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Tag: Bianca-Ojukwu

  • Bianca-Ojukwu, other Ministers-Designate laud Tinubu’s aide

    Bianca-Ojukwu, other Ministers-Designate laud Tinubu’s aide

    Minister-Designate for State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu and six other of her colleagues, have lauded the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters,  Senator Basheer Lado for guiding them aright.

    Odumegu-Ojukwu gave the commendation on behalf of her colleagues after the screening and confirmation of their nomination for appointment as Ministers by the Senate on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Odumegu-Ojukwu,who spoke on behalf of others, appreciated the presidential aide, Lado, for the ease of screening process and confirmation of their nomination for appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    She said: “We can’t thank you enough for how you have navigated us all through this process and how you have made us quite comfortable through the whole procedure.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Senate confirms Bianca Ojukwu, six others as Ministers

    “I speak for myself, I don’t know about anybody else; I was quite nervous, we were just wondering basically if this day will come and go.

    “From the onset, each person here, you made the effort to get in touch personally, speak to us, tell us everything that we needed to do, all the documentation that needed to be done and saw us through this, from beginning to completion.

    “So, I will just like on behalf of everybody here and I congratulate all my colleagues here, but on behalf of all of us, we just say a very very big thank you. We really appreciate your efforts.

    “We appreciate your considerations, we appreciate your sacrifice, because we were calling you at odd hours of the night and you were always available to speak to us and to guide us through this. So I thank you so very much on behalf of all of us here.”

    The six other Ministers-Designate, who were with Ambassador  Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu at the show of appreciation in the office of Senator Basheer Lado, are  Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction), Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi (Labour and Employment), Dr Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade and Development), Idi Muktar Maiha, (Livestock Development),  Rt Hon Yusuf Abdullahi Ata (Housing and Urban Development) and Dr  Suwaiba Said Ahmad (Minister of State for Education).

  • Senate screens Bianca Ojukwu, Yilwatda, five other ministerial nominees on Tuesday

    Senate screens Bianca Ojukwu, Yilwatda, five other ministerial nominees on Tuesday

    The Senate will on Tuesday commence the screening of seven nominees for appointment as Ministers. 

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a letter last Thursday urged the Senate to consider and confirm the seven nominees for appointment as ministers.

    Senate President Godswill Akpabio had referred the list of nominees to the Committee of Whole for further legislative work as soon as possible. 

    The seven ministerial nominees for Senate’s consideration and approval include; Dr Nentawe Yilwatda (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction); Muhammadu Dingyadi (Labour & Employment); Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (State Foreign Affairs) and Dr Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade and Investment).

    Others are Idi Mukhtar Maiha (Livestock Development); Yusuf Ata (State, Housing and Urban Development) and Dr. Suwaiba Ahmad (State Education).

    Odumegwu-Ojukwu, a former ambassador to Spain, is a prominent member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    If cleared, the former beauty queen and wife of the late Dim Emeka Chukemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, will increase the number of opposition party members in FEC to two.

    Read Also: Senate passes South-South Development Commission Bill

    The Special  Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, confirmed that ministerial nominees have commenced documentation ahead of their screening and confirmation by the Senate, which commences on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.

    Lado, in a statement, said that the nominees were already submitting relevant documents as first in the series of procedures for the screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees.

    He said the nominees are expected to be screened and confirmed by the Senate in compliance with Section 147 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended).

  • FULL PROFILE: Meet Bianca-Ojukwu Minister-designate of State for Foreign Affairs

    FULL PROFILE: Meet Bianca-Ojukwu Minister-designate of State for Foreign Affairs

    Over the years, Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu has maintained a low profile, save for her ambassadorial duties and political leanings. 

    President Tinubu on Wednesday, October 23 appointed her as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

    As an ex-beauty queen, she exudes a warm and approachable demeanour. 

    Mrs. Bianca is a diplomat, lawyer, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder and the widow of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

    She is a multiple international pageant titleholder, having won Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Miss Africa and Miss Intercontinental. Formerly a presidential advisor.

    Shortly after her husband’s death, she had some diplomatic appointments that brought her to the forefront of politics.

    After almost 17 years of marriage, her husband, Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief illness at 78. He was buried in a newly built mausoleum in his compound at Nnewi.

    In 2011, she was appointed Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    In 2012, she became Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ghana. In the same year, she was appointed the Ambassador of Nigeria to the Kingdom of Spain.

    Following the death of her husband, Bianca was thrust into a lengthy legal battle with Ojukwu’s first son, Debe Odumegwu Ojukwu.

    The battle, characterised by a series of court cases, spurred a great deal of controversy about the late Biafran leader and the chaos in his family.

    At the end of the court battle, which ruled in her favour, Bianca had the lion’s share of her late husband’s will.

    Although Bianca and Ojukwu had been in a relationship since 1989, they formally married on November 12, 1994.

    The wedding was the talk of the town in those days; it was a lavish wedding ceremony in Abuja. Bianca was 22, while Mr Ojukwu was in his 50s.

    Their union is blessed with three children Chineme, Afamefuna and Nwachukwu.

    From the early 1990s till date, Bianca’s name has become synonymous with beauty. A multiple international pageant titleholder, Bianca emerged as the winner of Miss Martini in 1987 and the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 1988.

    She reigned through most of 1989, mainly when she emerged as Miss Africa 1989 at the pageant held in The Gambia.

    Bianca represented Nigeria at the Miss World in Hong Kong and Miss Universe in Mexico following her win.

    In the same year, she achieved success when she won Miss Intercontinental and was named Miss Congeniality at the now-defunct Miss Charm International in Russia, where she was also a semi-finalist.

    She made history as the first Nigerian and African to win Miss The Intercontinental pageant.

    She attended Ackworth School, Pontefract, St Andrews College, Cambridge, and Cambridge Tutorial College where she obtained her A-levels. 

    Read Also: FULL PROFILE: Meet Humanitarian Affairs Minister-Desginate Nentawe Yilwatda

    She began a combined honours degree in Politics, Economics and Law at the University of Buckingham but transferred to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka after her father, a lawyer by profession, insisted she concentrated solely on Law and join the family business. 

    Following graduation, Odumegwu-Ojukwu attended the Nigerian Law School which eventually led to her call to the bar.

    She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Political Party that was founded by her late husband and which has maintained political power in Anambra State for over a decade. 

    Her bid to represent her senatorial district in 2018 was stalled as a result of irregularities which occurred during her party’s primary elections.