Former Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman is dead.
He died this morning in Austria.
He was 76 years old.
Rilwanu Lukman is a Nigerian engineer who held several ministerial positions in the Nigerian Federal government before becoming Secretary General of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2000.
On 18 December 2008, Lukman was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources by Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adua, holding office until March 2010.
Lukman was born in Zaria, Kaduna State on 26 August 1938.
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).
He obtained a degree in Mineral Economics from McGill University, Montreal in 1978, and an honorary doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bologna in Italy.
His first job in the mining industry was as an Assistant Mining Engineer with A B Statsgruvor of Sweden (1962–1964).
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).
He then became General Manager of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (1970–1974).
By 1979 Lukman had become General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Mining Corporation, Jos.
