Nigeria’s former ambassador to US Sylvester Nsofor dies at 85

Nigeria’s former ambassador to the United States Sylvanus Nsofor has passed on aged 85.

Nsofor died on Thursday according to reports.

Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission Abike Dabiri-Erewa told Qed.ng on Friday that Nsofor was a former ambassador to Washington, contrary to reports suggesting him as current ambassador.

“His tenure ended about two months ago. Was not renewed. Senate has approved new ambassadors designated but all waiting to be posted.

“We currently have no Ambassador in Washington,” she wrote in WhatsApp messages.

Born on March 17, 1935, in Oguta, Imo State, Nsofor graduated from London’s now-defunct Holborn College of Law in 1962. He also bagged an LL.M from the London School of Economics in 1964.

The late former envoy began teaching at Holborn College of Law in 1964 and later went into private practice the following year.

He was appointed to the bench in Nigeria in 1977, and served as a judge of the Imo State High Court. Nsofor was a justice on the Court of Appeal of Nigeria for 13 years until his mandatory retirement in 2005.