Sanniquellie City, Nimba County — In a short but powerful address at Nimba County University’s 9th Commencement Convocation on Saturday, June 20, Kou Meapeh Gono, Superintendent of Nimba County, urged the graduating Class of 2026 to turn their academic achievements into meaningful service for the County and the nation.
The convocation, held on a sunlit morning on the Administrative Hall in Sanniquellie City, Nimba County, drew trustees, faculty, staff, families and government and civic leaders. Rows of graduates in caps and gowns filled the open-air assembly ground, while proud relatives leaned forward in anticipation.
Flowers and banners declaring the ceremony’s theme: “From Degrees to Impact: Building Nimba Through Discipline, Purpose, and Excellence” added bright color to the scene.
Superintendent Gono opened with a moment of sober reflection for the late Nelson K. Korquoi, a former county superintendent and respected local leader.
Supt. Gono praised Korquoi’s decades of public service and said his passing served as a reminder that “leadership is temporary, but service leaves footprints that outlive us.”
Many in the audience bowed their heads during the brief tribute.
Supt. Gono told the crowd he would keep his remarks short, joking that many commencement speeches test the audience’s patience and explained that she had accepted the invitation despite observing a private day of remembrance for her late mother, a family ritual observed each June 20.
She said the day’s personal significance and her obligations as County superintendent compelled her to attend. Addressing the convocation theme, Supt. Gono delivered four central messages.
First, she warned that academic qualifications alone are insufficient without character and discipline. “A degree certifies what you know. But character determines how far you go,” she told graduates, stressing integrity, punctuality, accountability and stewardship as essential qualities for public servants.
She cautioned that degrees without these attributes risk becoming “framed certificates hanging on walls with little impact on society.”
Secondly, Supt. Gono challenged graduates to move beyond complaint and become constructive builders.
“Our country does not need educated militants. It needs educated problem-solvers,” she said, urging them to be remembered for solutions whether as bridge builders, inventors or reformers.
Her words drew applause from the audience, and several graduates nodded, as if accepting the call to action. Thirdly, she urged that education be aligned with local opportunities.
Highlighting Nimba County’s natural wealth, including high-grade iron ore and expansive tracts of arable land, Supt. Gono argued that human capacity must accompany resource wealth for prosperity to follow.
She encouraged Nimba University to develop a strong identity by prioritizing disciplines tied to the county’s comparative advantages, naming geologists, mining engineers and environmental scientists as areas of priority.
She raised an alarm about low enrollment in critical departments: “If we fail to prepare our own people, others will prepare theirs and manage what rightfully belongs to us.”
Meanwhile, Supt. Gono called on government, the private sector and development partners to collaborate in creating meaningful opportunities for graduates so that “talent should not die because opportunity is absent.”
She argued that the day of graduation should not be followed by prolonged hopelessness, nor should young people spend years “carrying degrees from office to office searching for a breakthrough.”
Her appeal sought to bridge the gap between classroom training and workplace application, urging coordinated action to absorb fresh graduates into productive roles.
Supt. Gono also commended past and present county administrations for their budgetary and institutional support to Nimba University and she pledged continued financial backing to help the institution become more competitive.
She described plans to strengthen links between the university and local industries, suggesting internships, technical partnerships and scholarship programs to connect students with practical experience.
Throughout her remarks, Supt. Gono stressed moral virtues alongside technical skills, urging the new alumni to choose discipline, integrity, excellence, service and solutions over excuses, shortcuts, mediocrity, selfishness and complaint.
“Success is not measured by how much money you make. Success is measured by how much difference you make,” she said, prompting another round of applause and several audible affirmations from family members seated nearby.
The convocation concluded with warm congratulations and blessings for Nimba University, Nimba County and the Republic of Liberia.
Graduates dispersed afterward into bright afternoon light, many stopping to take photographs on the Administrative Hall lawns and to embrace family members, carrying both degree and the superintendent’s challenge to turn their degrees into tangible impact for their communities.
