IPMAN, PENGASSAN, others mourn Lukman’s passage

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) say the late former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr Rilwan Lukman, was a committed bureaucrat.

The two unions in separate interviews  on telephone said that Lukman died when his expertise was needed in the nation’s quest to overhaul the petroleum sector.

 Lukman, an erstwhile Secretary General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC), died on Monday in Vienna, Austria from an undisclosed illness.

Lukman, who was born on August 26, 1938, died a month to his 76th birthday.

Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, IPMAN National President, said that Lukman’s death was as a great loss to the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Okoronkwo, who also commiserated with the family of the late former minister, said: “I received the news of Lukman’s death with a deep sense of loss and disbelief”.

According to him, Lukman gave his very best to every assignment and position he held at various times and in different levels of society.

The IPMAN boss said Lukman would be remembered for his pioneering and pace-setting roles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources that ended misconceptions in the petroleum industry.

“Lukman delivered on his mandate with utmost diligence, commitment and a unique disposition that placed him as one of the best that ever moderated affairs in the nation’s oil industry,” he said.
Mr Seyi Gambo, the National Publicity Officer, PENGASSAN, also said that Lukman would be greatly missed by the government and people of Nigeria.

He said the late Lukman was a “man of honour and integrity” and would be greatly missed for his wisdom and knowledge.

“As a public servant, he was extra-ordinary. His excellent performance as the then petroleum minister earned him a higher responsibility to become OPEC secretary General.

“As OPEC Secretary General, Lukman demonstrated competence, excellence and high sense of wisdom before the international community and indeed raised the reputation of Nigeria as a strategic and important global player, especially in the oil and gas sector,” he said.

An Energy Consultant, Mr Amos Dudu, said that the late Lukman left a positive foot print on the sands of time and that the nation owes him gratitude.

NAN