Blank NEWS Online can disclose that Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, has this morning in Austria, passed on at the age of 76.

Rilwanu Lukman was born in Zaria, Kaduna State on August 26, 1933.

Nigerian president late Umaru Yar’Adua appointed him a Minister on 18 December 2008 an left office on 17 March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.

He served as Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 01, 1995 to December 18, 2000 and has 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).