Joy Ogwu

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Joy Ogwu

Joy Uche Angela Ogwu (born August 23, 1946) is the current Foreign Minister of Nigeria. She is the second woman to hold the post in the history of Nigeria. Prior to her ministerial career in Nigeria, Dr. Joy Ogwu, who is from Delta State, served as Director–General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).

She has advised the United Nations on disarmament issues and has published books promoting more African ties to Latin America. She is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

She was appointed Foreign Minister by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on August 30, 2006.

Joy Ogwu obtained her BA and MA in Political Science from Rutgers University. She later received her Ph.D. from the University of Lagos in Nigeria. While obtaining her Ph.D. in 1977, she joined the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Lagos.

Professor Ogwu started her career as an assistant lecturer at the Nigerian National War College and the Nigerian Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). She subsequently joined the NIIA as a lecturer, obtaining a research fellowship during which she authored her first book, Nigerian Foreign Policy: Alternative Futures (Macmillan, 1986). She eventually headed the research department in International Politics, leading on to her role as the first female Director General. Professor Ogwu's career has been distinct in its additional focus on the developing countries of Latin America enabling an investigation into the possibilities of a proficient South-South relationship between Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In this capacity she held a visiting fellowship at the University of London's Institute for Latin American Studies and has been published extensively in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Croatian. As an expert on security issues, she serves on the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.

As a woman in a foremost position in her distinguished career specialization, Ogwu has become a voice for women's development and human rights. In this subject, her perspective spans Asia Pacific, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa with prolific publications on regional aspects of the subject. Her participation in the government under the auspices of NIIA and the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations enabled positive contribution to practical government policy such as the construct of the Nigeria-South America relationship on a macro level and the United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) funded program for teaching human rights in Nigerian Schools on a micro level. Furthermore, her continual role on the Nigerian National Delegation to UN General Assembly exhibits her contribution as an influential figure in the formation of Nigeria's relationship with the rest of the world.

[edit] Published books

Nigerian Foreign Policy: Alternative Futures, published by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in co-operation with Macmillan Nigeria Publishers, 1986
Africa and Latin America: Perspectives and Challenges