Meet Bianca Ojukwu, ex beauty queen, Ambassador now Nigeria’s minister of state for foreign affairs

On Wednesday Bianca Ojukwu was appointed by President Bola Tinubu as a member of his cabinet with the portfolio minister of state for foreign affairs.

This isn’t the first time she will be representing Nigeria’s interest on the international stage as she has been doing this since 1988 when she won the Miss Nigeria and represented Nigeria at a global event and as an Ambassador since 2011.

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Odumegwu- Ojukwu has a rich experience in diplomacy and saddled with the responsibility is expected to deliver excellently.

Born on August 5 1968 to Christian Onoh the former governor of Anambra State, her mother was a college principal and she has seven siblings.

She started her education abroad at the Pontefract, St Andrews College, Cambridge and Cambridge Tutorial College where she obtained her A-levels then she proceeded to the University of Buckingham for higher learning in Law but transferred shortly back to Nigeria where she completed her education the University of Nigeria Nsukka, there she bagged her Law degree. After graduation, she went to the Nigerian Law School which eventually led to her call to the bar.

In 1988, 20-year-old Bianca won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria competition and reigned through most of 1989. She also won the Miss Africa 1989 pageant held in Gambia before representing Nigeria at both Miss World in Hong Kong and Miss Universe in Mexico.

She achieved greater success when she became the first African to win Miss Intercontinental that same year and was named Miss Congeniality at the now-defunct Miss Charm International in Russia where she was also a semi-finalist.

In 2011, Odumegwu-Ojukwu was appointed Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs by President Goodluck Jonathan. In 2012 she became Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ghana and later Ambassador to the Kingdom Of Spain.

In 2016, Odumegwu-Ojukwu received a master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Alfonso X el Sabio University in Spain.

She is Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. On October 23 2024 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reshuffled his cabinet and appointed Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Her sister, Lilian Onoh was also Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Namibia.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu was married to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of the defunct Biafra who fought against the Nigerian Federal government in civil war. He died in 2011. They had three children together.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu holds many traditional titles in Igbo land.