page_title: Walter Ofonagoro
section_title: Contributions to politics and national service
hierarchical_section_title: Walter Ofonagoro / Career / Contributions to politics and national service
caption_attribution_description: English: Dr. Ofonagoro with Mallam Garba Wushishi (former Minister of Information) at the inauguration of the NAN Board, 1982
context_page_description: Walter Ofonagoro is a Nigerian scholar, politician and businessman who is a former Minister of Information and Culture, Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is also the Chairman of Stanwal Securities Limited, as well as Chairman of Merit Microfinance Bank Ltd.
context_section_description: Ofonagoro was a contributor on occasionally featured articles and editorials published in the Eastern Nigerian Guardian newspaper, Port Harcourt, from 1959 to 1960. He was also a frequent contributor to radio, television and newspaper discussions in the Canadian and American media. He also lectured on Africa on the Sunrise Semester program of CBS TV in New York. On his return to Nigeria in 1976, he continued his active role in media such as radio, television and newspapers. He also delivered public lectures at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru Plateau State and the Command and Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna State.
  In 1979, he was appointed as Consultant Political Analyst to the Nigeria Television Authority by the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His programme Verdict 79 was an epic on the Election of 1979. The programme ended in March 1980.
  He has led Federal Government Delegations to foreign countries, including a delegation to the International Symposium on the Renaissance in Sofia, Bulgaria (1981). In the same year, he led a delegation to Shipyard Split, in former Yugoslavia, to take delivery of MV River Maje on behalf of the federal government which was acquired for the Nigerian National Shipping Line. Again in October 1981, he was appointed adviser to the Nigerian delegation and member of the special political committee of the United Nations General Assembly by the federal government of Nigeria.
  In 1982, he was appointed Chairman of the News Agency of Nigeria, and shortly after he became Director-General of the NTA in 1983.
  In 1993, he was Director of Communications in the Presidential Campaign of Bashir Tofa (under the banner of the National Republican Convention) during the elections of 1993.
  From 1994 to 1995, Ofonagoro was appointed Member of the National Constitutional Conference Commission, where he served as Chairman of the Organization, the Conference Convention and the Publicity Committee of the Constitutional Conference Commission which served as the secretariat of the Constitutional Conference. He was also appointed a member of some other sub-committees at the conference such as The Committee on National Defence, The Committee on Fundamental Human Rights, Press Freedom and Citizenship, and The Constitution Drafting Committee.
  In 1995, he was elected Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council for the Development of Communications Among Non-Aligned Countries (IGC).
  On March 20, 1995, Dr. Ofonagoro was appointed Federal Minister of Information and Culture as the Constitutional Conference began to wind down. He thus became a member of the Federal Executive Council and during his administration, helped to restructure the Federal Ministry of Information. While with the Ministry, he embarked on a mission to promote a positive image of the country which had been damaged overseas.
  During his time with the Ministry of Information, Ofonagoro led a delegation to Germany and WIPO Geneva (1995). Nigeria won the WIPO Gold Medal for Advancements in Copyright Law and Administration for that year. Among his responsibilities on that mission was to negotiate and sign cultural and bilateral agreements on behalf of Nigeria with friendly foreign countries. He has also led delegations to places such as North Korea, Iran, Ethiopia and Iraq, where he met Saddam Hussein in 1996.
  During his tenure as Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Dr. Ofonagoro signed, on behalf of Nigeria, cultural agreements with about 20 countries and organizations. In robust facilitation of meaningful relations with the countries concerned.
  He had ensured full development of the NTA Television College in Jos (1983) and commissioned its engineering and journalism facilities in that year. National Film Institute, National Film Archives, and the National Film Processing Laboratories were also established in Jos (1995) during his administration. These measures were necessary to establish Nollywood as an industry on a firm footing by providing the necessary facilities for training of the operators right here in 
caption: Dr. Ofonagoro with Mallam Garba Wushishi (former Minister of Information) at the inauguration of the NAN Board, 1982
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