Don’t Exploit The People With Your Education–UL Keynote Speaker Tells GraduatesFendall, Louisiana, September 17, 2024 | The University of Liberia today continued the 104th Commencement Convocation, with 878 graduates conferred undergraduate degrees in various disciplines.Those who graduated on day two Tuesday, September 17, 2024, were from the William R. Tolbert College of Agriculture & Forestry, the Thomas J.R. Faulkner College of Science, the College of Engineering, and the David A. Straz-Sinje Vocational and Technical College.A total of 878 graduates received conferral of degrees pending the issuance of their diplomas in the coming days.They include 417 graduates from the Thomas J. R. Faulkner College of Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change; 292 from the William R. Tolbert, Jr., College of Agriculture and Forestry; 137 from the College of Engineering; and 32 from the David A. Straz-Sinje Technical and Vocational College, totaling 878.The week-long graduation exercise commenced in Fendall on Monday during which the Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities, William V.S. Tubman College of Education, and the College Gender Studies and Interdisciplinary Research – put out 330 graduates.At Tuesday’s event, Liberian Medical Doctor and Bio-medical Research Scientist, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, who heads the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), delivered the keynote address.In his address, Dr. Nyan challenged the graduates to use Science for innovation, and not for exploitation. He urged them to use their knowledge in Agriculture and Forestry to feed the people, and to use their Engineering knowledge to build good structurally sound bridges, roads, and homes.“The Liberia we seek and discuss daily is only possible when you use your education for the good of the people and not to exploit them,” Dr. Nyan stated.“So, when you leave here, become critical thinkers, become problem-solvers. Provide solutions to our complex problems, be the change maker that Liberia desperately needs.”The one-time student advocate for democracy believes that addressing Liberia’s problems requires critical thinking.“Addressing our country’s problems requires us to think critically; to think deeper, and that is why the College of Science and Technology, the College of Agriculture, Sinje College, Engineering College, and all other colleges within the walls of the university are teaching you,” said Dr. Nyan.He described the graduates as Liberia’s future, but at the same time called on them to refine their attitudes and behavior and to work with honesty and integrity.While acknowledging that knowledge is power, Dr. Nyan noted that it can be humanized and can also be demonized.He stated that the degrees that the graduates have earned are not just a testimony of their work, but a call to national service, and an obligation to act in the best interest of society and to improve human lives.“I’m letting you know some of these things so that you don’t repeat some of the past and present generational mistakes,” Dr. Nyan continued.He lamented that Liberia has suffered too much for too long, and the country is continuously bleeding as a result.“Yes, we have fought colonialism, we have fought the exploitation of multi-national companies in our country and on the continent; we have fought human rights abuses. What is intriguing is how we can fight the blame game,” Dr. Nyan indicated.According to Dr. Nyan,, the success of the graduates will not be measured by just their professional achievement, but the integrity with which they conduct themselves and their profession.In short, Dr. Nyan said, Liberia is hungrily in need of professionals guided by ethics, compassion, and commitment to do good.At the start of his address, he recalled his days of advocacy for democracy while a student at the University of Liberia,, in the Science College decades ago.Under Liberia’s military government, Dr. Nyan explained that along with other students, he was expelled from the Science College, preventing him from obtaining a degree from the college.He disclosed that he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and forced into exile by the military government.Despite his ordeals, Dr. Nyan said he could claim to be alumnus of the University of Liberia because he sat in the labs, rode the bus from the UL Capitol Hill campus to Fendall, and ate a famous student food center jovially called “404.”In remarks, Acting UL President Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh said the University is proud of all the 878students graduating out of the halls of the great Lux in Tenebris (Light in Darkness).Dr. Conteh has announced an Integrated Opportunities Deployment Exercise (IODS) for graduates. This program, he noted, will vouch for and recommend highly qualified scientists, agriculturists, and engineers who are prepared to contribute their quota to development nationally and internationally. “Following this Convocation, we will put in place a plan to recommend them for absorption in the national, regional (especially ECOWAS), and international markets,” he disclosed.The Acting UL President further gave special thanks to their y parents, sponsors, guardians, and family members who have, over the years, provided the necessary support and encouragement to the students during their years of preparation to acquire knowledge and contribute to the growth and development of Liberia and the world at large. “We want you to know that your efforts will not be in vain. To all candidates for degrees today, as you are conferred and hooded today, I urge you to go and be the agriculturists that Liberia needs, be the scientists that Liberia needs, be the engineers that Liberia needs, and be those skillful scientists that can combine your hands and mind to make the difference in our one World,” Dr. Conteh charged the graduates. He also gave a special appreciation to the Convocation speaker, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, describing him as a renowned Liberian scientist of international repute who took time off from his busy schedule to address the occasion.“We extend special gratitude to Professor Wole Soboyejo, a widely respected scientist in mechanical and materials engineering and current President of the State University of New York Polytechnic, who has joined us today.”