Matthew Mbu dies at 82

A former Federal Minister and a former High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Chief Matthew Tawo Mbu, is dead.

Mbu was aged 82.

He died in a London Hospital.

The family in a statement on Monday said: “It is with the deepest regret, but also with total submission to God’s will, that the family of Ambassador (Dr.) M. T. Mbu regret to announce the passing of their patriarch in London at the age of 82.”

Born on November 20, 1929 in Okundi, Cross River State, Mbu attended Okundi Primary School from 1937 to 1940; Kakwagon Seminary School between 1941 and 1943; Middle Temple and University College, London, United Kingdom from 1955 to 1959.

He was a holder of the LLB and the LLM and a member of the Bar, Middle Temple.

Mbu was in Nigeria’s parliament between 1952 and 1955.

In-between this, he served as the Federal Minister of Labour in 1954.

From 1955 to 1959, Mbu was Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Nigeria’s Representative in Washington DC, United States of America in 1966.

He again returned to the Parliament between 1960 and 1966 and was Chairman, Eastern Nigeria Public Service Commission in 1967.

Mbu was a member of the Constituent Assembly from 1977 to 1978 and later the first national vice-chairman of the Nigeria Peoples Party between 1979 and 1981. Between 1981 and 1983 he was a member of the National Party of Nigeria.

Mbu championed the cause of the South South by being a foundation member of the South-South Peoples Assembly and leading it for a few years.