Profiling Nigerians: Diezani Alison-Madueke

Diezani Alison-Madueke was born on 6th December, 1960, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. Same place as Goodluck Jonathan.  She completed her early education in Nigeria and the United Kingdom before proceeding to study Architecture in the United States. She completed her Architectural degree at Howard University, Washington D. C.

The headlines are in! The first reads:

Diezani Alison-Madueke: True woman of substance reports Nigerian Tribune.

The next:

Goodluck Jonathan and Diezani Alison-Madueke having an Affair reports Nairaland

The last headline

Mrs Madueke: The first woman to hold the office of Minister of Petroleum Resources as well as the first female head of an OPEC reported Thisday magazine.

She began her working career at Charles Szoradi Architects in Washington D.C. She relater returned to Howard University as an in-house Project Manager and a member of the Planning and Development team responsible for the design and implementation of a comprehensive master building and renovation plan for the University.

Mrs Alison-Madueke joined Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1992 as Head of the Project Unit of the Estate Development Division in Lagos, supervising the refurbishing and Maintenance of the company’s real estate in Lagos, Abuja and Jos.

In 2002, Mrs Alison-Madueke was awarded the prestigious British Foreign and Commonwealth Chevening Scholarship and proceeded on sabbatical leave to the Cambridge Judge Business School where she obtained an MBA in 2003.

On her return, she was appointed Shell Nigeria’s Senior JV Relations Adviser for Strategy and Planning and then Lead Ventures Relations Adviser, managing the company’s relations and reputation amongst its Joint Venture partners.

In 2006, in recognition of her track record of excellence, she was appointed to the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited, as External Affairs Director, making her the first female to be so appointed in the history of Shell Petroleum Development Company’s business practice in Nigeria.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three significant positions in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 2007:
Appointed July 2007 as first female Honourable Minister of Transportation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria charged with the responsibility of over-seeing the Maritime, Aviation, Railways, and Road Infrastructure of the Nation.
Following a cabinet reshuffle in December 2008, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed the Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development in which she held the primary responsibility for directing the ministry’s mandate in the exploitation of the nation’s solid minerals and steel endowments.
After a cabinet dissolution in March 2010, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed Nigeria’s first female Honourable Minister for Petroleum Resources in which she holds the primary responsibility for the stewardship of Nigeria’s vast oil and gas resources.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke is married with children to Rear Admiral Alison-Madueke (rtd), a former Governor of old Anambra and Imo States and a former Chief of Naval Staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

She is one of the most stylish powerful figures in Nigeria politics. 

''Whatever I apply myself to; it is with a vision that I may be remembered as one woman who worked hard to bring a better life to the greatest number of people and communities of our country as possible, in a way that they’ve never been impacted before'' She says