Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for scholarships for talented African youths who are disadvantaged by low incomes.
Jonathan made the call in his remarks during the 11th graduation ceremony of the Cavendish University Uganda (CUU), Kampala.
Jonathan, who is the Chancellor of the University, in his remarks made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday, assured the University of his continued support.
“We will continue to focus on removing barriers to access to higher education for many African youths who are talented but disadvantaged by low incomes.
“We will therefore need to look for scholarships for the talented but poor youths, even if it means connecting them to loan schemes where they can pay later,” Jonathan said.
The former Nigeria president also advocated for collaboration between academia and industry within the African continent to address some of the challenges facing the region.
“We need to engage industry across the region and the continent with a view to creating meaningful and productive academia-industry partnerships.
“This will work better if the academia supports the industry with action research to strengthen production, distribution, and marketing while industry supports the university.”
Jonathan commended the CUU leadership’s efforts to surpass the school’s pre-pandemic performance at a time when other universities were still struggling to recover from the effects of COVID-19.
He also commended CUU’s collaboration with other universities and institutions, saying “I know this leads to an exchange of ideas and creation of opportunities for students and faculty in the collaborating institutions.
“Progressive institutions know that collaboration is better than the competition; and that there is a lot we can do together to take our universities to greater heights.”
Jonathan who congratulated the 2022 class graduands and their parents, also advised the students to embrace success.
“To succeed, you must be intentional in embracing success, anchor habits such as time management, planning and executing your plans, continuous learning and reflection.”
He urged them to be Committed to excellence, take personal care to avoid causes of preventable diseases or death, and network with other resourceful persons. He said:
“It is important you develop big goals and a determination to realize them.
“Understand that what differentiates the powerful from the powerless in the 21st Century is the mindset.
“The powerful have understood that they can create a lifestyle they desire.
“They are driven from within; they apply relevant wisdom to fill gaps and solve challenges of society. They are able to do all these because they utilise the power of their mind.
“Today’s accomplishment is already a sign that you can achieve more if you continue to work hard. You have no excuse to fail.
“I charge you to go out and change the world beginning with your person, families and communities.”
