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| The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (M) FLANKED BY MS JANET LOIUSE YELLEN LEFT AND PRESIDENT OF Yale University Peter Salovey AT THE HONOARAY AWARD IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has bagged an honorary doctorate at Yale University, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the United States of America.
The minister was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters at Yale’s 2015 Commencement Ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut on Monday.
By this honour, she becomes the second Nigerian in the university’s 314-year history to receive its highest honour after Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who received an honorary Doctor of Letters in 1980.
Conferring the award, the President of the university, Prof. Peter Salovey, described Okonjo-Iweala as “a brilliant reformer and dedicated public servant.”
The minister, he added, “has spearheaded efforts to stabilise and grow Nigeria’s economy, battling widespread government corruption and creating greater fiscal transparency and discipline.”
Yale’s honorary doctoral degree is seen globally as a very important honour.
According to the institution, “Those who have received honorary degree are scholars, public servants, Nobel Prize winners and heads of states.
According to the institution, “Those who have received honorary degree are scholars, public servants, Nobel Prize winners and heads of states.
“Collectively, they represent the aspirations of this institution. Yale honorary degree recipients serve as models of excellence and service to our students, to our graduates, to our community and to the world.”
Okonjo-Iweala was honoured alongside the Chair of the Board of Governors of US Federal Reserve System Janet Yellen; world renowned Beninoise singer and songwriter, Angelique Kidjo; University Professor and founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, Gayatari Chakravorty Spivak; Professor and Director of the Starr Center for Human Genetics at Rockefeller University, Jeffrey Michael Friedman; inventors and entrepreneurs, Elon Musk and Dean Kamen, among others.
Yale had in the past honoured a handful of other Africans such as Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
As Finance Minister in 2004, Okonjo-Iweala and the economic team that she led, helped Nigeria obtain debt relief, wiping out $30 billion of Paris Club debt, leading to a tripling of the growth rates.
In her second coming as the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister since August 2011, Okonjo-Iweala has focused on building strong foundations and institutions critical for the survival and sustenance of the economy. She bravely fought corruption in government with fierce dedication and unflagging energy.
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