A Nigerian-born political scientist, Dr John Emeka Akude, has been elected a member of the Cologne City Council (Stadtrat) in Germany. By his election, Akude made history as the first Councillor of African origin in Cologne, Germany’s 4th biggest city with about 1 million residents.

Akude was elected on Sunday 13 September, when millions of voters went to the polls in towns and cities across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, to vote for lord mayors, mayors, Councillors, and the integration councils.

Reacting to Akude’s victory, Rahab Njeri, the only other African-origin candidate who took part in the election in Cologne, said even though she was not elected, all African-descendant inhabitants of the city were winners with the victory of the Nigerian-born politician, The African Courier reports.

Both Akude and Njeri ran on the platform of Klima Freunde (Friends of the Climate). Other results that have been released show that several African candidates won elections into the Integration Council (Integrationsrat) in their cities and towns, including Kevin Uguru in Essen, Pastor Lumbu in Dortmund, and Elizabeth Kaneza in Aachen.

Integration Council – in some cities also known as Ausländerrat or Ausländerbeirat (Foreigners’ Advisory Council) – is the official representative organ of the residents of foreign origin in a city, municipality, and district.

The main task of the council is to represent the interests of the foreign-origin population and, above all, to advocate for integration and equality between foreign and German residents at the local level.

Comprehensive results of elections into all the integration council in the state, The African Courier, reports will be announced on Wednesday.

Sade Adu (Born ‘Helen Folasade Adu’) is the first Nigerian ever to win a Grammy award. She is also the most successful Solo Artiste in British history to have over 50million sales with 110 music albums. She was born in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and brought up in Essex, England, Sade gained modest recognition as a fashion designer and part-time model, prior to joining the band Pride in the early 1980s. After gaining attention as a performer, she formed the band Sade, and secured a recording contract with Epic Records in 1983.

The band then released the album Diamond Life a year later, which became one of the best selling albums of the era, and the best-selling debut ever by a British female vocalist.

It also gained widespread critical acclaim and is largely considered one of the best albums of all time. In July 1985, Sade was among the performers at the Live Aid charity concert at Wembley Stadium.

Nigerian Afropop singer and songwriter, Yemi Alade has been awarded by YouTube as the first female music act to reach a total of one million subscribers on the video-sharing website.

Yemi gained prominence after winning the Peak Talent Show in 2009 and had released three albums to her name. Her hit single still remains Johnny taken from her debut studio album King of Queens (2014). Read her appreciation post from her official instagram page.

THIS IS HOW I FEEL 🤦‍♀️1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS IN 6 YEARS 🥂🍾🍾 . Alot of people ask me what the secrets to success is and I have had several answers to that question but I recently realised that the most correct answer is Gratitude. Invest every single day of your life for a minimum of 3 years with every atom of gratitude AS your foundation and success can very easily become your “BESTFRIEND”🥂 And as a Living and practicing musical Artist ; I give gratitude to myself for believing in every odd irregular idea I ever had even when it seemed weird or popularly uncool…eg wearing my infamous big hairstyles 🍍and saying things like ” ayakata ” or Living the undiluted life of MamaAfrica and just generally being my True self unapologetically,I say thank you to everyone that let me be me. 🙋‍♂️ As a business woman. I want to thank Mr taiye Aliyu CEO effyzzie music group @taiyealiyu for teaching me the Number One rule of Entrepreneurship ; ” Invest in yourself so others can Invest in you” As an established brand having toured the world many times, it shows the world is truly entertained 💃💃 . .I say thank you to all the producers I have worked with, Philkeys, Selebobo, Egarboi, Vtec, Djcoublon, Klem, Thelma, Video Directors: Clarence Peters, Gambit, Ovie, the entire @effyzziemusicgroup team ; Mr taiye Aliyu, Mr koribo Harrison, Onazi Ogaba, Toyin Ajayi, Gideon,Ogagus, International reps Mrs Rebecca and Mr AdeSope, My immediate family Mrs Helen, Bola and Seyi Alade.💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞 To all the Designers, Fashion stylists, Dancers, hairstylists, makeup artists Crew members world wide…I couldnt have made quality content without you…💞👗👔💥💭🥾👑💄💫 To my fans world wide …my sole purpose is to SERVE you with this talent of mine. I thank you and I thank God for you… 💦💦 lets make ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS 100 million 😛😛😛💣 And for your time thank you for reading till the end💗💗 I must have skipped some names and I’m sorry.I’m just so excited💃💃’