Nuhu Bamali, Nigeria’s Minister of State for External Affairs (center), and Ambassador Godwin A. Onyegbula, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Nigeria (left), are pictured seated with President Lyndon B. Johnson (right) in the Oval Office. This meeting, scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on 22 September 1965, was held to present a letter from Nigerian Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa to President Johnson.

Also see: Nigerian Dignitaries at the White House I

Ambassador Godwin Alaoma Onyegbula, a native of Nkwerre, Imo State, assumed the position of Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in the United States of America in April 1964 after Chief Julius Momo Udochi left his ambassadorial post to resume his political career. Ambassador Onyegbula served in this capacity until October 1965, after Ambassador Ade Martins was appointed Nigeria's ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador Onyegbula played a significant role during the Nigerian Civil War. Upon the declaration of the Republic of Biafra as an independent state, he served as the Permanent Secretary in the Biafran Government House, Enugu. As the conflict progressed and foreign support for Biafra became necessary, he was relocated to the foreign ministry to coordinate international affairs. He was instrumental in efforts to secure recognition of the Republic by other nations and managed various administrative tasks for the Biafran government. As one of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s close aides, he was present at the Uli airstrip on January 10, 1970, when Ojukwu went into exile.

At the end of the Nigerian Civil War, Ambassador Onyegbula took responsibility for the staff who had worked with him and issued a letter to the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a copy to the Principal Secretary to the Head of State, requesting the reintegration of former Nigerian foreign affairs officers who had worked for Biafra.

After the war, he retired from public service and transitioned into business. He remained active in his Nkwerre community and represented them at the 1988/89 Constituent Assembly.

In his memoir, The Nigerian-Biafran Bureaucrat, he documented the Nigerian Civil War, his role during the conflict, and the aftermath. He passed away in 2024 at the age of 95.