Former Petroleum Minister, Rilwanu Lukman Passes Away

Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, a former Minister of Petroleum has passed away.

Lukman who was 76-years-old died this morning in Austria, Leadership reports.

Dr. Rilwanu Lukman

He was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources by Nigerian president late Umaru Yar’Adua, on 18 December 2008. In February 2010 there were rumors that Lukman had tendered his resignation after a shakeup in the cabinet by the new acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, but that it had not been accepted. In March 2010, he warned that the scarcity of petroleum products in Nigeria would only get worse as long as the government held back on deregulating the industry. He left office on 17 March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.

Born in Zaria, Kaduna State on August 26, 1933, he served as Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 01, 1995 to December 18, 2000.

Rilwanu Lukman is a Nigerian engineer who held several ministerial positions in the Nigerian Federal government.

He trained as a mining engineer at the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University), and then at Imperial College, London. He earned a higher degree in mining engineering from the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Leoben, Austria (1967–1968).

After returning to Nigeria, Lukman was appointed an Inspector of Mines, later Senior Inspector and then Acting Assistant Chief Inspector in the Federal Ministry of Mines & Power in Jos, Plateau State (1964–1970).