By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Nigeria’s one-time Permanent Representative to the United Nations has passed away at the age of 79.
According to reports confirmed by a top diplomat who spoke with Daily Sun, news of her death was relayed from New York, United States. The former diplomat, who also served as Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), was said to have died after battling a cancer-related illness.
Reacting to the development, Nigeria’s former Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Sarki, said:
“Today, we received the sad news of the passing away of the Permanent Representative (former), Professor Joy Ogwu. It is very sad. She was a very fine woman; she represented Nigeria to the best of her ability under very difficult circumstances,” Sarki said.
Sarki, who served as her deputy during her tenure at the United Nations, added that she was “a very decent human being.”