On Wednesday, October 23, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The appointment was announced in a statement issued by the presidency after the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday.
She is a Nigerian politician, diplomat, lawyer, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder.
This article by TimesNow.com.ng presents the full profile of the new minister.
She is the widow of former Biafra president Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
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.
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.
Over the years, Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu has maintained a low profile, save for her ambassadorial duties and political leanings.
As an ex-beauty queen, she exudes a warm and approachable demeanour.
She is a multiple international pageant titleholder, having won Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Miss Africa and Miss Intercontinental.
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.
She bagged 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.
