Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and renowned diplomat, Professor Joy Uche Angela Ogwu, has died at the age of 79.
According to family sources, Ogwu passed away early Monday in a New York hospital, with her daughter by her side.
Born in Delta State in 1946, she made history as Nigeria’s first female Foreign Minister and later as the country’s first female Permanent Representative to the United Nations, serving from 2008 to 2017.
Before her diplomatic career, Ogwu was the first woman to head the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and a respected scholar known for her work on foreign policy, disarmament, and women’s empowerment.
Tributes have poured in, including from former presidential candidate Peter Obi, who described her as “a cosmopolitan and unassuming trailblazer.” He said her death was “a great loss to her family, Delta State, and Nigeria.”
