President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, October 23, appointed seven new ministers as part of the much-awaited cabinet reshuffle.
Five ministers were sacked, including Uju-Ken Ohanenye (Minister of Women Affairs) and Lola Ade-John (Minister of Tourism), while 10 were redeployed to other ministries.
Out of the seven new ministers appointed by Tinubu, three of them are women. They are Bianca Odinakachukwu Olivia Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Minister of State, Foreign Affairs), Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade, and Investment), and Suwaiba Said Ahmad (Minister of State, Education).
Here is a profile of the three new female ministers appointed by Tinubu.
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1. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Minister of State for Foreign Affairs)
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu is one of the most well-known personalities in Nigeria and is popularly known as the widow of the former Biafran head of state, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. She is an ex-beauty queen, lawyer, diplomat, and politician.
Born in August 1968 to the family of former Anambra governor Christian Onoh, she spent most of her childhood in Enugu State.
She bagged a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and was called to the Nigerian bar shortly after. She received a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy from Alfonso X el Sabio University in Spain in 2016.
Ojukwu is a multiple international pageant titleholder, having won Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 1988, Miss Africa, and Miss Intercontinental, both in 1989.
Her journey into politics started in 2011, when she was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan as Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs. She became Nigeria’s ambassador to Ghana and later ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain.
She was Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
2. Jumoke Oduwole (Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment)
Jumoke Oduwole is a jurist, academic researcher, photographer, and entrepreneur.
Born in Lagos, she bagged a second-class upper degree in law in 1998 and was called to the bar in 1999. She then proceeded to obtain an LL.M. degree in a slant in commercial law from Cambridge University in 2000 as a DFID-Cambridge Commonwealth Trust scholar.
Oduwole received a master’s degree in International Legal Studies from Stanford University, USA, and was a graduate fellow at the Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN) from 2007 to 2008. She obtained her doctorate in international trade and development (WTO negotiation strategy) from Stanford Law School.
Before she was appointed Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, she was appointed Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Ease of Doing Business in the Office of the Vice President. Before that, Oduwole was Senior Special Assistant to the President of Industry, Trade & Investment (OVP) from November 2015 to May 2019.
She is married with two children.
3. Suwaiba Said Ahmad (Minister Of State, Education)
Suwaiba Said Ahmad is a trained educationist and gender advocate with over 18 years of experience in the education and consultancy sector.
Born February 13, 1981, she bagged a Bachelor of Science Education degree in Chemistry from Bayero University, Kano, in 2003. She followed it up with a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies in 2009 and a Ph.D. in Science Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 2014.
Suwaiba’s career as a lecturer started at Bayero University, Kano, in 2004. Since then, she has held various roles at the university, including subdean of academics and head of the Department of Science Education. She is currently the director of the Centre for Gender Studies.