ABUJA—Barely eight days to the African Development Bank election, one of the contestants and Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesinia, has been honoured by his Alma Mater, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, in the United States, with an honorary Doctor of Agriculture Degree.

The Minister was honoured along with another alumnus, William “Bill” Dudley Jr., president and CEO of the Bechtel Group, who got Doctor of Engineering degree.

Both Adesina and Dudley are Purdue alumni.

While conferring the award on Adesina, the President of Purdue University, Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. paid glowing tributes to Adesina for his exemplary performance as a minister, which earned him recognition as one of the honourees.

Dr. Adesina, who was honoured in the College of Agriculture of the prestigious institution, gave a lecture on lessons to be learnt from the Nigerian agricultural transformation.

The Dean of the college, Dr. Jay T. Akridge, commended the Minister for deploying his intellect into transforming agriculture under his watch as a minister. He said the college was proud that one of its alumni had lived up to its expectations.

In his presentation, Dr. Adesina underscored the importance of inclusive growth in agriculture, which has taken a turn for the better under his watch as a minister.