

health, social care, education, and

equality. She served as the 130th Lord

Mayor of Leeds [music] in 2024 to 2025,

becoming the first Nigerian African to

hold [music] this prestigious role in

one of the UK's largest and most diverse

cities. Her contributions have been

recognized globally, [music] including

the National Diaspora Merit Award in

2025.

>> Welcome once again to Diary of

Successful Immigrants. And like I said,

this podcast is all about the story and

um not the politics. Um today we're

going to have a very short one. I mean

maybe the shortest episode you would

ever watch because our guest is actually

the 138th Lord Mayor of Leeds and um

she's very busy. So she came in on a

tight schedule and um we're going just

to going to try and get whatever we can

get out of her. You're welcome to do

Abigail. Yeah. Um can we just start um

how how did you get into uh the

government into politics into all this

things as an immigrant in this country?

>> Okay. Thank you very much for inviting

me. Um I studied politics. Um I came all

the way from Abuja, Nigeria. I studied

um business in my first degree at the

Modella University in Zary and came over

in um 2000.

um to the University of Leeds and um I

was in the politics and international

relations department. So I've always

been very much interested in politics

but I didn't go into it straight away.

>> Um when I came over I took my time to

learn about all the different political

parties that they had here and um took

my time to see which of the parties my

values resonated with um at the time. So

in 2010 um I decided to join a political

party. I joined the Labor and

Cooperative at the time and um over the

years I spent a lot of time serving

others, campaigning, just knowing how

the political space works,

>> you know, and I had very young children

anyway, so I never put myself into

>> frontline politics because politics

takes a lot of your time as you can

tell, sometimes very late at night. and

um I needed to give my young children

their full my full undivided attention.

So I never went into frontline politics

until they were in their final year of

um high school.

>> Um I thought okay this is a good time.

So 2018 I decided to put myself forward

for a seat in the city um as an elected

member and I was very very fortunate um

to get elected in 2019. But before that,

when I say um you you're learning, you

put yourself out there, serving others,

campaigning for others, working for

others, you know, making sure you also

are planting seeds for when your time

comes.

>> Comes. Yes.

>> Yeah. If I just pick up on that, you

joined the party which year?

>> In 2010.

>> 2010. So it took you

>> 9 years.

>> 9 years to be elected.

>> To be elected. That's correct.

>> Now, within those nine years, what were

you doing? So within nine years, all of

those years, I held different positions

within the party. I was the BAME

officer, black ethnic minority um

engagement officer for my constituency,

which is the leads northeast

um which comprises of Round Hay um here

in Leeds, Round Hay, Allwood,

um Mtown and Minwood as well as Chapel

Alatin and Chapel Town. So that was my

constituency. I also went to serve as

the women's officer. I was the first

women's officer that um actually created

a women organization, a women forum

within the constituency of um leadeds

northeast. I also went on to be a branch

chair of Orley Labor Party. I also went

up to be went up to be the constituency

chair as well of the entire leads

northeast as um as for the Labor Party.

So those are positions that holds huge

responsibilities and it involves a lot

of campaigning for other people.

>> For other people.

>> That's correct.

>> Just walk me through it if I'm um I know

that the political space it's um it's a

place that especially people from black

backgrounds. You don't find a lot of

them in the political space. If I want

to go into politics, how where do I

start from? So I always say to everyone,

anyone who wants to go in find a

political party that resonates with your

values. Okay. So we have so many

political parties right now um in the UK

and you have to be it's important that

you're a member of political party

because that gives you the your it gives

you a good foundation about what polit

especially if you've come from another

country. We have lots of people who

stand as independents, you know, but

lots of times you don't go too far

depending on what it is. Most people who

would go independent, maybe they were in

a very in a prominent political party

and then later on they're not happy with

certain things and then they decide to

go independent but they've already made

their name. So I always encourage people

find a political party first then join

the party because grassroots politics is

very important because that's where it

starts at the branch level. So once you

have um joined the political party which

I joined the Labour party at the time

and the cooperative party I now became a

member of a branch automatically you

will now start you get invited

[clears throat] to branch meetings.

Branch meetings is where politics really

happens in terms of they let you know

when elections are coming up how to

stand as a candidate. There are lots of

training as well in political parties to

prepare you because people go into

politics for different reasons. You have

people who are always on, you know, back

office. So we say to them,

administrators, they help and push those

who want to stay front line. And then

there are people like myself who are

front liners. We're advocates. We're the

represent representatives of people. We

are the front liners. So everybody has

what they want to come and find and do

in politics. So you need to ask

yourself, what are you good at and what

would you like to do? Then you put

yourself forward for that.

>> Wow. Thank you very much. Um what

actually created the passion for

politics in you?

>> Um like I said um politics is about

people. Politics is about serving and

for me I enjoy being part of where

decisions are being made. I want

decisions to be made with me and not for

me.

>> And the greatest platform for you to be

able to have decisions made with you is

politics. Politics in any country in the

world drives every single industry in

the world. Okay. So for me, politics

gives you the platform to sit around the

table with decision makers and make sure

policies, procedures, laws are made by

politicians. As you can see, you can see

the doctors are going on strike today.

Who are the people that are going to sit

around the table to agree on how they

should be paid? Politicians. So that's

how important politics is. So when

people say to me they're not interested

in politics, I said no, you should be

because it affects every single thing

>> about your life

>> about your life from education to

[clears throat] schools to roads to

building to planning to everything.

>> Yeah, I would have loved to like pieces

it step by step for everybody watching

like somebody like anybody like me that

is so much interested in in politics but

because of time um just walk me through

it. um that the time you got first

elected which was 2019 um as the lord

mayor what was the process about and can

you walk me through the process

>> yes so I wasn't elected as a lord may in

2019 I was elected as as as a counselor

so all elected members local government

are called counselors so you're member

of a council elected members of the

council so you put yourself forward okay

the branch where you want to stand. So

to be able to stand as a counselor in

this country, you must reside in that

city.

>> Okay?

>> So say for example, I wanted to stand as

a counselor in Leeds, I must reside in

Leeds, pay my council tax in Leeds. I

cannot go and represent Wakefield whilst

I live here.

>> So the first thing you do is to put

yourself forward to your branch to say

you would like to be a counselor. Then

you now find out all the different

branches that there are in the city and

the party now goes through a recruitment

exercise where they recruit certain

people who are interested in standing as

counselors in the city of Leeds. So you

put yourself through we call it is a

panel is is what we call they put you

through to be on a panel

>> okay

>> of of of candidates. So you get the

training as well. You have to fill your

form. That form basically is about your

life and what you do in politics. What

what is your track record? What have you

done in the past? How have you

campaigned? Where have you campaigned?

How have you helped the party to grow?

So these are all the things. So you can

understand my nine years of waiting. I

know I was looking after my children.

But within those nine years, I was

building my portfolio knowing I wanted

to stand my I wanted to stand as an

elected member at some point in my life.

And so all those things I did helped me

pass because you have to pass panel.

It's not just anybody that can just get

up and stand and say I want to be. So

you go through an interview process.

They look at your documentation and then

they let you know that you have passed

and you're now on the panel. Once you're

on the panel, every ward in the city,

we've got 33 wards in the city, three

three counselors per ward, okay? You

would now show interest in standing in a

particular ward and that ward the branch

will invite you for a short um for for

an interview and you it will be yourself

and other people and it will go to a

vote on who should be the candidate for

that party which is similar to what you

call the primaries in Nigeria. So in

2018 on the 18th of October um I put

myself forward. There were five of us.

Um it was an all women short list

meaning that particular seat in Little

London Woodhouse and the city center was

reserved for women only. So only women

could stand as counselors. So there was

five of us on the ballot um for that

seat and I had the highest amount of

votes and went on to be the candidate in

the May elections of the following year

and I got the highest majority. Ju just

tell me how how how did they feel the

moment you realized you are the is

forward?

>> Oh it was I I was very chuffed. I was

really really um um proud of myself and

[clears throat] all the people who had

worked around me cuz with politics it's

not something you can go on your own.

You have to have people behind you who

will support you. Um it was knocking on

doors telling people what I could do as

a counselor if elected. um

[clears throat] telling them what I have

done in the past and how I could

basically your manifesto on what you're

willing and what you're able to deliver

when you get elected and I'm really I

was really really um humbled that um the

people of Little London Woodhouse and

the city center believed in you believed

in you

>> and and they they elected me. Ju just

walk me through your emotions at that

specific moment that you got the news

that um you've just been elected as the

first counselor and I maybe assume

you're the first counselor from your

>> African

>> African background. Yeah. How does it

feel to be the first of

>> such? Well, when I put myself forward, I

didn't even realize I was the first. I

remember when I got selected as the

candidate to stand for the Labor and

Cooperative Party, I got a call from the

press to say that you're about to make

history. That if I got elected, I was

going to be the first. And I was like,

really? I even thought that was a shame,

you know, for how long um we've had have

Africans in this city. It took because I

was it was 126 years before I became. So

I thought, wow. But for me, it was not

about being the first. I saw it as a

job. I saw myself wanting to make a, you

know, bring changes within my community

and be around that table where decisions

are made. And of course, I was the first

and thank thankfully I'm not the last.

So others have come after me now.

>> Yeah. Thank you very much for that. In

2023, you were reelected again. How did

they feel again? Was it more like you

felt like, yeah, these people really

want me?

>> Absolutely. Yeah. So in 2023 I was

reelected with greater majority than

what I had in 2019. So that made me know

that of course in life whenever you're

you make progress, you're happier

because you know that people recognize

what you're doing and they have decided

to put their trust in you again in 2023.

So yes, I got reelected with um more

majority um in 2023 and then I decided

to put myself forward for to be the Lord

Mayor in 2024. Of course, I held lots of

other positions um between 2019 and 2023

to be able to earn the respect of my

colleagues. I was um I was the lead

member for blacks, Asians, ethnic

minority lead um um communities. I was

the um um champion for faith and

religion. I was the chair for um our

health um and active lifestyle scrutiny

board. I was also the chair of the

scrutiny board for infrastructure

investment and inclusive growth. I was

also chair of the hate crime in the

city. I was chair of further education

um 14 to 19 years old. I have held lots

of leadership um roles between in the

council and built myself and let my

colleagues know that I was ready um for

other positions within the council.

Being the lord mayor, you have to be an

elected member to be to be the lord

mayor because you're elected by your

[clears throat] colleagues. So you have

to tell your colleagues, right?

>> Um when when the when your when the term

ends for the current lord mayor, you're

interested.

>> Sometimes other people vote with you as

well. other people are interested so it

will go to a vote whoever has the

highest vote in my case when I put

myself forward there was no contention

so it was unanimous no one stood against

me and I got it

>> yeah I just wanted to understand that

being the lord mayor is it paid um

responsibility or it's voluntary

>> yes so you have a special remuneration

special remun remuneration as a lord

mayor so um as an allowance you know so

they pay they pay you additional to your

allowance as an elected member because

obviously it's a special role. It's a

ceremonial role that is that lasts for

one year. You know, obviously being the

first citizen of um of the city, comes

with an office, comes with um a um a

chauffeer, a car and all of the things

that come with it to help you deliver at

the highest level. So, so if I want to

be um before I say if I want to be a

Lord Mayor, let me just

>> let me just go to the level of I know

there has been I think the London mayor.

Yes.

>> I think he's been there for a while now.

>> Is it possible to be a Lord Mayor for a

long time?

>> So that's different. So the London mayor

is elective. Okay. Mine is ours is

ceremonial.

>> Okay. So you like so the equivalent of

the London mayor is what we have with

Tracy Brabin the metropolitan the metro

mayor of West Yorkshire that is a

political appointment and it's a

fouryear it's a fouryear role. All

right.

>> Yeah. So she does politics um as as as

the mayor. Lord mayors are ceremonial

positions and that's why they're just

for one year.

>> Wow.

>> So and it's a I mean you don't you don't

it's apolitical meaning you do not

indulge in any politics whatsoever. Wow.

>> You are neutral. So you chair, you will

chair political meetings. So the one of

our most important statutory meetings as

elected members is what we call the

meeting of full council where 99 elected

members in the city meet once every six

weeks that is in in the in the in the

chambers at the civic hall that is

chaired by the Lord Mayor and you are

apolitical. So you don't take sides with

any political party at all. you will be

as fair as possible to everyone.

>> This episode is proudly sponsored by

Kofa Jews. Rooted in culture, brewed in

honor.

>> Diary of successful immigrants. Yeah,

I'm trying to get the the most I could

get out of you in this short time

period. But it would be wrong of me not

to ask you that what is the biggest

challenge that you faced in your

political journey? What has been the

biggest challenge that you have faced?

>> Um what so far? What the biggest

challenge I have faced so far is the

smear campaign. So when you're a

political figure and my mom always says

say to me when you're the head you will

make the headlines and when you make the

headlines for what's for the wrong

reasons or especially when when it's

untrue that really really hurts you as a

politician you know your reputation and

all that you've worked so hard to be but

at the end of the day you just have to

brace up you just have to wake up you

have to dress up you have to show up and

you have to do what you have to do you

know so I would say and um um things

like that, challenges like that and it's

caused by people, you know, institutions

as well, you know, um you have what we

call um Trump calls it fake news or f

you have all of those things that people

will put together just to smear you or

just to bring you down and that happens.

Being a woman in politics is really

tough. Being a woman of color in

politics is tougher.

>> Wow. Thank you. So, um I'm still trying

to get the best like just the best of

this moment. Um it would be wrong of me

also not to ask that have you ever felt

like you didn't get something because

you were black?

>> Well, you feel so lots of times you feel

the um bias and you can even see the

discrimination and lots of times I would

also say the bias can be unbiased

because sometimes they don't even know

they're doing it. But that's where you

who wears the shoes knows where it

hurts. And whenever I feel it, I'm one

that's not afraid to call it out

>> straight away. I will say how I feel.

>> Wow.

>> Yeah. But it's it's it's it's there.

Yes.

>> Yeah. So, um I know that you've done a

lot of things. One of it was to lead the

initiative to raise over £100,000 and

support inclusion and address

inequalities.

um what can you shed a bit of more light

on that aspect of your work?

>> Sure. So, as Lord Mayor, every Lord

Mayor chooses one charity to support

>> um with funding throughout the mayoral

year. So, I chose the Leads Community

Foundation because they are a funding

buddy. And what I wanted to do, I didn't

want to help raise funds for just one

charity because I I work with different

charities who are struggling in the

city. And I thought if I'm able to

choose leads community foundation who

are funders to lots of other third

sectors then we can share the love.

Okay. And I I chose

>> addressing inequalities as my theme for

my year. And that kind of came out of

COVID really what I saw happen because I

was only 10 months into be an elected

member when we shut down and and and

went into the lockdown. And I saw how

communities struggled healthwise. I saw

pe the difference between the rich and

the poor. Those who were wealthier had

better life expectancy and then I also

saw food poverty. How clearly the

difference in the city with those who

lived in well we wealthy areas and those

who lived in poorer areas. So when I

became Lord M, I thought if I'm able to

raise funds for charities who are

looking after the most vulnerable, those

people who don't who do not have equal

access to so many others, then at least

the funds can be channeled through those

charities to help struggling um

charities and addressing inequalities.

We might never be able to bridge the

gap, but at least we can we can try. And

that was why I joined with so many

people had lots of um events where we

were raising funds and we were able to

raise those funds.

>> Yeah. Oh, it's it's a lot to unpack

within 2 minutes that you have just

spoken about. Now, if if I'd go further,

I would say what's your husband's

perspective about you putting yourself

out there in politics or what what is do

you have the support of your husband and

your family as much?

>> Yes, 110%. I think without my husband's

support, I would have really struggled.

He is my number one cheerleader. Wow.

And um I always when I'm speaking to

lots of forums, especially when women

are there, I always say to them, if you

have a supportive husband as a woman,

your at least your 80% of your job is

done because he's always there to you

know the support is so important both

emotionally, physically. My husband is a

politician as well. So we're but

completely two different countries. So

he serves in Nigeria and I serve here

but he has never hesitated to support me

ever.

>> I was I was about to ask that at what

capacity does he serve in Nigeria?

>> So he serves at the senatorial level. So

he's a senator for um southern Kaduna.

>> Wow. Wow. That's that's that's really a

big one. So how do you manage the fin

family dynamics of like it's more like

your family is created to represent the

world. Well, we're trying. We do the

best we can, but at the same time, we

also make the best of being together

when we're on our holidays to to to be

together as a unit. Yes. But we enjoy we

enjoy what we do as um representatives

of the people.

>> Yeah. Um I'll just try to close this out

now. Can you tell us some of the myth

that maybe black people have at the back

of their minds about politics? Because

um I'm focusing on blacks now because I

know the Asians do more. You get what I

mean? in terms of politics, but I think

blacks are not as represented as more as

the Asians. What would you tell the

black community and even the foreign

community more in terms of like

politics? What are the myths that

they've believed and it's wrong?

>> Well, they think that it's not a space

for them and I don't think that's true

because a lot of us have gone through

it. Yes, we do have a lot of setbacks,

[laughter] a lot of abuse. As like I

said to you earlier, being a woman and

being a woman of color is tougher. If

you look at the member of parliament,

um, Donna Abbott, she's the most abused

member of parliament we currently have.

And she's the longest serving member of

parliament since 1987. So, of course, we

get more abused. Of course, we get more

picked on because we're different, you

know. So, I would always say people

should never, no one of color should

think because of your color you cannot

get there. You can

>> you can go.

>> It takes you to be determined. It takes

you to know that you can occupy any

space.

>> Yes, they will do all they want to.

People will try to bring you down, but

you stand your truth and keep going.

>> Wow. Thank you very much. Um I'll just

finish up this episode with a couple of

quickfire question. But before that, um

is it possible to ask a bit of a request

from you? I asked from all my all my

guests. Um will you be willing to mentor

some of our viewers into politics in the

UK? Just uh the mentorship would be

something of like maybe um a 3 week or a

four week thing of 30 minutes virtual

session with you. Is this something you

would like to do and I would make sure

there are a lot of ladies.

>> Oh yeah. [laughter] Well, I currently I

only I only mentor ladies and I'll tell

[clears throat] you why because there's

very few of us in the space. So I mentor

12 girls every year. I start in January.

So I'm about finishing my cohort for

this year. So I've got an application

four. By all means, I can send that to

yourself. I'll pick 12 year 12 girls for

the whole of 2026 and then another 12.

You know, I've been doing that for the

last 5 years.

>> Wow. Is is is it possible that we get

about four of the slots on this episode?

>> I already I think not up to four. You

might have maybe two or three. There's

already applications that have come

through for 2026 for maybe 27.

>> Yeah, 2027. So there are like as you

have heard from the uh from the council

ourself we have um two to three slots.

So please like, share um subscribe to

this channel and then we would would

pick two to three people at random

ladies exclusively. This one will be

ladies. But I wanted to ask also can you

do a crash course for guys? Maybe just a

thing of two to um two to three weeks.

>> Well, I can I can think of it. All my

children are boys, by the way. I'm a

mother of boys. So, um um I I could do

it's just obviously it's my I know how

much time I have with the work I already

what what I already do with lots of

other things outside of my normal job.

So, I have to make sure that I've got

the time for it. I don't want to commit

to what I will not have the time to. But

once I'm able to look into um something

like that, by all means, I'll let you

know.

>> Yeah. So guys, I think you should also

put your application in and then

hopefully the Lord Mayor would have a

bit of 3 hours for you in 2026

>> and then she would be able to fix you

into somewhere. We're going to pick

three guys. You get it? And then you

would have exclusive access but just

virtual by the way for a couple of 3

weeks and then just 30 minutes with her

to ask all the clarifications.

Please continue to like, continue to

subscribe, continue to comment, and also

if you're interested in sharing your

story, please get across to us um just

by using um the contact details you can

see on the screen at the moment.

>> Diary of successful immigrants.

>> Yeah. Um just to ask, what was your I'll

just finish out with a couple of

quickfire questions. What was your first

job in the UK?

>> My first job was working for O2. It was

called BT CellNet at the time.

>> So I got a job to um on technical

network with the BT cellet which is now

which is now O2. Then I moved into

training for um training people on the

on on on the mobile network when I came.

>> Are you very technical?

>> I learned it when I'm not. So I I

learned it when I came and I remember

when I was in training with the auto I

had never even used a mobile phone in my

life but I'm Nigerian we're very

resilient and we you know um we will say

yes we can and we'll sit down and learn

it so I had never used a mobile phone

and then I got a job teaching people how

to use their mobile phones on the

cellular network. So yeah that was my

first job.

>> Yeah. What what what has been your

biggest disappointment in the UK? Um, my

biggest disappointment, gosh, there's so

many of them. I'm not sure this one was

just the biggest. There's quite a few,

you know. So, um,

I will say my biggest disappointment, I

will say, was how I was treated when I

was going to give birth to my, um, third

son, um, in the hospital. And, um, I

remember I was I was bleeding and c

called an ambulance and I was taken to

St. James's. And at 2:00 a.m., whilst

I'm still struggling on the bed, they

had to put me on a chair because they

wanted the bed and sent me back home at

2:00 in the morning, whilst I arrived

the hospital in a taxi.

>> Wow.

>> I had to go home and came back the next

day. Um because I was still bleeding and

I eventually lost my child.

>> Wow.

>> Um so for me, it's it's a memory that

that was a huge disappointment for me

and um yeah, by how I got treated in the

hospital. What? But I I'll just speak on

that story a bit. Hope you've been able

to do something about that so that other

ladies don't face that.

>> Absolutely. Yes. I I raised a a huge

complaint about it. I made sure I got

letter of apology. I share my story with

people as well to say, you know,

especially if you're expecting a baby

and you don't feel that you've been

treated, don't move. Don't go anywhere.

Stay there,

>> you know. Yeah. So, for me, that was

that's one of my greatest

disappointments. But

>> yeah, I know you've given me more than

the time you budgeted, but I'm going to

ask four more quick fire questions and

um I'll just get this episode wrapped

up. Once again, thank you for coming

around. What was your first breakthrough

moment in politics that the moment that

made you believe that it's possible?

>> When I when I when I when I became the

candidate, because that's the most

important bit,

>> becoming the candidate. That's where the

politics is because when you now get

that's winning your primaries really

because once you've won your primaries

then speaking to the electorate, you

know, you have lots of people to help

you with that. The the the um political

party finances, they will help you with

that. But when you're standing as a

candidate is down to you. Every penny

you're spending is down to you. And when

I got through with um against four other

ladies, you know, I was just I I and I

was the only black girl amongst them.

Wow.

>> You know, so for me, all this star myth

about when you're black, you can't No, I

was the only one and I got through.

>> Um if I just pick on something you said,

how much does it cost to become a

candidate?

>> No. So there's no cost.

>> No, I mean like not like you pay. I'm

just saying like the things you're going

to spend. It it it varies because it's

all about so we all in in politics in

the UK you have a cap on expenditure. So

our expenditure is mostly on on on um

flyers.

>> Okay. And what is the cap on the

expenditure?

>> So I know in my time I could not spend

over £3,000 at the time. At the time

that's good. That's sensible.

>> That's but that's what you have to

spend. The party spends its own.

>> Yeah, that's right. So, in your own in

your own little spending. Yes. Because a

lot of things has been taken care of by

the party.

>> Yeah. What habit has helped you stay

focused on this your political journey?

>> Um, my faith keeps me going. Um, I would

say being well organized is very

important. Being focused is very very

important. Being hard had just sheer

hard work. making sure you know you

don't leave any stone unturned and

having mentors is also the even though I

mentor people I have mentors myself you

know surround yourself with positive

people that will hold your hand and tell

you the truth as it is and not just tell

you the truth they will also help you

you know so those are the things that I

would say has helped me through my

journey

>> and just speaking about mentors were

there someone that believed so much in

you that even you you didn't believe

>> my husband

>> yeah wow shout outs to your husband

>> my husband Senator Kong. Am I right?

>> That's correct.

>> Yeah. So, shout out to you. Hopefully,

we're going to interview him maybe in

the second season.

>> Yeah. In the second season of this

podcast because we released this in

seasons. Yeah. Um just two more

questions. What um what's your biggest

ambition in politics? What's what's the

climax for you? Like where you're

targeting next and

>> Well, being a member of parliament at

some point is is is something I would

like to do. So in local government, I've

I've done it all, you know, in my in my

opinion and

>> [clears throat]

>> um

>> um I would like to um go national at

some point in my life. So yeah, and and

we wish you the best on that.

>> Thank you very much.

>> All right. Uh what legacy are you

building for the future?

>> Well, my legacy, like I say, for me it's

the people that that you replicate. So

for me, I always want to see

>> replicate myself in other people. That's

your legacy. education, making sure that

when you're gone, there will be people

who are still able to do what you are

doing. So, myself and my husband, we

have um we have a foundation and it's

all about educating wid um widows as

well as orphans in Nigeria and making

sure that we help them through primary,

secondary, university and let them be

educated and then they can go out and

explore. That's the only for me that's

the best legacy you can give anybody

that people are able to stand on their

feet because of you.

>> Wow, that's great. Um, and I'll end with

this last one. If your life were to be a

headline, what would it say?

>> If it were to be a headline, it would be

gratitude

>> and self-belief.

>> Wow, that's that's good. Um the more you

speak to be honest the more I feel

there's a lot [laughter] more for you to

say and then we've not been able to

grind it out come back some other time.

>> Yeah we would obviously have you at um

what was it called? We would obviously

have you again at some other time but I

just wanted to look into that camera and

speaking to a young girl out there or

somebody out there um an immigrant out

there that actually has this mindset of

becoming a member of parliament or going

farest in politics. just speak a bit of

life into them.

>> Well, to any girl out there, all I want

you to know is believe in yourself that

you can and look at me as an example, a

little girl from Zarya all the way as a

student here in the university and then

to become the first elected African Lord

Mayor of the city. So, if I can, you can

too. But you just need to stay focused

and believe in yourself.

>> Yeah. In the spirit of equality,

diversity and inclusion, can you also

say something to the guys? To the guys,

diversity is a fact and inclusion is a

choice. I'm a mother of boys. So my boys

know that I love them so much. I love

boys, too. But when we look at data,

girls have really been excluded a lot.

So when I'm speaking about politics, I'm

always speaking to young girls because

there's not so there's not many of us in

in that space. As you can see, I am

still the only Nigerian elected member

in this city. So that tells you how

important it is that we continue to

speak to our young girls to have the

courage to stand. And I'll finish up by

telling you as well, the difference

between starting and not starting is

courage. The difference between making

progress and not making progress is

consistency. And the difference between

not giving up and giving up is

perseverance.

>> Wow. Thank you very much. It's it's been

a pleasure having you around. I'm sure

you've outrun yourself. I mean, we we

had Apologies, by the way, for taking

too much of your time. Yeah. Um, I think

we're going to do this again. And what

I'll try and do is to actually interview

you and your husband. Our second season,

we hope we're going to do it outside,

maybe in your residence or maybe in

Nigeria or somewhere like that. We're

going to travel with you guys and then

just you walk us around and maybe we for

the first time have a couple. You get

what I mean? Like we call it couple

goals. Couples go. That's fine.

>> All right. Um, thank you so much guys

for watching Diary of a Successful

Immigrant. Thank you for watching this

episode. And this is Counselor Abigail

Masha Katon. She's been so generous

today. Um, I would if I have to explain

what has gone behind the scenes to put

this episode together. [laughter]

You won't believe it. But um, if you see

her anywhere, just say thank you

[laughter] on our behalf. Yeah, it's a

pleasure having you.

>> Thank you very much.

>> Thank you so much. See you on the next

one, guys. This is Diary of Successful

Immigrants. Bye. [music]

Hey.

[music]

Hey.