DATE: SATURDAY, 26TH APRIL 2025

VENUE: FARABA BANTA CAMPUS

Honourable Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology,

Other Cabinet Ministers Present,

Honourable Members of the National Assembly,

Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps,

Venerable Religious Leaders,

Chairperson and Members of the University of The Gambia (UTG) Governing Council,

The Vice Chancellor and Senate,

Distinguished Vice-Chancellors and Scholars from other Universities,

The Governor of the West Coast Region,

Chiefs and Alkalolu,

Esteemed UTG Staff, Graduands, and Students

Parents, Guardians, and Well-wishers,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Entering a university always brings a unique feeling of joy for those who value and love knowledge. It is a feeling that reminds us of the significance of education and the never-ending role it plays in shaping our lives.

With this awareness and a special sense of association with the UTG, it is my immense pleasure to preside over this (17th) seventeenth convocation ceremony. Together, we are here to celebrate the achievements of the 2024 class and the enduring legacy of The University of The Gambia. That is not all! We are here to honour academic excellence, while promoting reflection on the transformative initiatives reshaping our nation’s educational landscape. This landscape empowers our youth with citizenship skills, employability skills, and entrepreneurial skills.

Before proceeding, I must congratulate the graduating class and their parents, families, and well-wishers on the successes registered by the illustrious graduands before us. Hearty congratulations to all of you!

For the eminent UTG faculty and staff, today marks another joyous recognition of your dedication to duty, hard work, and sacrifice. We appreciate you profoundly for patiently teaching, mentoring, guiding, and nurturing the students being honoured today.

As Head of State and Chancellor, I express deep gratitude to all of you for your unwavering commitment to the nation. Extendedly, this includes the personnel and associates of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology. The theme you have chosen for this momentous occasion, Reorienting Our Tertiary and Higher Education Landscape to Empower the Youth with Employability and Entrepreneurship Skills, resonates deeply with our national development agenda.

Globally, youth unemployment remains a pressing challenge. In 2024, for instance, twenty-five percent (25%) of young unemployed persons were reported to have been part of the driving force behind irregular migration, with their potential untapped for productive engagement.

In The Gambia, we are now reversing the trend effectively. Through the Recovery-focused National Development Plan - YIRIWA (2023-2027) and The Gambia TVET Policy (2021–2030), we are gradually bridging the gap between education and employment.

We are ensuring that our graduates are not dependent job seekers but productive, dependable, and independent job creators. To facilitate and sustain this, my government will remain actively committed to expanding access to quality education and skills training across the country.

Eminent scholars, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, allow me to highlight a few recent ground-breaking developments within the tertiary and higher education sector. One is the completion of the Mansa Konko Multi-purpose Skills Centre, and another is the near completion of the Multi-purpose Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Centre of Excellence in Wassu, Central River Region (CRR) North.

A centre of excellence for agri-business in Pacharr, CRR South, and a similar Fisheries and Aquaculture centre will soon be constructed in Tujereng. In addition, the contracts to renovate Julangel TVET Centre have been signed for works to commence shortly.

My government has also initiated discussions with our Chinese counterparts, through the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in The Gambia, for the establishment of a Luban Workshop.

The Luban Workshop model, which has been successfully implemented in other African countries, will provide hands-on training in areas of high demand, such as renewable energy, agricultural technology, and digital manufacturing.

The University of Science, Engineering, and Technology (USET) in Brikama is now set to inaugurate its state-of-the-art campus to produce homegrown engineers in mechanical, civil, and electrical or electronic engineering.

This milestone is made possible with the support of eighteen (18) Nigerian university professors, now part of USET’s faculty. We are grateful to them and to the Government and People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for this.

Concurrently, The Gambia College is transitioning into the University of Education and the Management Development Institute into the Civil Service University to diversify opportunities, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and public administration.

I am proud to announce that, following the completion of Lot One of the UTG Project, the seven-storey Chancery Building, the Faculty of Law, and the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences will be inaugurated in December 2025. Together with this, we will lay the foundation stone for Lot Three, which incorporates the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences and capacity-building programmes for lecturers.

In a historic move, Cabinet has approved the integration of Madrassah education into mainstream tertiary and higher education, with emphasis on TVET and STEM. This is to ensure that no Gambian youth is left behind.

As some of you know, my government recently launched the first-ever Skills, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Fund, which is a four-hundred-million-Dalasi (GMD400 million) initiative to support both public and private TVET centres, student stipends, fees, and start-up costs. The Fund has been acknowledged as a game-changer for youth economic empowerment.

Turning attention to the Graduate Employment Scheme, it is pleasing that, in collaboration with UNDP, UNFPA, and the National Youth Service Scheme, we are scaling up internships and professional development programmes nationwide. All these will have a lasting impact on reorienting the education landscape to boost youth empowerment for employability and innovative entrepreneurial leadership roles. Despite these strides, I assure you that we will continue to do better. Education and its benefits are boundless, so must investments in it be unbounded.

Graduands, with all these and our national development agenda in mind, as you step outside the UTG grounds, remember that you are the architects of The Gambia’s future.

Do not carry your certificates into the world of work merely as moral boosters; rather, with them, proudly discharge your much-expected responsibility of innovating, creating, and leading. The challenges of unemployment and migration are truly daunting, but your potential is limitless and able to transform any challenge into an opening for success and progress.

The wise would argue that the future is not an imaginary structure we enter but a world we build for ourselves and those around us. Whether you pursue your professional careers as engineers, educators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, or something else, let the warm rays of your light shine brightly, far and wide.

That light would warm countless hearts and homes, kindle and fulfil hopes and aspirations for successive generations to come, and proudly leave behind a lasting trail wherever you go. The world awaits your brilliance; therefore, go forth, be bold, and make your mark on the world. Once more, I congratulate you.

God bless us all.