President Julius Maada Bio has, on Friday, 17th March, 2023, told academics at the Njala University that as a leader, you must sacrifice your personal gratification and make bold choices by weighing costs and measuring abiding impact so as to serve others.
He made this statement after receiving the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, from the Njala University at Mokonde town, Kori Chiefdom, in the Moyamba District.
“This great nation has been very kind to me. It has given me opportunities to lead. It has inspired me to think critically about the many challenges it perpetually throws at all of us. With the right mindset, right leadership, and right policies, I have been thrilled by the transformation of the education sector over the last five years,” he said after receiving the honorary doctorate degree.
“As a young soldier in my twenties, I opted for the difficult choice of engaging sub-regional leaders to facilitate the ferreting-out of the Revolutionary United Front leader, Corporal Foday Sankoh. I initiated a peace process, conducted democratic elections, voluntarily retired from the military, handed over power to a civilian government, and left this country,” he told his audience who were mainly academics.
He said what he was doing for education was simply the actualization of the dreams of a bare-footed five-year old orphan in Tiihun – a boy, encouraged by his illiterate mother, Yei Amie, to explore and participate in the life-changing, nation-changing experience of education.
“It is the outcome of several hours of critical thinking about how we can get education right and reap its unceasing, sustained, and endless benefit for our nation. So the honour today is important; but the heritage I leave behind for generations of all learners and for this nation in particular is more important for me,” he said.
President Bio said he therefore humbly accepted the honorary doctorate degree that Njala University kindly bestowed on him, knowing that it was both a recognition of what he has done and a challenge for him to do more.
Vice Chancellor and Principal of Njala University, Prof. Bashiru Mohamed Koroma, thanked President Bio for accepting the honorary doctorate degree, adding that they also appreciated the unwavering support they continued to enjoy from the Bio-led government.
He said under President Bio’s leadership they have received two 500KVA generators for both their campuses in Towama in the Bo district and Mokonde in the Moyamba district.
He disclosed that they have also benefited from a 150kilowatts solar energy for the hospital on Njala University campus, which has actually helped them greatly.
