Diezani Alison-Madueke
Diezani K. Alison-Madueke (born 6 December 1960) became Nigeria's minister of transportation on 26
July 2007. She was moved to Mines and Steel Development in 2008 and in April
2010 was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Formerly Diezani K. Agama was born on 6 December 1960 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Her father was Chief Frederick Abiye Agama.
She studied architecture in England and then at Howard
University in the United States.
She graduated from Howard with a Bachelor's degree on 8 December 1992 .She
returned to Nigeria and joined Shell Petroleum
Development Corporation that
year. In 2002, she attended Cambridge University for her MBA.[ In April 2006, Shell appointed her
its first female Executive Director in Nigeria.
Since
1999 she has been married to Admiral Allison Madueke (retired), one-time Chief of Naval
Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra State.
In
September 2011 Alison-Madueke was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Management
Sciences by the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three
significant positions in the Nigerian federal government. She was appointed
Transport Minister in July 2007. On 23 December 2008, she was named as Minister
of Mines and Steel Development. After
Vice-PresidentGoodluck Jonathan became acting President in February
2010, he dissolved the cabinet on 17 March 2010, and swore in a new cabinet on
6 April 2010 with Alison-Madueke as Minister for Petroleum Resources.[
As Minister of Petroleum Resources,
Alison-Madueke has pledged to transform Nigeria's oil and gas industry so that
all Nigerians benefit.
In
April 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Nigerian Content Act, which
aims to increase the percentage of petroleum industry contracts that are
awarded to indigenous Nigerian businesses - a reaction to the domination of the
sector by foreign operators.
One of
the most controversial policies introduced under Alison-Madueke is the
government's plan to remove state subsidies on fuel prices. Alison-Madueke has
supported the discontinuation of the subsidy on the grounds that it "poses
a huge financial burden on the government, disproportionately benefits the
wealthy, [and] encourages inefficiency, corruption and diversion of scarce
public resources away from investment in critical infrastructure."
Alison-Madueke is the first woman to hold the position of Minister of
Petroleum Resources in Nigeria, and in October 2010 she became the first woman
to head a country delegation at the annual OPEC conference. She was also the first
female Minister of Transportation, and the first woman to be appointed to the
board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria.
On
working in male-dominated sectors, Alison-Madueke said she warned the young
women she mentored while at Shell to "change their mode of thinking.
In June 2008 Alison-Madueke was subject to a Senate probe after
it emerged that as Transport Minister she had paid 30.9 billion naira ($263
million) to contractors between 26 and 31 December 2007. However, she has never
been charged or tried for these allegations and has strongly denied any
wrongdoing.
In
September 2008 there was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Alison-Madueke at
her house in Abuja.
In
October 2009, the Senate of Nigeria indicted Diezani Alison-Madueke and
recommended prosecution for the alleged transfer of 1.2 billion naira into the
private account of a toll company without due process and in breach of
concession agreement. However,
the allegations have never been taken to law, and the Minister maintains her
innocence.
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