BY SHALLON S. GONLOR | shallonsgonlor@gmail.com
NIMBA COUNTY, Liberia — Nimba University’s 9th Associate and 1st Bachelor’s convocation speaker, Madam Kou Meapeh Gono, has charged graduates to turn their degrees into tangible impact. Madam Gono, the 24th Superintendent of Nimba County, urged the new graduates to become “expressive problem-solvers, not expressive complainers” in addressing Liberia’s unemployment challenges.
On Saturday, June 20, 2026, Nimba University formally graduated 235 candidates who met the university’s academic benchmark. Held at Tubman Hall in Sanniquellie, Nimba County, the ceremony marked the university’s 9th graduation for associate degree programs and its first conferral of bachelor’s degrees.
The graduates included 66 bachelor’s degree recipients and 169 associate degree recipients. Of the bachelor’s graduates, 52 were male and 14 were female. For associate degrees, 90 were male and 79 were female. In total, 142 male and 93 female graduates received degrees, marking another milestone in the university’s commitment to expanding access to higher education in the region.
Technical and vocational education, TVET, candidates were also awarded diplomas. Founded in 2010 in Sanniquellie, Nimba University is one of Liberia’s premier public higher education institutions. It offers bachelor’s and associate degrees across six colleges: Business and Public Administration, Engineering and Geosciences, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Agriculture and Food Sciences, and Education.
During her keynote address on the theme “From Degree to Impact,” Supt. Gono said a degree is not just a certificate to hang on the wall, but a tool, a responsibility, and a license to create opportunities where none exist. She admonished the newest graduates to transform their academic training into innovation, entrepreneurship, and community service. Liberia’s development, she emphasized, depends on young professionals who identify gaps in health, education, agriculture, and technology, then build solutions instead of waiting for government jobs.
Supt. Gono’s speech conveyed four key messages for a successful Liberian, highlighting character and attitude, problem-solvers and builders instead of professional complainers, education aligned with opportunity, and opportunities for young men and women. The university’s 9th commencement speaker told graduates that qualifications alone are not enough. “A degree certifies what you learn, but character determines how far you go. The job market does not only rewards competence, but it also rewards integrity. Employers are looking beyond your transcript.”
Supt. Gono challenged graduates to live with purpose, integrity, and to do the right thing when no one is clapping. “Punctuality is not punishment. Discipline is not oppression. Accountability is not an inconvenience. These are the qualities that make people valuable. Degrees without these attributes become framed certificates hanging on walls with little impact on society.”
She stressed that how people conduct themselves in public service matters, how they treat public and institutional property matters, and how they manage entrusted resources matters. “Public office is not ownership, but stewardship.” “Everybody talks and complains about the problems, but very few people dedicate themselves to solving them,” she said, challenging graduates not to become experts in complaints, but experts in solutions.
“For too long, Liberia has produced graduates who left the university but refused to leave behind the mentality of endless criticism. She noted that Liberia does not need educated militants. It needs educated problem-solvers. It does not need more professional critics, but it needs builders.” “History has never remembered those who merely identified problems. History remembers those who solved them. The bridge builder is remembered. The inventor is remembered. The reformer is remembered. The servant leader is remembered.” Supt. Gono urged Liberians to choose to be remembered for the solutions they provide.
Nimba University’s 9th Associate and 1st Bachelor’s convocation ceremony was attended by the Chairman and members of the university Board of Trustees, the President and administration of Nimba University, faculty and staff, the Nimba County Legislative Caucus, distinguished guests, parents, and family members. Over the weekend, Sanniquellie City was electric with joy as 235 graduates celebrated academic excellence. Yet the celebration masks a growing fear about Liberia’s tight job market offers few openings for the newly credentialed.
At Sunday’s Baccalaureate service at Harvest Intercontinental Ministries, graduates voiced deep frustration over persistent youth unemployment. Some bluntly described degrees without job opportunities as “useless.” “It’s painful to study for years, sacrifice sleep and money, then graduate into uncertainty,” one student said. “We’re grateful for the education, but a degree feels useless when there’s no work to apply it.”
