By Abiola Olawale
Family members, friends and well wishers gathered to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of Chief Dr. Leemon Ikpea, OON, CON, JP, the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited on Saturday as the University of Benin, popularly known as UNIBEN, conferred on the business titan and oil and gas mogul the prestigious Doctor of Business Administration Degree (Honaris Causa). This was at the 49th/50th Convocation of the university held on Saturday, November 23rd, 2024 in Benin City, Edo State.
According to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof Lillian Salami, Chief Ikpea was honoured with an honorary Doctorate Degree, (Honoris Causa,) by the esteemed University of Benin (UNIBEN) on account of his spectacular achievements and valuable successes in the field of business as well as his great philanthropic support to the promotion of education in the university over the years.
Little wonder the atmosphere on Saturday was filled with joy, happiness and a feeling of great delight as family members, friends and well wishers took turn to congratulate Chief Ikpea and extol his outstanding feats and contributions to the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry and the larger Nigerian business community in general.
The New Diplomat reports that Dr Leemon Agbonjagwe Ikpea, OON, CON, JP, the Adolor of Ewatto was born at Ewatto in Esan South East, Edo State on December 19, 1956. He attended St. John’s Primary School in Ajamogha, Warri.
He further added to his feathers when he bagged a degree in owner President management program from the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Chief Ikpea is the founder, Owner and Executive Chairman of Lee Engineering and Allied Companies Limited, which is a foremost homegrown oil, gas and power services company, performing extraordinary and commendable services in the Nigerian business environment. Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited is an indigenous company which has offices in Warri, Benin, Abuja and Portharcourt and is headquartered in Lagos.
Indeed, Chief Ikpea’s Lee Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. is a high-level service provider in the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Operation and Maintenance (EPCOM) with over 30 years of experience in the oil, gas and power sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Incorporated in 1991, the indigenous and first-class company expanded its scope of operations in 2007 to include maintenance and attainment of optimal performance in the operations and maintenance of the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 34.l, amongst others.
Beyond the shores of Nigeria, Lee Engineering has partners /offices in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States of America (USA).
The Utorogu gas plant, located in Delta State, was successfully constructed by his company, Lee Engineering Construction Company, on a build, return and operate basis.
As a first class company with a forward looking vision, Lee engineering was propelled to set up a high-level fabrication plant to contribute his quota to the oil and gas sector and to help successful transition to indigenization of the nation’s technology sector as it relates to the oil, gas and power sector.
Chief Ikpea is not only a billionaire business mogul. He is a great philanthropist of the immense stature. In fact, to also advance charitable and philanthropic causes, Chief Ikpea, in 2012, founded the Agbonjagwe Leemon Ikpea Foundation (ALIF), which has been rendering valuable services to humanity through charitable acts like the award of scholarships to indigent students and youths, including great support to orphans. The promotion and advancement of Education has also been a fulcrum of the ALIF.
Through the foundation, Dr Ikpea, the Lee Engineering Executive Chairman has donated heavily to several educational institutions and social welfare programmes all around the country and also touched the lives of many women and other members of the general public including ghe vulnerable and less privileged .
Indeed, these are philanthropic gestures the foundation carries out without noise.
Chief Dr Leemon Ikpea, OON, CON, JP holds the prestigious title of Odonlagbon of the Warri kingdom, a very rare honour for a non-Itsekiri, bestowed on him by Olu of Warri. Chief Ikpea is the Adolor of Ewatto, his hometown in Esan South East LGA of Edo state.
