Meet 13 exceptional Nigerian women in the diaspora

Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is

UK’s first sickle cell nurse specialist and a legendary figure in British healthcare. She was  distinguished by her appointment to the Order of Merit in 2022, an exclusive honour bestowed personally by the Monarch.

Her lifelong dedication to the profession was also recognised in 2017 when she was appointed a Dame (DBE) for her services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal.

Born in Birmingham to Irish and Nigerian parents, Dame Elizabeth began her NHS career at just 16 years old as a school nurse assistant. Her pioneering spirit led her to co-establish the UK’s first nurse-led screening and counselling centre for sickle cell in 1979. She later earned a PhD from University College London before serving as the Dean of the School of Adult Nursing at the University of West London.

Beyond her clinical work, she is celebrated for founding the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice. She is now an Emeritus Professor and a patron of numerous charities, including the Sickle Cell Society.

Funke Abimbola MBE (United Kingdom)

Funke Abimbola MBE became the most senior Black lawyer in Roche, the global pharmaceutical industry.

During her time there, she famously used her platform to launch a powerful campaign against “unconscious bias,” challenging the systemic barriers that hinder diversity in the corporate world.

Her professional achievements were formally recognised in 2017 when she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

She was born into a family of doctors from Ondo state  she defied tradition to pursue law at Newcastle University. Today, she continues to impact thousands of lives through her consultancy work and a prolific mentoring programme that reaches over 2,000 schoolchildren annually.

She currently serving as a Professor of Practice at Newcastle University and a Partner at Korn Ferry.

An expert in AI governance and ethical leadership, she frequently provides media commentary for the BBC, ensuring that the dialogue on corporate equity and innovation remains at the forefront of the British public consciousness.

In 2019, she received an honourary doctor of Laws from the University of Hertfordshire, recognising her contributions to social and corporate diversity.

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Toyin Tofade (USA)

Toyin Tofade is a distinguished academic leader and pharmacist, best known for making history as the first Black woman president of the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in its 141-year history.

Since assuming office as the college’s 10th president, she has been instrumental in driving institutional growth, notably doubling student enrolment and significantly expanding international pharmaceutical partnerships.

Her illustrious career is marked by several prestigious accolades and “firsts” in the medical community. In 2020, she became the first Black woman to be named a Fellow of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), where she also serves as the president-elect of the academic pharmacy section.

Also, she was awarded the Donald Francke Medal in 2022 by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, a high honour recognising her significant global contributions to the advancement of pharmacy practice.

Tofade’s journey began in Nigeria, where she earned her initial degree in pharmacy from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. She later moved to the United States to complete a Master’s in Pharmacy Practice and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of North Carolina. Before her historic presidency at Albany, she served as a Dean and Professor at Howard University, where she established herself as a leading voice in American pharmaceutical education and policy.

Adeyinka “Biggie” Adeduro(UAE)

Adeyinka Adeduro, known as “Biggie,” is the visionary founder and owner of Biggy African Restaurant, a flourishing culinary brand in the United Arab Emirates. From her beginnings in Lagos, she has become a viral sensation in Dubai, where her restaurants serve authentic Nigerian staples such as jollof rice, traditional soups, and snacks to a diverse clientele of locals, expatriates, and celebrities.

Her journey is a profound testament to resilience and the Nigerian spirit of “grace to grass.” When she first arrived in Dubai in 2008, Adeyinka faced immense hardships, including a period where she had no accommodation and was forced to sleep at bus stops and motor parks.

Refusing to be defeated by these early struggles, she leveraged her exceptional cooking skills to build a business that has now expanded to multiple locations across the UAE.

Today, Adeyinka is a celebrated entrepreneur with the ambitious goal of transforming the “Biggie” brand into a global household name, comparable to international giants like KFC or McDonald’s.

Ibironke Adeagbo (United Kingdom)

Ibironke Adeagbo is a distinguished financial leader and a Fellow of both ICAN and ACCA, currently serving as a key finance professional at John Lyon’s Charity in London.

With nearly 30 years of post-qualification experience, she has held senior roles such as Financial Controller at Transport for London (TfL) and Director of Finance at City YMCA, as well as other in other organisations. She has a Master’s degree in Information Management and professional qualifications from CIPFA.

While her professional career is marked by excellence in finance, Ibironke is most widely recognised as a powerful advocate for education, which led her to establish the IA-Foundation, to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria (currently estimated at 10.5 million) by providing scholarships and learning devices.

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She is an education advocate and passionate about giving vulnerable children access to quality education.

Khadeeja Haliru (Canada)
In 2022, Khadeeja made history as the first black councillor in Oxford County, Ontario. She is a staunch advocate for diversity in local leadership, spending her time mentoring aspiring candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to seek public office.

A Nigerian-born councillor for Ingersoll, Canada, Khadijah Haliru,  started an initiative, Black Opportunity Network (BON), to train immigrants for local government leadership opportunities, helping them navigate the complexities of municipal campaigns and public office.

Her work extends beyond Canada; she is currently pioneering collaborations with local government stakeholders in Nigeria to foster effective grassroots governance. By sharing her expertise across borders, Khadeeja aims to strengthen local leadership in her home country, particularly following recent legal reforms regarding local government autonomy.

Eziyoda Magbegor (Australia)
A Nigerian-Australian professional basketball player, Ezi is a key member of the Australian national team. Beyond sports, she is pursuing a psychology degree and uses her platform to be a role model for black female athletes in Australia, an area where she felt representation was lacking during her childhood.

Currently regarded as one of the premier defenders in global basketball, she reached a career milestone in 2024 by being named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team.

Her trophy cabinet boasts a WNBA Championship (2020), a Commonwealth Games Gold medal, and an Olympic Bronze medal from the Paris 2024 Games with the Australian national team.

Although she competes for Australia, Ezi is a proud representative of the Nigerian diaspora. Born in Wellington to Nigerian parents before moving to Australia as a child, she remains deeply connected to her heritage. Her rise to fame began as a youth prodigy in 2016, when she famously led her team to a U17 World Championship title, ending Team USA’s historic winning streak and earning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Adeola Olubamiji (Canada)

Adeola is the first black person to obtain a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and 3D printing from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada in 2017. She is also a senior additive manufacturing engineer at Cummins Inc. Indiana.

Since this achievement, she has become a globally recognised figure in the tech industry, notably delivering a TEDx Talk on her innovative use of 3D printing to recover and repair damaged cartilage.

In 2020, she became a winner of the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Awards. The Awards is an annual campaign by Canadian Immigrant magazine, presented by the Royal Bank of Canada, that recognizes outstanding work by immigrants who “have come to Canada and have made a positive difference living in the country.

She got her bachelor’s degree from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria. She is currently the Founder of STEMHub Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting the engagement of minorities in STEM careers through creative, free, hands-on and minds-on workshops on various STEM topics and one-to-one mentoring program.

Ajibola Abitoye (Canada)

Just five years after immigrating from Nigeria, Ajibola was elected as a councillor for the City of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, in 2017, serving a 4-year term until 2021.

An alumni of Queens College, Lagos, with a background in economics and banking in Nigeria, Abitoye has been fearless about change. She even went back to school at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) to become a power engineer. And while juggling her civic duties, with three children under six years, she started her own fashion business, Divineity Fashion Inc.

In February 2020, Abitoye showcased her collection at the prestigious New York Fashion Week, only three months after starting her fashion line.