By Abiola Olawale
The Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE) is set to confer an honorary doctorate degree on billionaire oil and gas business mogul, Chief Dr Leemon Ikpea, OON, CON, FNSE, the towering Executive Chairman/CEO) of Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited.
The university said the conferment is in recognition of Ikpea’s outstanding contributions to the oil and gas industry and his commitment to community development.
The award ceremony which is scheduled to take place during the university’s convocation on Saturday, March 15, 2025, was announced through a message signed by the Institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh.
The letter conveying the honour addressed to Chief Ikpea, reads in part: “Reference is made to Our letter with Ref: FUPRE/CONV/98/Vol.4 congratulating you on your selection for the award of Honoris Causa in Engineering andam pleased to inform you that the conferment of this honorary degree will take place during our Convocation Ceremony scheduled for March 15 2025.
“Once again sir,congratulations on this well-deserved honour. We look forward to celebrating your achievements and contributions during our upcoming Convocation Ceremony. Sir, accept the assurances of our highest regards as we look forward to your response.”
The New Diplomat reports that the conferment of the honorary doctorate degree adds another feather to the cap of the lofty business mogul, who has consistently championed excellent local content, exceptional business goals, sustainable development and corporate social responsibility through his company and the Agbonjagwe Leemon Ikpea Foundation, respectively.
The New Diplomat reports that Dr Ikpea, 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, amongst others. He further added to his feathers when he bagged a degree in owner President management program from the prestigious Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Chief Ikpea is not just the founder, Owner and Executive Chairman of Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited, which is a foremost homegrown oil, gas and power services sector firm, performing extraordinary and commendable services in the Nigerian business environment, the business has expanded beyond the shores of Nigeria into many global jurisdictions.
Indeed, Chief Ikpea’s Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Ltd is a high-level service provider in the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Operation and Maintenance (EPCOM) with about 34 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. amongst others.
Beyond the shores of Nigeria, Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Ltd 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 this company, Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Ltd, 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 its quota to the oil and gas sector and to help the successful transition to the 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 also is a great philanthropist of immense stature. 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, 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 the vulnerable and less privileged.
Indeed, these are philanthropic gestures the foundation carries out without noise. Chief Dr Leemon Ikpea, OON, CON, FNSE, 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.
