11 September 2014, Lagos – President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Mr. Igwe Achese, has been conferred with a Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, (Hon. D. Sc.) in Human Resources Management and leadership by the European-American University, Commonwealth of Dominica.
The honorary doctorate degree was bestowed on him by the university council for his outstanding contributions and performance as an industrial relations practitioner, a motivator, a human resource expert who believes in capacity building and infrastructural development.
Achese, born on August 22, 1965, attended Enito High School, Bokori, Port Harcourt, Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, and later University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He is a staff of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which he joined in 1991 till date and started his union activities as a representative of a branch at the committee level.
Achese served as chairman Port Harcourt Refinery Branch of NUPENG from 1998-2000.
He rose to become Port Harcourt Zonal chairman of NUPENG, 2005 deputy president of NUPENG, 2009 and later President of NUPENG, in December 4, 2009 National Trustee of NLC till date. Achese is an executive member of IndustrialAll Africa Region.
He has attended many courses at home and abroad including trade union Administrative and leadership workshop, National Labour College, Maryland USA in 2009, workshop on medication and skill acquisition, London, Great Britain.
The NUPENP President also attended a programme on negotiation at Harvard law School University of Harvard and has received several awards from some international organizations as a Cambridge, USA.
Others are on capacity building, mediation and conflict resolution workshop, Dubai, U.A.E ; seminar on contract and agency labour in Accra, Ghana in November, workshop on union growth strategies against the threats of casualization, Dakar, Senegal. European-American University
– Vanguard