Professor Jibril Aminu, a former Minister of Petroleum, and Education and one of Nigeria’s most accomplished scholars and statesmen, has died at 85.
Aminu’s death was confirmed on Wednesday by Hon. Abdullahi Prambe, the Adamawa State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development.
A towering figure in Nigeria’s public service, academia, and diplomacy, Professor Aminu’s passing marks the end of an era for a man whose career spanned medicine, education, politics, and international relations. He had celebrated his 85th birthday on August 25, 2024.
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The news of his death was first announced in a Facebook post by former senator and human rights advocate, Shehu Sani, who praised the late professor’s contributions to national development.
“He constructed the Eleme Refinery and most of the petroleum depots in the country when he was the Petroleum Minister,” Sani wrote. “He decentralised and reformed the NNPC. Since he left office, none has been added.”
Sani also recalled Aminu’s achievements as Minister of Education, during which he established the Nomadic Education Commission and the School for Gifted Children, among other far-reaching reforms.
“He served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri and headed the National Universities Commission (NUC) in the 1970s. He represented Adamawa in the Senate twice,” Sani noted.
“He was the best medical student at the UCH Ibadan in the 60s — a rare feat for a northerner at that time. The nation has lost one of its greatest intellectuals and visionary leaders.”
Born in 1939 in Song, Adamawa State, Professor Aminu’s distinguished career began in medicine, where he was trained as a Consultant Cardiologist.
He graduated in Medicine from the University of Ibadan in 1965, and holds a Ph.D in Medicine from the Royal Post-Graduate Medical School.
Aminu was appointed a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science in 1972, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1980 and a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians also in 1980.
A Distinguished Fellow of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College in 2004, he was a consultant, senior lecturer and sub-dean of Clinical Studies at the University of Ibadan Medical School from 1973 to 1975.
He served as the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC from 1975–1979, visiting Professor of Medicine at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC between 1979 and 1980, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, 1980-1985.
A professor of Medicine at the University of Maiduguri from 1979–1995, he held office as Minister of Education and later Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources from 1989 and 1992.
While Petroleum Minister he was President of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (1991) and President of the OPEC Conference (1991–1992).
He was Nigerian Ambassador to the USA from 1999–2003; and was elected Senator for the Adamawa Central constituency in May 2003 and re-elected in 2007.
On January 2, 2010, Aminu was installed as the “Bobaselu of The Source” by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade.
