By Harris Emanuel
Honour at the weekend came the way of Dr. Uwem Effing Ite, Lead, Government and Community Relations, Oriental Energy Resources Limited, a leading indigenous oil Giant.
This came as the Nigerian Optometric Association, Àkwa Ibom State chapter bestowed a humanitarian service award on him in recognition of his impactful services to humanity.
The well attended dinner and award night was filled with glitz and glamour and it had as its theme, 2023: Extending the frontiers -The exceptional eye-care providers, while a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Dr. Elijah Chinawa presented the keynote address.
Chairman of the state chapter, Dr. Idongesit Paul, in a welcome address applauded members of the association for contributing significantly to the “progress, unity, and promoting our Noble profession”, even as he also thumbed up the awardees for their “outstanding contributions to the growth and progress of the state.”
Responding, Dr. Ite lavished praises on the association for the gesture which he said came as a pleasant surprise to him.
“I feel a little bit surprise because I didn’t see it coming. I am humbled in the sense that they thought it is important to recognize and appreciate the works I have been doing”, he said.
In the trajectory of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the name of Dr. Ite can easily be located as he pioneering efforts in CSR have earned him several accolades across the globe.
Blessed with an infectious smiles and a subtle carriage, Dr. Ite comes across like a mythical genie. Never a boisterous person, he is cool, calm and organized, with characteristics geniality and attitude of fellow feeling.
A man of prodigious intellect, deep thinking, pragmatism, and enviable modesty, an encounter with him strengthen and reassures.
Asked what really spurred him to do what he is doing, he said: “I’m driven by what I see as the significant lack of development and more importantly, poverty. The reason I am driven by this is because of my post graduate training at the University of Cambridge where we were exposed to the reason for poverty especially in the developing countries.
“And it became clear that there is always a gap which government needs to fill. Some of them don’t live up their social responsibility and that is why I became interested in Corporate Social Responsibility with the vision that government has failed the people in this country.
“So, if a company needs to support the Society, somebody has to champion it, because without a champion, companies would not be able to achieve what they want to do within the context of CSR.
‘So, that is where the motivation comes from , to be able to champion the tool that the companies can use to reach those who may be disadvantaged in the scheme of things.”
On his achievement in CSR, I have achieved a lot in that regard both in theory and practice. From the theoretical point of view, I have written quite a number of academic and technical papers in CSR and most of the papers are widely cited by a lot of academics and scholars in the subjects.
“On that basis, I was given an award in 2015 as the CSR Practitioner of the Year. As I am speaking, óne of my students is a Professor and Dean of Faculty in Canada. He was my PhD student and he did CSR research when I was at Lancaster University.
“ From the practical point of view, my eleven years in Shell and five in Oriental Energy have given me creative programs and projects that are benefiting the communities in which these companies are operating. So, there are quite significant achievements.”
Do you derive Joy from championing CSR, he was asked, he responded in the affirmative saying, “Yes, when I see the smiles on the faces of f beneficiaries.”
Dr Ite , an indigene of Ikot Obio Odongo, Ibesikpo Asutan LGA, Akwa Ibom State, graduated from the University of Cross River State, now University of Uyo, in 1989 with a First Class (Honours) degree in Geography and Regional Planning.
He undertook his postgraduate studies (MPhil and PhD) at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom on the subject of Environment and Sustainable Development, based on a full scholarship award by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust from 1991 to 1995.
On completion of his studies in Cambridge, he was appointed as Lecturer in Human Geography at Lancaster University, United Kingdom, where he made significant contributions to teaching, research, administration as well as international visibility 1995 to 2006.
He was also instrumental to the establishment and became the UK Coordinator of the 3-year academic research and development link programme between Lancaster University and University of Uyo,
Outside the academic environment, Dr. Uwem Ite is an internationally recognized sustainability and external relations professional in the oil and gas industry. The journey started in 2006 when he was head-hunted and appointed as Sustainable Development Coordinator by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC).
His other roles in Shell Nigeria include Team Leader, Audit Compliance, Monitoring and Evaluation; Team Lead, Information, Education, Communication and Capacity Building as well as External Relations Adviser (Non-Technical Risks Integration).
Between 2006 and 2017, Dr Ite made significant contributions to the success of Shell business in many spheres.
Dr. Ite joined Oriental Energy Resources Limited in 2017 as Head, Community and Government Relations. During the last five years at Oriental Energy, he has worked assiduously to ensure that Oriental Energy’s social investments and stakeholder relations are in line with international best practices.
This is evident in the outcome of various projects and programs implemented by Oriental Energy in Akwa Ibom State from 2018 till date.
He is a recipient of several awards and recognitions. For example, during the 2015 edition of the Social Enterprise Report and Awards ceremony held in Lagos, the panelists recognized Dr Ite’s pioneering contributions to corporate responsibility in Nigeria.
He was named Nigeria’s Corporate Social Responsibility Practitioner of the year. Furthermore, in early 2022, Dr. Ite was nominated and inducted as a Fellow of the Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria, which is affiliated with the Institute of Corporate and Social Responsibility in the United Kingdom.
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