By The demise of the outgoing Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo came as a rude shock to many.
Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), confirmed the development in a tweet in the early hours of Wednesday.
Barkindo was said to have breathed his last at about 11pm on Tuesday, hours after meeting President Muhammadu at the State House. He was aged 63. The cause of his death was, however, not disclosed.
Here are ten things you should know about the late OPEC scribe.
1. He was born on April 20, 1959 in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
2. In 1981, Barkindo bagged his bachelor’s degree in political science from Ahmadu Bello University. He earned a postgraduate diploma in Petroleum Economics from Oxford University in 1988.
3. He earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Washington University in 1991.
4. From 1993-2008, Barkindo represented Nigeria on OPEC’s Economic Commission Board.
5. Since 1999, he has headed Nigeria’s technical delegation to United Nations (UN) climate negotiations.
6. He was appointed as Acting Secretary General of OPEC in 2006.
7. Barkindo had a stint as the GMD of the NNPC from 2009 to 2010.
8. On August 1, 2016, he assumed office as the 28th Secretary General of OPEC, succeeding Abdallah Salem el-Badri.
9. His six-year tenure at OPEC ends on July 31, 2022.
10. After the conclusion of his term at OPEC, Barkindo was billed to join the Atlantic Council as a distinguished fellow in the Global Energy Center.
