On Thursday, October 25, 2018, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of State, Petroleum Resources, was conferred with the honorary citizenship of the States of Georgia and South Carolina in the United States, following an event organised by the state of Georgia to honour the minister. The event which held at Georgia State Capitol in the state capital of Atlanta had in attendance the top brass of the legislative arm of the state which included Donzella James, a senator, Georgia State Senate; Billy Mitchell, vice president, National Black Caucus of State, legislators, Erica Thomas, member Georgia House of Representatives, John Richard King, Chair South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, Dee Dawkins-Haigler amongst others.

While speaking at the conferment of the honorary citizenship on Kachikwu, Dee Dawkins-Haigler, the chair emeritus, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, stated that the conferment was in recognition of Kachikwu’s indelible strides and outstanding achievements recorded in Oil and Gas globally especially during his time as president of the Oil Producers Exporting Countries and also for institutionalising transparency in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Sector.

Following the completion of the conferment of the citizenship of the State of Georgia, John Richard King, chair, South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, who represented the state of South Carolina, went further to highlight the humanitarian strides that the minister had made in Nigeria which gave rise to his recognition by the state of South Carolina who through their representative conferred on minister of State, the Honorary Citizenship of South Carolina. Both states presented the symbolic keys to the states to Dr. Kachikwu as a further affirmation of the honorary citizenship of both states respectively.

In rounding up the event for the day, Kachikwu was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree, Humane Letters, Honoris Causa by the Trinity International University of Ambassadors. The robing ceremony and presentation of certificate was performed by Dr. Jaqueline Mohair, founder & chancellor of the University.

In response to the multiple awards, Kachikwu expressed his gratitude to Buhari for granting him the opportunity to keep serving the nation and also for the support and confidence he has shown him in ensuring that his deliverables are met and the set objectives in the Oil and Gas sector are always achieved. He further pledged to always portray our Nigeria in the best light on the global scene.

As part of the minister’s trip to the United States, he also chaired the Nigerian Oil and Gas Core Strategic Investors’ Meeting held on Wednesday October 24, 2018, in Atlanta, Georgia. The gathering had in attendance, chief executive officers and core investors drawn from some of the top Oil and Gas companies and corporations operating in the United States.

Kachikwu and his team comprised of the permanent secretary and heads of agencies under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources had the opportunity of pitching the investment opportunities in key focus areas including but not limited to Gas Flare bid rounds, Modular Refineries, Domestication of LPG and Oil & Gas Infrastructural revamp especially in the midstream and downstream. Some of the investors expressed optimism about investing in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector with further correspondence to be handled through the offices of respective heads of Agencies in attendance at the investors’ forum.

– Oct. 29, 2018 @ 14:55 GMT |