A first has occurred in Poland. A Polish citizen born in Nigeria has become the nation’s first black parliament member to be elected and sworn into office. John Abraham Godson, arrived in Poland in the 1990s. He established an English language school and is a pastor of the Church of God in Christ, a Christian Pentecostal church active in Poland. Godson later married a Polish woman and now has four children. Prior to this election, he served as a councilor in the city of Lodz before taking up a parliamentary seat.
Godson, 40, will have a seat in the lower house. He’s a member of the ruling Civil Platform party. He is a graduate of the Department of Agronomy at Abia State University in southeastern Nigeria and has a doctorate in human resource management. In addition, he serves as the president of the African Institute in Poland as well as a pastor of the Church of God in Christ, a Christian Pentecostal church active in Poland. Although he was granted citizenship in 2000, it has not been an easy road. Mr. Godson was beaten up twice in the early 1990s.
Poland, a primarily white nation, has some history of racism. It is not uncommon to see Nazi symbols inside Polish stadiums during football games. Some considered it so prevalent that last year, a conference in Warsaw was organized by the Polish football association, in partnership with the European governing body UEFA and the footballers “trade union” FIFPro in an effort to fight and “unite against racism.” Recent racial tensions have been attributed to immigration and high unemployment.
