Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has received an honorary Doctorate degree from
Yale University 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 is 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 said that 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.
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