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.