So sad he is here no more. Prof Jibril Aminu. That great, bonhomie son of Nigeria and Africa has left our shores at 85. He was buried in the womb of Mother Earth on June 5, 2025. A man of many parts, he was a professor of cardiology, vice chancellor, education minister, a diplomat of the highest order, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States (1999 to 2003), a politician, a Senator representing Adamawa Central Senatorial District, a detribalized Nigerian. But what probably stood him out was when he became oil minister under General Ibrahim Babangida’s military regime and went on to be President of OPEC.
As Babangida’s powerful oil minister, Prof Jibril Aminu effected a paradigm shift by indigenizing petroleum exploration in Nigeria and bringing in wealthy Nigerians to be involved in finding and selling oil to the international market in competition with multinationals like Chevron, Texaco, Mobil and others. In Nigeria, the groundwork laid by figures like Prof. Jibril Aminu, who championed the indigenization of petroleum exploration, has contributed to the presence of a plethora of indigenous oil-producing companies today, including Conoil, Seplat Energy Plc, Oando Plc, Lekoil Nigeria Ltd, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company, Famfa Oil Ltd, and many others.
Did Prof Jibril Aminu write any book? Yes, my research suggests that Prof Jibril Aminu did write at least one book, and a book was also written about him. There is “OBSERVATIONS” by Jibril Aminu, a book described as a “literary odyssey through the vicissitudes of life” that addresses various issues like corruption, arts, literature, academics, law, leadership, medicine & healthcare, social anomalies, crisis, conflict and brotherhood. It has an ISBN of 9782335312. And there is “JIBRIL AMINU: ENDURING FOOTPRINTS” by Sidi H. Ali, published in 1994.
And in our book “Eyewitness Biography of THE GURU: MIKE ADENUGA” by Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe, there is an interesting chapter on Prof Jibril Aminu titled “WHY I ALLOCATED OIL BLOCK TO MIKE ADENUGA” based on my interview with him in his office as a Senator in Abuja. It is from this book that I bring you Prof Aminu’s memoir as oil minister and his perspective on Mike Adenuga, whom he describes as, “the first to bring me a sample of crude oil.” Meaning the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantity. Here is Jibril Aminu in his own words:
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I got to know Mike Adenuga in 1990. I was in petroleum as the minister. It was a time when I started the programme of indigenous petroleum exploration and I started giving out blocks to promising Nigerians who would begin to learn the art of exploration and production of oil. Because I discovered that oil was just another business. I discovered that a lot of the chiefs of the international oil companies I met were not necessarily petroleum engineers or chemical engineers. They were businessmen. Some were accountants, some were lawyers. Then I made another major discovery, that none of the major international oil companies had any oil rig. They were hiring oil rigs from the oil service companies like Schlumberger and Co. So I said, if they can hire rigs, our people too can hire rigs. So that was how I started to make Nigerians play a part in oil exploration. Because you never can know tomorrow. And Adenuga was a rising young man. I didn’t even know him. But I heard of Devcom Merchant Bank and Equatorial Trust Bank which he owned. It was my Special Assistant, David Ogbodo who brought him to me. He was simply dressed. I later made enquiries about him and I got to know that he was very well known at some higher level than me. They knew him very well and had no problem with him. So I allocated to him an oil block to start. I discovered he was very competitive. My God, I had not seen anything or anyone like him. So competitive.
Chief MKO Abiola used to say Babangida controls Lagos during the day and he controls it in the night. He was always going round at night in his car, conducting most of his business. Abiola would come to wake me up at two o’clock, three o’clock and tell me whatever he wanted, whether it is advice or something like that. Then I discovered that Mike Adenuga was like that also. He was very close to David Ogbodo. They were about the same age. So they would come to me. And if he came, he would not go until he got what he wanted. He wouldn’t go. He kept saying: “We are your children, sir. David and I are your children.” That was what he kept saying. And I got taken by his determination. I was impressed by the fact that a young man like that owned two banks. He is not somebody you can ignore. After all, what I wanted was to ensure that I gave Nigerians the opportunity to come into oil exploration. It was not like all these contracts they give to people and they quickly get their money. Oil is not like that. It is an industry that requires somebody to be engaged for a lifetime. And the younger, the better. If they start early, then they would spend by the laws of average a long time there. So he stayed there and we allocated one oil block to him. And there was this one particular very, very favourable block he was interested in. He used to get his reports from God-knows-where. He would worry me and worry me. He was worrying me until I eventually gave it to him. And lo and behold, he was the first Nigerian that went to his own block and explored and drilled and produced the first sample of oil for me. His company was called Consolidated Oil. And he brought the oil to me. That was the first one that I received. The second one was Moshood Abiola. Others came afterwards. People like Arthur Eze and the late Yinka Folawiyo.
We had to take Nigerians who have access to capital, who could tolerate, who could bear the very long yield time before they came on stream, who would have an open credit line or open account which is their money and which they would continue to spend. It’s a huge amount. We are not talking about somebody giving N100 million contract. No. We are talking of $100 million expenditure. Of course, they would need foreign partnerships. We allowed them to give 40 per cent to companies outside so that they can raise the capital, so that Nigerians would retain the majority ownership. Among the Nigerians we gave oil blocks were Adenuga, Arthur Eze, Igbinedion, Dantata, Mai Deribe, Lulu Briggs and Michael Ibru. Ibru was the first person I talked to on this matter. We gave them oil blocks and it now became a status symbol thing. It became a question of: How can this man have oil block and I don’t have? Who is he? Instead of their Rolls Royce and their big palaces, oil blocks now became status symbol. I was enjoying the fun. They all came, we addressed them and we told them what we wanted. I remember saying to them: “If only one of you is successful, my point would have been made.” And I got the full support of President Babangida. All I wanted was for one of them to succeed. And Mike Adenuga was the first one. He was the first one to bring me a sample of crude oil. With that I felt my point had been made. It’s like an explorer going to the North Pole and finding it. My point had been made which is that a Nigerian can do it. And he did that.(To be continued)