25 Facts About Diezani Alison-Madueke

Diezani Alison-Madueke became Nigeria's minister of transportation on 26 July 2007.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was moved to Mines and Steel Development in 2008, and in April 2010 was appointed as the first female Minister of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was elected the first female OPEC president at the 166th OPEC Ordinary meeting in Vienna on 27 November 2014.

Diezani Alison-Madueke had her early education in Shell camp and attended Hussey Model School after the Nigerian civil war.

Diezani Alison-Madueke proceeded to Federal School of Arts and Sciences in Mubi, Gongola State for her A' Levels and then moved to the United Kingdom in 1977 to study architecture.

Diezani Alison-Madueke graduated from Howard with a bachelor's degree on 8 December 1992.

Diezani Alison-Madueke rose to the position of Head of Civil Infrastructures and then became Head of Corporate Issues and Crisis Management Unit in 1997.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed as an executive director of Shell in 2006.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was the first woman ever to be appointed by Shell as an executive director in Nigeria.

Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three significant positions in the Nigerian federal government.

Diezani Alison-Madueke left office on June 1,2015, as part of the presidential transition to Jonathan's successor.

Diezani Alison-Madueke then went to work for the Commonwealth of Dominica as a Trade and Investment Commissioner.

One of the most controversial policies introduced under Diezani Alison-Madueke was the government's plan to remove state subsidies on fuel prices.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was 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 semi-annual OPEC conference.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was the first female Minister of Transportation, and the first woman to be appointed to the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria.

Diezani Alison-Madueke has been charged with responsibility for $20 billion missing from the Petroleum Agency.

In October 2009, the Senate of Nigeria indicted Diezani Alison-Madueke and recommended prosecution for the transfer of N1.2 billion naira into the private account of a toll company without due process and in breach of concession agreement.

Diezani Alison-Madueke has been officially charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria for 'Money Laundering'.

In October 2023, Diezani Alison-Madueke appeared in court in the UK to face trial for bribery charges, following her prior arrest in 2017.

In 1999, Diezani Alison-Madueke married Allison Madueke, one-time Chief of Naval Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra States.

Diezani Alison-Madueke is mother to six children; one biological son and five step children including Chimezie Madueke and Ogonna Madueke.

In September 2011, Diezani Alison-Madueke was awarded an honorary Doctorate degree in Management Sciences by the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

Diezani Alison-Madueke is the first woman to be so awarded.

Diezani Alison-Madueke revealed that while in office, she had been undergoing treatments for breast cancer in the United Kingdom.

In June 2024, it was widely reported that Diezani Alison-Madueke had separated from Madueke as far back as 2021.