Poland's first Black parliamentarian

The first black Polish parliamentarian has been sworn in; John Abraham Godson (pictured), a Polish citizen born and raised in Nigeria, is a former councillor in the city of Lodz. He has taken up the parliamentary seat left vacant by Hanna Zdanowskaafter after she became mayor of Lodz.

The 40-year-old university lecturer said he wanted to: "ensure Poland had found a place in Africa" and that he hoped to promote race relations in the overwhelmingly white country.

Godson moved to Poland in the early 1990s from his native Nigeria, opening an English language school. He became a citizen in 2000, married a local woman and has four children.

Godson told reporters that he had experienced racist violence in Poland and was beaten up twice in the past, but insists that attitudes to black people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the country joined the EU six years ago.