Prior to the demise of Sylvanus Nsofor, Nigeria’s former ambassador to the United States, on December 10, a gap had been created in terms of diplomatic relations between both countries. In July, President Muhammadu Buhari dropped the reappointment of the 85-year-old who was appointed in 2017, thereby raising concerns on who would become the next US ambassador.
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On Tuesday, Tolu Ogunlesi, special assistant on digital/new media to Buhari, announced the president’s approval for the appointment of Uzoma Emenike as the country’s ambassador-designate to the US.
The posting comes six months after senate’s confirmation of the list of ambassadors-designate submitted by the president. With the development, the diplomat has emerged as the first female ambassador to US, raising the bar and setting a new standard.
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The remains of Nigeria’s immediate-past ambassador to the US Justice Sylvanus Nsofor have left the host country on his final journey back home.
His casket, draped in the Nigerian flag, departed the Dulles International Airport, Washington, on Wednesday morning aboard a Delta Airlines plane.
At the airport to bid him farewell were officials of the US Department of State, and Nigerian embassy officials led by the Charge D’Affaires Jane Adams-Abanulo.
A brief departure ceremony for the deceased included a guard of honour mounted by US military service members at the cargo section of the airport.