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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Joy Ogwu, is dead. She was aged 79. According to a top diplomat, who spoke with Daily Sun, information regarding her death was relayed from New York, United States.
Ogwu, who was also a former Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations and erstwhile Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), was said to have died of cancer-related illness.
Reacting to her death, a former Nigerian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Sarki, said: “Today, we received the sad news of the passing away of the Permanent Representative (former), Professor Joy Ogwu.
“It is very sad. She was a very fine woman, she represented Nigeria to the best of her ability under very difficult circumstances,” he said.
Sarki, who was deputy permanent representative during her tenure at the United Nations, further said she was a very decent human being.
“It is very sad, very unfortunate,” he also said.
Born on August 22, 1946, Ogwu bagged both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts Degrees in Political Science from Rutgers University, New Jersey, United States, including a doctorate degree from the University of Lagos.
She was appointed Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs on August 30, 2006, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Prior to her appointment as minister, she was the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos.
On May 7, 2008, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua appointed her as Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
The Delta State-born diplomat had during her tour of duty at the United Nations, where she became the President of the United Nations Security Council in July 2010 and in October 2011 respectively.
