Tony Chike Iwobi (born 26 April 1955),CV
Commune.spirano. Retrieved 6 March 2018 better known as Toni Iwobi, is an Italian politician for

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

who was elected to the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic (), or simply the Senate ( ), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform iden ...

in the 2018 general election.Jessica Phelan (6 March 2018
Italy elects its first black senator: Toni Iwobi of the League
TheLocal.It. Retrieved 6 March 2018

Early life and education

Born in the city of

Gusau Gusau is a city in northwestern Nigeria. It is the capital of Zamfara State and also the name of the state's Local government areas of Nigeria#Zamfara State, Local Government Area of Gusau, which has an area of ² and a population of 383,162 as ...

in northern Nigeria, he is of Igbo descent. He is one of 11 siblings in a Roman Catholic family.Nigeriano, immigrato, titolare d'azienda: eletto dalla Lega il primo senatore di colore
Milano.repubblica.it. Retrieved 6 March 2018 He attended Catholic schools. His mother tongue is Igbo and English. He completed a degree in economics with specialization in marketing and business management in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. He came to Italy on a

student visa A visa (; also known as visa stamp) is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, area ...

in 1976, and obtained a degree in accounting in

Treviglio Treviglio (; ) is a town and (i.e. municipality) in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It lies south of the province capital, in the lower territory called . It is also part of the geographic area named , included among the r ...

. He also has higher degrees (''

laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

'') in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

from the USA and Italy.Chi è Toni Iwobi, il primo senatore di colore in Italia
Lettera 43. Retrieved 6 March 2018

Career

Iwobi is the founder and since 2001 managing director of Data Communication Labs Ltd. Previously he worked for AMSA (Azienda Milanese Servizi Ambientali) and has worked for a company in Roveredo, Switzerland. A supporter of

federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

, which he knew from Nigeria, he became a member of

, where he was particularly inspired by

Gianfranco Miglio Gianfranco Miglio (11 January 1918 – 10 August 2001) was an Italian jurist, political scientist, and politician. He was a founder of the Federalist Party. For thirty years, he presided over the political science faculty of Milan's Universit� ...

.Matteo Borgh
La strana storia del nero leghista che stravede per Miglio
L'intraprendente. Retrieved 7 March 2018 In 1993, he was elected municipal councillor for the party in

Spirano Spirano (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italy, Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about south of Bergamo. Spirano borders the following municipalities: Brignano Gera ...

, a position he held until 2014. From 2010 to 2014 he also served as assessor with responsibility for social services. Iwobi was in 2014 selected by party leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...

to draft Lega Nord's new immigration policy which had a hard stance against illegal immigration and played a big role in the party's campaign in the

2018 Italian general election The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was Dissolution of parliament in Italy, dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of ...

.Terry Daley (9 March 2018
Toni Iwobi, the black face of Italy's far-right
AFP/Newsyahoo.com. Retrieved 11 March 2018 In the 2018 general election he was elected to the Italian Senate, becoming the first black person to take a seat in the Senate. He is general counsel of the Italy-USA Foundation. He did not stand up for re-election in 2022.

Personal life

He is married to an Italian woman, Lucia, and has two children, Elisabetta and Clifford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwobi, Toni 1955 births Living people People from Zamfara State Nigerian emigrants to Italy Italian people of Nigerian descent Italian Roman Catholics Lega Nord politicians Senators of Legislature XVIII of Italy Politicians of Lombardy