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UNIVERSITY OF UYO HONOURS MARRAUD DES GROTTES
26-Apr-2008 |
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The Managing Director / Chief Executive of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Jacques Marraud des Grottes was among four eminent Nigerians awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees at the 7th Convocation Ceremony of the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Saturday, 26-Apr-2008.
At the ceremony, the university awarded Diplomas, First Degrees, Masters and Doctorate Degrees to a total of 6,174 graduands for the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 Sessions as well as a supplementary list from the 2003/2004 Session.
The three other distinguished persons awarded honorary degrees are former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and multiple-time minister in Nigeria, Mallam Adamu Ciroma (LL.D); accomplished Literary Artist, Educationist and Columnist, Elder Onofiok Andrew Ufot (D. Litt); and the Managing Director of Union Bank, Dr. Bartholomew Bassey Ebong (D. Sc). Marraud des Grottes was awarded D. Sc. for Total’s indelible marks on the university and the Akwa Ibom Community in general.
The pedigree of the honourees was noted by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, who said he was encouraged to spend the five hours he did at the ceremony because of the quality of those awarded Honorary Degrees and commended the university for choosing such awardees and not just any money bag.
Governor Akpabio also commended the management of the University for recovering 21 Courses that were lost in the past during the National Universities Commission (NUC) Accreditation Exercise and assured the students of bright prospects for all who worked hard and sowed positively.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Akaneren Essien observed that the highpoint of the university’s 7th Convocation Ceremony was the award of Honorary Doctorate Degrees to the four whom he said were “well meaning, time-tested and deserving persons who have indeed made monumental contributions in the educational, industrial, economic and socio-political spheres of the Nigerian nation”.
While the towering profiles of the Honorary Graduands, couched in elegant citations, held the audience spell bound, the presentation of the Doctor of Science (D. Sc.) Degree to Mr. Marraud des Grottes was spiced with complementary citation and performances in French by students from the Foreign Languages Department.
Deep acknowledgement of the company’s contributions to the university and education in Akwa Ibom State was symbolically manifested in the only illustration on the cover design of the convocation brochure. It featured the 500-Seat Lecture Theatre built for the university and commissioned less than a month ago by Total.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Marraud des Grottes noted that the determination “of the Total Group to be fully engaged in the development of societies where it operates is made operational through the encouragement and promotion of education,” explaining that while the cost of programmes sponsored by the company had run to more than N2.7bn since inception “this is a cost we are willing to bear as our contribution to the development of the capacity of Nigerians to organize, create, innovate, manage enterprises that will employ as many people as possible.”
Commenting further, the MD remarked: “My award today therefore continues the growing tradition of Total’s engagement with the Nigerian Society.” He recalled that in 2005, the Total Group Chairman, Mr. Thierry Desmarest was awarded a Doctor of Science Degree by the University of Port Harcourt.
He was accompanied to the occasion by the DMD (Corporate) Mr. Alek Musa and the Executive Director, External Affairs, Mr. John Addeh and Miss Otobong Udosen of the Public Relations Department. Also present was the General Manager, Security, Alhaji Mohammed Gimba.
The occasion was witnessed by dignitaries from various walks of life.
The slideshow below completes the story.
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