Speech of the Right Hounourable Emmanuel Sinzohagera, senate speaker on the graduation day at the International Leadershi University

Mister Rector of the International Leadership University;

Dear representatives of the mayor of the district of Bujumbura;

Dear representative of the Ministry in charge of Education;

Dear comrades who are graduating today at this University;

Distinguished Guests, all protocols observed;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of those who are lucky to be graduating today and on my own behalf, let me praise the lord who blessed us with the ability of being alive today when we celebrate this very day, so long awaited, since we started our studies here. Let’s express our gratitude to the lord with applause!

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. This very day is a special one for me and my classmates as well as for this university. It is also an honour for the whole country since the graduation we are getting today will serve the whole nation.

• Just like a farmer who takes his time to turn over the soil where he will sow, and then waits for the harvest, we have also been waiting impatiently for this day and we take this opportunity to express our gratitude to those who created this educational institution, together with the teachers who did their utmost to graduate all this assembly gathered here today. Could you please help me applause them, as a way of expressing our thanks!

• We know very well that the contribution of private educational institutions is outstanding. You help the Government in its programmes of developing citizens throughout the knowledge that you give them as a university. Therefore, the Government is very grateful to you, and this is proved by bills that have been adopted with the objective of facilitating you in your missions. I do believe that all you will request in this field will be granted to you. You are called upon to give full and up-to-date knowledge and set up programmes which align with the UNPD.

• We urge private universities to comply with the rules in order to prevent the fact that parents spend their money paying school fees for their children in university which do not meet the criteria. In those respects, we urge the commission in charge with the management and follow-up of universities to process the approval reports of quickly. 

• As for us who got the graduations today, we have to be witnesses of our teachers who helped us reach this step. We will be ambassadors of this university so that when people see us perform our duties they should immediately seek to know where we studied. The honour of this institution will depend upon us, so we have to serve as good examples.

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

• The country needs intelligent and skillful leaders, and that is the reason why we are calling upon you leaders of this university to diversify faculties which meet with the current time, so that people who study here should serve the country usefully. Let us recall that in the coming days, Burundi will have a rail way, a reason why you should give your contribution in that field so that if we do not have drivers of the trains, we should at least get engineers who would repair them in case they break down. This was just an example among many others, and I am sure that you know what the country needs.

• I would like to ask all those who have projects of contributing in the education field to go ahead, provided that they comply with the law. We congratulate the Government of Burundi for their control of the sector of universities and we keep on calling upon them to make sure that those universities comply with the rules. This way, we will avoid the curse of some people who globally complain about bad quality of teachings, while most of our universities are adequate.

• To conclude, let me congratulate once again all those who have just got their degrees today, and I am part of them. I wish that we should go ahead since the world has become a village. We may carry on with our studies in whatever domain we wish, wherever we want. We need higher degrees which should enable us to be competitive with students from the East African Community. Moreover, this will be an opportunity for us to initiate projects related to job creation as much as the Government cannot have jobs for everyone. I once more thank our educators and the university with its administration for their effort to provide students with acceptable knowledge. Thank you for going on contributing to the development of this country, and we know that it is your concern!         

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

GOD BLESS YOU!