Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi

Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi (born 1953) is a Nigerian career diplomat and politician. He served as Minister of State for Defence and later as Minister of Defence under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2006 to 2007, becoming the first person of Igbo extraction to hold the defence portfolio in more than four decades. He is the eldest son of Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria’s first military Head of State.

Early life and education Aguiyi-Ironsi was born circa 1953 in Kaduna, then in the Northern Region of British Nigeria.

He later studied at the University of British Columbia in Canada, remaining a Nigerian citizen in line with his father’s belief in the country. His principal ambassadorial posting was to Togo. During the political transition that followed the death of long-serving Togolese President Gnassingbé Eyadéma in 2005, he worked to protect the Nigerian community in the country; no Nigerian lives were lost in the ensuing crisis. He subsequently assumed the full portfolio of Minister of Defence (succeeding Rabiu Kwankwaso) and held office until 26 July 2007, when he was succeeded by Yayale Ahmed at the end of the Obasanjo administration.

After leaving government he has remained engaged in public commentary on national security, diplomacy and inter-communal relations, and has participated in election observation missions in Africa.