By Abiola Olawale
Pope Leo XIV granted a private audience to a major player in the Nigerian business community and champion of indigenous participation in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, Chief Dr Leemon Ikpea, OON, CON, JP, the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited.
The encounter, which took place at the Vatican, was marked by a historic handshake and the conferment of an Apostolic blessing upon the business mogul, his family, and his various endeavors in Nigeria.
Known as a titan of the oil and gas sector and a champion of indigenous participation in the energy sector of Nigeria, ​Ikpea was said to have visited the Holy See as part of his annual spiritual pilgrimage.
Ikpea is widely recognized not only for his outstanding contributions to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector but also for his unwavering commitment to the “Mother Church.”
It was also gathered that the Pontiff commended the businessman for his philanthropic contributions and sustained support for human development initiatives in Nigeria and beyond.
The New Diplomat reports that Chuef Ikpea, who is the Adolor of Ewatto, was born in Ewatto in Esan South East, Edo State, on December 19, 1956. He attended St. John’s Primary School in Ajamogha, Warri, in present-day Delta State.
He further added to his academic feathers when he bagged a degree in Owner-President Management Program from the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Chief Ikpea’s Lee Engineering Group is a foremost homegrown oil, gas, and power services company, performing extraordinary and commendable services in the Nigerian business environment.
Indeed, Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited, which is an indigenous company with offices in Warri, Benin, Abuja, and Portharcourt and headquartered in Lagos, has been in existence for over three decades.
The Lee Group 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.
