Former foreign affairs minister, Joy Ogwu, dies @ 79

Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs and renowned diplomat, Professor Joy Uche Angela Ogwu, has passed away at the age of 79.

Family sources confirmed that the former envoy died early Monday at a hospital in New York, United States, with her daughter by her side, after a battle with a cancer-related illness.

Professor Ogwu, a respected scholar and stateswoman, served as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was also a former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).

Reacting to her death, Ambassador Usman Sarki, Nigeria’s former Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN who served under her, described her passing as “a painful loss.”

“She was a fine woman who represented Nigeria with dignity and strength under very challenging circumstances,” Sarki said, adding that Professor Ogwu would be remembered as “a decent, accomplished diplomat who served her country with honour.”