By Oscar Nkem
Renowned environmental activist, Nnimmo Bassey, has been honored with a doctorate by the University of York, United Kingdom, with other 14 global leaders in various fields.
Bassey, who is the Chairman of the Board of Environmental Rights Action and Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), was honored along with Game of Thrones star, Mark Addy, photojournalist, Lynsey Addario; video game designer, Charles Cecil; paediatrician, Professor Diana Gibb; historian, Professor Catherine Hall; and biologist and Nobel Prize winner, Richard Henderson, among others, at the institution’s Central Hall.
Others are engineer and entrepreneur, Professor Irwin Jacobs; Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University, Dr Ronald Kaplan; survival expert and TV presenter, Ray Mears; children’s author, Sir Michael Morpurgo; Professor of Physics at Michigan State University, Witold Nazarewicz; CEO of Smith & Nephew, Sir Christopher O’Donnell; economist, Professor Dani Rodrik; and President of Xiamen University, China, Professor Rong Zhang.
In a statement in Lagos by ERA/FoEN Head of Media & Campaigns, Philip Jakpor, the group said that the recognition of Nnimmo Bassey by the York University is well deserved given his contributions to environmental human rights causes in Nigeria and the global sphere.
Part of the statement reads: “His recognition for us is well-deserved and commendable. The honorary degree adds to a list of other recognitions that Bassey has received in the last decade. In 2009 he was named “Hero of the Environment” by Time Magazine for his advocacy that made inhabitants of the Niger Delta know their rights, the infringements of the oil companies and the Nigerian authorities and why they should be held responsible. In 2010, he was conferred the Rights Livelihood Award “for revealing the full and ecological human horrors of oil production”.
Bassey led the ERA/FoEN from 1993 to 2013 and has served as chair of Friends of the Earth International, the world’s largest grassroots environmental network.
He is currently the executive director of the ecological think-tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).