Former petroleum minister and one time OPEC president, Rilwanu Lukman is dead.
Born in Zaria, Kaduna State on 26 August 1938, the late Lukman was 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) and 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 and 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) and by1979, Lukman had become General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Mining Corporation, Jos.
Lukman was appointed Minister of Mines, Power and Steel from 1984 to 1985 in the government of General Muhammadu Buhari and in 1986, he was appointed Federal Minister of Petroleum Resources, holding that position until February 1990.
In that role, he was also Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and was briefly Minister of Foreign Affairs between January and September 1990.
From 1986, he served eight consecutive terms as OPEC president and was elected OPEC secretary general on 22 November 1994, succeeding Dr. Subroto of Indonesia, whose three-year term ended on 30 June 1994.
Lukman was a compromise choice between two competing candidates, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili of Iran and Alirio Parra of Venezuela. He was re-elected to a second term in 1997, holding office until the end of 2000.
He was a central figure in the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to control oil prices early in 1999, followed by agreements to reduce production levels, which led to a surge in prices towards the end of the 1990s.
He became the Chairman of Afren Nigeria when it was established in May 2005 and was also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and served on the SPE board as regional Director for Africa.
In 2007, Lukman became a member of the Supervisory Board of Dietsmann NV of the Netherlands, a leading International Operation & Maintenance company in the upstream energy sector.
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