Professor Jibril Mohammad Aminu 1939-2025

With the passing of Professor Jibril Aminu on Thursday, June 5, 2025, after a protracted illness at the age of 85, Nigeria lost one of its celebrated icons whose life and times impacted positively on the nation’s development in many ways.

He was variously a renowned cardiologist, university academic and administrator, minister of Education and Petroleum and Mineral Resources, diplomat and distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in his long and excellent public service record.

Professor Jibril Aminu was born on August 25, 1939, in Song, the headquarters of Song Local Government Area in Adamawa State.

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His traits of academic brilliance manifested early enough when he graduated with distinction from the famous Barewa College Zaria, Kaduna State, which earned him admission to study Medicine at the prestigious University of Ibadan, Oyo State.  

He graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1965, where he obtained an M.B.B.S. He was the best graduating student in medicine at the university, a performance which earned him several awards of distinction and an instant teaching job at the Faculty of Medicine in the university. Professor later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D in medicine from the Royal Post-Graduate Medical School, London in 1972.   

Between 1972 and 1980, he was appointed a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, the ROYAL College of Physicians of London, and the West African College of Physicians. During that period, Professor Jibril was also a consultant and senior lecturer in clinical studies at the University of Ibadan Medical School. He was also a visiting professor at the Howard University College of Medicine at Howard University in Washington DC, United States of America. He was concurrently appointed professor of Medicine at the University of Maiduguri in Nigeria.

Professor Jibril switched to university administration when he was appointed the pioneer Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), where he served from 1975 to 1979. He subsequently became the vice-chancellor of the University of Maiduguri in 1980.

From 1989 to 1992, Professor Aminu served as Minister of Education and Petroleum and Mineral Resources, where he was recognised as being responsible for the introduction of novel policies like nomadic education, which was aimed at providing modern education to nomadic Fulani herdsmen in order to change their nomadic existence to a more settled life. Professor Aminu was also credited with introducing the 6-3-3-4 educational system as well as wide-ranging innovations in the school curriculum from the primary to the tertiary stages in education.

In his tenure as Petroleum Minister, Professor Aminu was elected as president of the African Producers Organisation in 1991 and president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from 1991 to 1992.

During the General Sani Abacha military regime, Professor Aminu was elected as a delegate to the National Constitutional Conference which held from 1994 to 1995. And upon Nigeria’s return to civilian democratic rule in 1999, he was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States of America.

On his return to Nigeria after his diplomatic tour of duty in America, he was elected Senator representing Adamawa Central in 2003 and re-elected in 2007.        

Despite appeals from his constituents for him to continue in 2011, Professor Aminu politely, but firmly declined to re-contest to encourage and allow a younger successor.

Since then, Professor Aminu had restricted his public engagements and adopted a low profile in order to attend to give more attention to family matters and his ailing health.

In his tribute, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu described the passing of Professor Aminu as “…a profound loss to the nation, but as we grieve, we must find solace in his legacy. He left remarkable imprints in the sands of time.” President Tinubu also said that “Professor Aminu epitomised statesmanship and was committed to building a greater Nigeria.”    

Adamawa State Governor Umaru Fintiri, the home state of the late Professor Aminu, said “Nigeria has lost one of its finest minds, a devoted public servant and a distinguished son of Adamawa. Professor Jibrin Aminu was a rare breed of patriot, and a silent reformer whose legacy spanned education, diplomacy and politics.

The late professor’s contribution to his country was also reflected in tribute from the University of Ibadan, his alma mater, which described him as an astute academic.

In the death of Jibril Aminu, the nation had indeed lost an academic, administrator, politician and statesman.

We in the Daily Trust offer our deeply felt condolences to the family of the late statesman, Professor Jibril Aminu, and pray that Allah (SAW) forgive his shortcomings and grant him peaceful repose in Aljannah Firdaus, ameen.