Matthew T. Mbu: Dignity in Service

Matthew Tawo Mbu was a Nigerian lawyer, politician, diplomat, and a permanent fixture in Nigeria political affairs for more than fifty years. Most notably, he became the First Nigerian Chief Representative in Washington DC from 1955-1959, and was chief negotiator to the United Nations Disarmament Conference, Geneva between 1963-65; in 1992-1993 he served as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Within Nigeria he was referred to as a Baby Minister, due to being just 23 years of age when he first became a federal minister; the youngest ever in the history of Nigeria. The British press, meanwhile, nicknamed him the "Wonder Boy of the Commonwealth" and his opinion was sought on many issues concerning not only Nigeria and Africa, but other Commonwealth sovereignties. He was a member of many international bodies: the London Institute of World Affairs; he was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the Royal Commonwealth Society. In 2001 he served as President of the Nigeria Society of International Law.