Finally, a full complement of the Nigerian diplomatic corps has been completed with the arrival last week of Prof. Joy Ogwu as Nigeria’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Many in the African diplomatic community had been wondering why, after nearly a year in office, Nigeria’s President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was yet to dispatch his powerful Ambassadors to fill vacancies in Nigeria’s diplomatic missions in America, since vacated more than nine months ago by Ambassadors George Obiozor, Ambassador to the U.S., and Aminu Wali, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN.
Well, people don’t have to worry any more with the arrival last week of Prof. Joy Ogwu as Nigeria’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Prof. Ogwu is yet to present her letters of credential to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon.
On the other hand, retired Brigadier General Oluwole Rotimi, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S. arrived nearly two months ago, and has already presented his credentials to President Bush. Brigadier General Rotimi was the governor of the old Western State during the Gowon regime and was one of two governors not implicated in corruption after Gowon was over-thrown by Murtala Muhammed. He retired from public service in the seventies and became Chairman of the most powerful construction company in Nigeria, Julius Berger.
Prof. Joy Ogwu is a former Nigerian foreign minister and a director-general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, a position from which Nigerian Permanent Representatives and Ambassadors to the U.S. seem to emerge. Former Ambassador George Obiozor was also a director-general of the Institute, and former Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari was also a former foreign minister and director-general of the Institute.
Ogwu was appointed foreign minister by former President Olusegun Obasanjo after the resignation of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, former finance minister but now Managing Director at the World Bank. Prof. Ogwu has published two notable books, including Nigerian Foreign Policy: Alternative Futures, published by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in co-operation with Macmillan Nigeria Publishers, 1986 and Latin America: Perspectives and Challenges.
Prof. Joy Ogwu and husband - photo by OyizaJoy Ogwu obtained her BA and MA in Political Science from Rutgers University. She later received her Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Lagos in Nigeria, while joining the Institute as a lecturer.
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