Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Prof. Joy Uche Angela Ogwu, has died at the age of 79.
According to Nigeria Television Authority, family sources confirmed her death on Monday, saying she passed away in the early hours of the day at a hospital in New York, United States, with her daughter by her side.
Born on August 22, 1946, in Delta State, Prof. Ogwu was a renowned scholar and diplomat whose career spanned academia, policy research, and international diplomacy.
She served as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from August 2006 to May 2007 under President Olusegun Obasanjo and later as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 2008 and 2017 — becoming the first Nigerian woman to hold that position.
Before her ministerial appointment, she was the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, where she gained recognition for her expertise in international relations, disarmament, and Nigeria’s foreign policy.
