Ex-Petroleum Minister Jibril Aminu Dies At 85
Professor Jibril Aminu, a Nigerian cardiologist and politician who served as Minister of Education and later Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has died aged 85.
The Adamawa-born academic and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member died on Thursday, reports Arise TV.
After Nigeria’s return to democratic governance, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America from 1999 to 2003.
He was elected to represent Adamawa Central senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate in 2003 and re-elected in 2007.
Aminu previously served in various academic roles, including Consultant in Medicine and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ibadan and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri between 1980 and 1985.
He was also a Visiting Professor of Medicine at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission from 1975 to 1979.
During his time as petroleum minister, Aminu served as President of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation and President of the OPEC Conference between 1991 and 1992.
He was appointed a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science in 1972, became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1980, and was also made a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians the same year.
He is survived by nine children.
The former Senator for Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, mourned the academic in a tweet on Thursday.
He wrote, “I received the sad news of the death of Professor Jibril Aminu, Former VC, Minister of Education and later that of petroleum. He was also the former Senator who represented Adamawa. As the Petroleum Minister, he constructed the Eleme Refinery and petroleum depots across the country.
“Since he left, none has been added to date. He decentralised and reformed the NNPC. He implemented wide-ranging reforms as the education minister. Professor Jibril was the best medical student at the UCH Ibadan in the 60s. The nation has lost one of its greatest intellectuals and visionaries”
Ex-Petroleum Minister Jibril Aminu Dies At 85 is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
