Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs and renowned diplomat, Professor Joy Uche Angela Ogwu, has died at the age of 79.
Family sources confirmed that Prof. Ogwu passed away 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 a trailblazer in Nigerian diplomacy. She made history as the first woman to serve as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2008–2017) and earlier as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2007) under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Before joining government, she was a distinguished academic and policy expert, becoming the first female Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), where she shaped Nigeria’s global engagement through her research and leadership.
A graduate of Rutgers University, New Jersey, Ogwu earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Political Science, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Lagos in 1977. Her scholarship focused on Nigeria’s foreign policy, disarmament, and South-South cooperation.
During her diplomatic career, she twice presided over the UN Security Council (in 2010 and 2011), served as President of the Executive Board of UN Women, and chaired the Board of Trustees of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She was also a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.
Beyond diplomacy, Ogwu championed women’s empowerment, human rights, and education, contributing to UNESCO-funded human rights programs in Nigeria. She authored the influential book Nigerian Foreign Policy: Alternative Futures (1986) and several other works on diplomacy and security.
Reacting to her death, former presidential aspirant Peter Obi described Ogwu as “a cosmopolitan and unassuming trailblazer.”
In a tribute on X, Obi wrote:
“I have received with profound sadness the news of the passing of a dear elder sister, Prof. U. Joy Ogwu, Nigeria’s former Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Prof. Ogwu was the first female DG of the NIIA, the first Nigerian female Foreign Minister, and the first female Permanent Representative to the UN, where she also presided over the UN Security Council.
Her demise is a great loss to her family, Delta State, and Nigeria. I pray that God grants her family and all of us the fortitude to bear this huge loss and her soul peaceful repose.”