ABU to honour Okonjo-Iweala, Sheikh Sharif at 44th convocation

The Governing Council of Ahmadu Bello University has approved the conferment of Honorary Degrees on Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Sale at the institution’s 44th Convocation Ceremony scheduled for Saturday, 25th January 2025.

This followed consideration and endorsement of recommendation of the Honorary Degrees Committee by Senate of the University at its 544th (Special) meeting. Subsequently, the Council gave the approval at its 207th (Special) meeting held on Wednesday, 8th January 2025.

In a statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate, office of the Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria on Friday disclosed that both personalities have accepted the honour.

The statement noted; “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be conferred with Doctor of Science (D.Sc) Honoris Causa, while Sheikh Sharif Sale will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) Honoris Causa.

According to the statement,”Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, GCON a global finance expert, an economist and international development professional with over 40 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America, is currently the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). She assumed office as WTO Director-General in March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to head the international organisation.

“Born on 13th June 1954 to the family of Prof. Chukwuka Okonjo who was Obi of the Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu in Delta State, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala started her early education in Queen’s School, Enugu and St. Anne’s School, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State. She attended Harvard University, USA, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1976, and obtained a PhD in Regional Economics and Development in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

“Dr. Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003–2006 and 2011–2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006. She was the first woman to hold both positions. During her first term as Finance Minister in the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club that led to the wiping out of US$30 billion of Nigeria’s debt, including the outright cancellation of US$18 billion.

Also, the statement noted, “In 2003, she led efforts to improve Nigeria’s macroeconomic management, including implementing an oil-price-based fiscal rule. Revenues accruing above a reference benchmark oil price were saved in a special account, the Excess Crude Account, which helped to reduce macroeconomic volatility.

“Okonjo-Iweala was also instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first-ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s in 2006. She also introduced the practice of publishing the Federal, State, and Local Government shares of revenue from the country’s Federal account. That action went a long way in increasing transparency in governance at all levels of government.

She belongs to many international organisations and corporate bodies as well as non-profit organisations.

The statement said, Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Sale Al-Hussain, CON who was born on 12th May 1938 in Aredibe near Dikwa, Borno State, rose from a humble beginning to become a world-class scholar in different aspects of Islamic scholarship such as Qur’anic Studies, religious sciences, logic, philosophy and rhetoric. He wrote more than 500 books and pamphlets as well as hundreds of commissioned conference papers.

“Unlike most of his contemporaries, Sheikh Ibrahim Sale has maintained the uneasy balance between the adoption of a modern approach to religious scholarship and embracing the age-old Islamic tradition of evaluation and certification of scholars.

” It was in this context that his attempts to compare notes and rub minds with other scholars, as well as to submit himself to them for rigorous scrutiny, that he attended many prestigious centres of Islamic scholarship and learning far beyond the shores of Nigeria and the African continent.

“He was a regular member of all the committees established to advise or guide government on some of its policies that had religious implications or relevance. He was also a familiar face on all government delegations of religious leaders sent to some Arab and Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Libya, Morocco, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Senegal, Iraq, and Sudan.

“His main areas of academic interest and research include: Qur’anic Sciences, Prophetic Tradition, History, Philosophy, Islamic Jurisprudence, Islamic Finance and Banking, Astronomy, Arabic Literature, Science of Sufism, Islamic Polity, Islamic Law of Personal Status & Inheritance, Peaceful Coexistence between Nation States and many other sundry issues that border on the essence of humanity and personal liberty.

“It is interesting to note that Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Saleh spent only two decades (1944-1964) as a student and underwent all his training in Nigeria where he received training from both Nigerian and foreign teachers. He was a homegrown scholar, produced locally through the mechanism of the Tsangaya system, but proudly of international standard. It was the local training he received that provided him with the requisite competence and the confidence to compete internationally and be recognized with respect as an excellent scholar.

He has also been invited severally to conduct Tafsir at the State House, Lagos during Ramadan by different Heads of State; and he belongs to many international organisations.

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