Nuusita Ashipala
Ongwediva-Vice-President and Chancellor of the University of Namibia Nangolo Mbumba has appealed to the 610 new graduates that received their degrees from the four northern campuses to use the knowledge gained during their studies to address the developmental challenges facing the country.
He said graduates should serve the country on the principles of truth, justice and good morals and make beneficial decisions for the country and their personal well-being.
“In many of these areas you will be faced with shortages of amenities and other essentials,” he stressed.
Mbumba was speaking at the third University of Namibia graduation ceremony yesterday for the northern campuses of Hifikepunye Pohamba, José Eduardo dos Santos, Ogongo and Oshakati.
He expressed the hope that the graduates will become productive contributors to the socio-economic development of Namibia and the national agenda of poverty eradication.
Mbumba further said Namibia needs more patriotic citizens with a pioneering spirit, and who are self-driven, self-disciplined, focussed and resourceful like the graduates at the graduation ceremony in order to build the country and place it among the league of developing countries.
“Dear graduands, you have chosen not to concentrate on the adverse socio-economic conditions and the resources which you may have been lacking, but have seized the moment and the opportunity and demonstrated you can execute projects, despite the challenges and shortcomings,” he said.
He said he was aware of the challenges students face, including the lack of accommodation. He appealed to students to show maturity and find solutions.
Mbumba was impressed by Unam’s commitment and positive attitude shown towards the achievement of quality education by the university’s local stakeholders in education.
“Please keep up the good work and the positive attitude, and as we can see today, success will most certainly follow such efforts,” he said.
Currently the four northern campuses have a student population of 4,530.