Antoine Ndinga Oba

Antoine Ndinga Oba (1941 – 17 May 2005 ) was a Congolese diplomat, political figure, and linguist. During the single-party rule of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), he served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of National Education from 1977 to 1984 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1991. Later, he was Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to UNESCO from 1998 until his death in 2005.

Academic and diplomatic career Ndinga Oba was born in 1941 at Biala, near Oyo, located in Cuvette Region. From 1972 to 1973, he was Director of the National Institute of Research and Pedagogy, and from 1973 to 1976 he was Director of INSSED ; subsequently he was Rector of the University of Brazzaville (later Marien Ngouabi University) from 1976 to 1977.

In 1972, Ndinga Oba was elected to the Central Committee of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), but he was dropped from the Central Committee in 1975. He was appointed as Minister of National Education on 5 April 1977 and returned to the Central Committee in 1979, became president. in the same year, he was elected to the PCT's expanded 13-member Political Bureau. He was removed from the Political Bureau at a plenary session of the Central Committee in November 1986, when the Political Bureau's size was decreased from 13 members to 10 members. On 13 August 1989, he was promoted to the rank of Minister of State in the government, while remaining in charge of foreign affairs. He continued to serve as Foreign Minister until 1991, On 7 February 2003, Ndinga Oba was elected as President of the African UNESCO Group by African ambassadors meeting at UNESCO's headquarters. In this capacity, he was charged with coordinating relations between UNESCO and African countries. Other linguistic books written by Ndinga Oba included Lingala and Mounoukoutouba: two variants of Kibangou (Le lingala et le Mounoukoutouba - deux variantes de Kibangou) and Lexical Structures of Lingala (Structures lexicologiques du lingala).

While serving as Ambassador to UNESCO, Ndinga Oba died on 17 May 2005 in Paris. His body was returned to Congo-Brazzaville, and after a tribute at the Palace of the Parliament in Brazzaville, he was buried at his family cemetery in Oyo on 27 May 2005. President Sassou Nguesso and Gabonese President Omar Bongo were present for his funeral.