Walter Ofonagoro (born 24 June 1940) is a Nigerian scholar, politician and businessman who is a former Minister of Information and Culture, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

[1] He is also the Chairman of Stanwal Securities Limited (member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange), as well as Chairman of Merit Microfinance Bank Ltd. Born and raised in Port Harcourt Rivers State, Nigeria on 24 June 1940, Ofonagoro is the third child and second son in a family of fifteen.

He was a distinguished lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Lagos, Nigeria[2] Many years prior to his work in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Ofonagoro first began his career in 1962 as a tutor in Baptist High School Port Harcourt where he taught English, Latin and History.

Ofonagoro was a contributor on occasionally featured articles and editorials published in the Eastern Nigerian Guardian newspaper, Port Harcourt, from 1959 to 1960.

[4] 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.

[5] 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.

[6] 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.

[9] On March 20, 1995, Dr. Ofonagoro was appointed Federal Minister of Information and Culture as the Constitutional Conference began to wind down.

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.

He had ensured full development of the NTA Television College in Jos (1983) and commissioned its engineering and journalism facilities in that year.

[12] 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 Nigeria.

Under the circumstances, with the current nose-dive of oil prices and with the capital market in a freefall, the board of Stanwal is reviewing strategies for future business activities.

In 1983, the Nigerian Stock Exchange hosted Dr. Ofonagoro to a private luncheon at the Metropolitan Club Victoria Island, Lagos, in appreciation of his role in popularizing the Capital Market through television broadcasting.