Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (http://www.fmf.gov.ng) has received an honorary Doctorate degree from Yale University (http://www.yale.edu), one of the United State of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning.
The Minister was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters at Yale’s 2015 Commencement Ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut Monday.
She
will be only the second Nigerian in the university’s 314-year history to
receive its highest honour after Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka who
received an honorary Doctor of Letters in 1980.
Giving
out the award, the President of the University Professor Peter Salovey
described Okonjo-Iweala as “a brilliant reformer and dedicated public
servant.”
He went
on to state that the Minister “has spearheaded efforts to stabilize and
grow Nigeria’s economy, battling widespread government corruption and
creating greater fiscal transparency and discipline.”
Yale’s honorary doctorate 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.
“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,” the
institution says.
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.
The
second time around as Finance Minister in 2011, Okonjo-Iweala has
focused on building solid foundations and institutions critical for the
survival and sustenance of the economy. She bravely fought corruption in
governance with fierce dedication and unflagging energy.
Okonjo-Iweala
was honored 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,
etc.
Yale
had in the past honored a handful of other Africans such as Liberian
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Issued by:
Constance Ikokwu
Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Nigeria
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