Former minister of foreign affairs and former permanent representative to the United Nations Joy Ogwu has died at the age of 79.
Family sources confirmed that Mrs Ogwu died early Monday at a hospital in New York, United States, with her daughter by her side, according to a report by The New Diplomat.
Born on August 22, 1946, in Delta State, Ogwu was the first woman to serve as Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, a position she held from 2008 to 2017.
She also served as minister of foreign affairs from August 2006 to May 2007 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Before joining government, she was an academic and foreign policy expert.
She began her career as a lecturer and researcher before becoming the first female director-general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
Ogwu obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Rutgers University, New Jersey and earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Lagos in 1977.
At NIIA, she became known for her work on Nigeria’s foreign policy, disarmament and South-South cooperation between Africa and Latin America.
During her tenure as Nigeria’s permanent representative to the UN, she presided over the UN security council in July 2010 and October 2011.
She also served as president of the Executive Board of UN Women and chaired the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
Ogwu was a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on disarmament matters and contributed to UNESCO-funded programmes on human rights education in Nigerian schools.
She authored several works, including Nigerian Foreign Policy: Alternative Futures (1986) and wrote extensively on global security, diplomacy and Nigeria’s international relations.
Reacting to her death on X on Monday, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi described her as “a cosmopolitan” and “an unassuming trailblazer.”
He wrote, “Prof. Ogwu was the first female Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, the first Nigerian female Foreign Minister, the first female Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, and the first Nigerian woman to preside over the UN Security Council.”
Mr Obi said her death was a loss to her family, Delta State and Nigeria.
He prayed for the repose of her soul.
