4 October 2011, Sweetcrude, Abuja – Alhaji Shehu Ladan, the former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), who was fired 7 weeks after his appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan, is dead.
Family sources said Mr.Ladan died in Dubai, UAE after a prolonged illness.
Ladan, who retired from the NNPC in 2009 after 19 years in service, was appointed group managing director of the corporation by then acting President Goodluck Jonathan on April 6, 2010. He replaced Alhaji Mohammed Barkindo.
Born in September 1952, Ladan hailed from Kaduna State and had his early education at NA Primary School, Tudun Wada, before proceeding to Sheikh Sabah College (now Sardauna Memorial College) in Kaduna where he obtained his West African School Certificate.
He obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and University of Dundee.
Ladan was appointed to the Kaduna State Executive Council in 1987 as Commissioner of Education. In 1989, he was appointed Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. During his tenure as education commissioner, he founded and established the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria (formerly Kaduna State Polytechnic).
He joined the NNPC in 1990 and held various positions, rising to the position of Group General Manager, Human Resources in 2004.
In 2006, he was appointed the Deputy Managing Director, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, a joint venture company owned by NNPC, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Agip.
He also served as Executive Director at the National Engineering and Technical Company and National Petroleum Development Company, both subsidiaries of NNPC
In October 2007, he was appointed the Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment, a position he held until he retired on April 6, 2009.