Dele Momodu, on Saturday July 30, 2016 bagged an Honorary Doctorate Degree
(Honoris Causa) from the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA).
The event, which was graced by His Excellency, President John Dramani
Mahama of Ghana, took place at the university’s campus in Accra. The award
of Momodu’s Honorary Doctorate degree also marked the commemoration of the
institution’s 8th Congregation Ceremony.
The university management said it selected Momodu in recognition of his
outstanding contributions to the world of business, politics, literature
and the media industry as well as his dogged commitment towards projecting
the best of Africa to the world.
Delivering a speech after he was decorated by the University’s
Pro-Chancellor, HRM Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, Momodu who was the sole
honoree for the year 2016 and the first non-Ghanaian, thanked the
University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joshua Alabi and the Governing Council
of UPSA for singling him out for such a great honour. He recalled with
nostalgia, his first contact with Ghana exactly twenty-one years ago when
he fled Nigeria under the brutal dictatorship of the late General Sani
Abacha for exile in the United Kingdom. “I succeeded in crossing through a
smugglers’ route into Cotonou, Benin Republic. I was too scared to stay
too long in Cotonou and so decided to meander my way to Lome, Togo. Since
I couldn’t speak any smattering of French, my best and ultimate
destination was Ghana. I crossed the border at Aflao and waltzed my way to
Accra that evening… I departed Ghana on the night of July 28, 1995, and
landed at London Gatwick on July 29. Ghana remained permanently etched in
my mind. I dreamt of a day I would be able to return to the tranquility of
Accra.”
In his speech at the event, President of Ghana, His Excellency, John
Dramani Mahama cited three reasons why he decided to attend the 8th
Congregation Ceremony of UPSA, one of which he said was to honour Momodu
whom he described as a great journalist and a respected African
personality. “My third reason for being here this morning is to honour a
great journalist and a respected African personality in the person of
Chief Dele Momodu. I do this for his outstanding contribution to both
national and international discourse, his strong personality, his vision,
his perseverance and his strength in the face of adversity.”
The University of Professional Studies (formerly known as Institute of
Professional Studies) was founded in 1965 as a private professional
business education tuition provider. The university was the first and is
still the only public institution with the mandate to offer both academic
degrees and provide training for higher professional education in Ghana.
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