AFRICAN YOUTH AMBASSADOR UTCHAY ODIMS BAGS ANOTHER HONORARY DOCTORATE DEGREE FROM THE WEST AFRICA UNION UNIVERSITY, COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC.
On the Occasion of the 4th & 5th graduation Convocation ceremony at West Africa Union University Cotonou Benin Republic.
Dr. Amb Utchay Odims expresses his profound gratitude to the Institution in his Speech.
It is my great pleasure to be here at West Africa Union University. I would like to express my great appreciation to the founder and President of this great institution, the Vice Chancellor, the registrar and the entire management for this honorary degree. I know you are recognizing not just me, but other well respected great sons of Africa. I must say a big Thank you for this vote of confidence for our efforts in uplifting peace, development and human rights across the continent of Africa..
You may recall that I requested that the great legal Luminary and the defender of the peoples rights Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) to join me on the podium because he is a great treasure for our continent. Am proud to share the same platform with him.
I also want to extend my warm regards and admiration to some of those I will now humbly consider as my eminent colleagues great personalities from Nigeria and Republic of Benin who were also awarded with Honorary Doctorate Degrees.
Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) bagged Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Right Advocacy & Justice Administration, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Federal Minister of Interior of Nigeria) was conferred with Doctor of Strategic Development, while my humble self Amb. Utchay Odims, Co-Founder of Global initiative for Africa received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of business Management.
Other honorary awardees are;
The Olowo of Owo Kingdom from Nigeria, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye (III) who was conferred The Doctor of Public Administration; King Abdou Nouhou (III) of Lokossa in Benin Republic who bagged The Doctor of Public Administration; the First Class Emir of Machina from Yobe state, Nigeria HRM Alhaji Bashir Albishir Bukar who was awarded The Doctor of Public Administration, as well as the Emir of Awe, HRH Alhaji (Dr) Isa Abubakar Umar (II), who was also awarded The Doctor of Public Administration.
Also honored by the University during the ceremony included my very good friend and close associate; Dr. David James Egwu, Co-Founder of Global initiative for Africa received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of business Management, Dr Christian Arsene Koukoui (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Justice Administration); Dr Victor Mark-Onyegbu (Honorary Degree of Doctor of International Relations).
I also want to specially recognise and commend all the graduating students here, you must stand up and be counted. Africa is in dare need of change agents like you and you must leave up to that expectation. As it is customary for me each time I speak to Young people; I must challenge you to look inward, the greatest nation in the world is not China, United States or UK, rather the greatest nation in the world is your imagination so you have to keep it working.
Over the past fifteen years, I have sought to empower young people across Africa, through capacity building, vocational trainings and workshops. We have organized our efforts through our platform the global initiative for Africa and have continued to collaborate and synergize with platforms whose objective aligns with ours in this regard. With the permission of my colleague and brother, the Co-founder of Global Initiative for Africa we will make a commitment to support the west Africa Union University in building and raising the profile of this institution by empowering its student through entrepreneurship development, capacity building and vocational training to further compliment the work West Africa Union University institute is doing.
We now have an ambitious Agenda for Sustainable entreprenuership and leadership Development and this is our 5-year plan to empower twenty thousand youths in Africa in other to support to end global poverty, fight inequality, promote the rule of law and build peaceful African societies.
Again, I want to specially, thank our host His Excellency, The Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, the President of West African Union University and all the first Class Royal fathers who are here present.
We will continue to collaborate with well meaning Africans, development partners, and friends from across the globe to continue in our quest to build an African society that will be the envy of the entire world.
Let us reach out to the vulnerable and the excluded. Let us fulfill our duty to leave no one behind
Together, we can usher in an era of dignity for all Africans.
Thank you.
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