The keynote speaker of the 72nd Graduating Class of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), Tomah Seh Floyd, has urged the graduates to use their minds and hands wisely to impact society.
He told them that discipline, humility, as well as commitment, are the cardinal factors to success, which leads to the achievement of goals.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Jungle Water Group made the statement when he delivered the Joint Commencement Convocation Address on BWI Campus during the weekend in Kakata, Margibi County.
Floyd, who admonished the students to venture into entrepreneurship, observed, “You can open a mechanical garage, electrical, as well as carpentry shops, restaurants, or even make gardens, amongst others.”
The renowned Liberian businessman encouraged members of the 2022/2023 Graduating Class ‘Deus Facit’ to prudently use the skills and knowledge they acquired to help solve some of Liberia’s unemployment problems in the society.
“Don’t be a job seeker, rather, be an employer so that the people can feel the positive impact of your achievements,” Floyd stated.
Using his story to inspire the graduates, the CEO of the Jungle Water Group explained that his desire to pursue tertiary education upon graduation from BWI during the 80s was thwarted due to the outbreak of the Liberian civil war.
He told his audience that without a beginning capital, he opened a little table market in a bid to sustain himself and later ventured into the sector that grew the business at which time he opened shops, stores, and five-bedroom guest houses.
He continued that self-determination and trust have hugely transformed that little table market into a huge business establishment, comprising of the Jungle Water Group, the Jungle Energy Power (JEP), an electricity distribution company operation in Nimba and Bong Counties supplying over 16,000 homes, including Institutions like Arcelor Mittal Liberia, Cuttington University (CU), as well as Phebe Hospital and the Central Agricultural Research Institute in Bong County.
He explained that the group has over US$7m of assets of inventory in the country that is presently providing employment opportunities to some youths, including middle-aged individuals, reminding the graduates that success of the company didn’t come on a silver platter, but through sustained hard work.
Floyd explained that there will always be challenges in life so they should consider it as an opportunity to find the solutions as entrepreneurs, not escape, as doing so can kill dreams.
“Remain focused on who you aspire to be in life, having passed through the walls of Liberia’s foremost TVET Institution in the country. I admonish you to take away from BWI commitment to duty, patriotism, self-love, as well as love for country,” he indicated.
Presenting the overview of Academic 2022-2023, the Principal of BWI, Harris Fomba Tarnue, disclosed that since 2021-2022 graduation in March 2023, the school has realized huge gains in creating more training and learning environment, saying that the program is a testament of the reality.
According to him, the capacities of the instructional and administrative staffs continue to be upgraded with funding from the European Union (EU) and the Swedish Government-funded Youth Rising Project.
He then informed the gathering that six TVET Instructors have returned from China after acquiring Masters in various programs, and 8 others are currently completing their dual Masters in Finland.
Speaking further, Tarnue stated that TVET teachers who got trained in Kenya, Zambia, as well as South Africa, were specialized in automotive, carpentry, and machinery, including information technology, amongst others.
Additionally, the EO pointed out that Liberia’s TVET Center for Teachers Training Research and Innovation is now in full swing on campus and targets more than 200 teachers who will receive the pedagogical skills.
He lauded the international development and bilateral partners for their continued support that is tremendously transforming BWI in every sector, maintaining that they have proven to be reliable partners.
“The BWI family applauds the US, French, Chinese, German, as well as the Swedish Governments, and the World Bank (WB), African Development Bank, along with UNIDO and IECD implementing partners, for their commitment towards the transformation process of the BWI,” he stressed.
Tarnue admitted that the school has been repositioned as a true model center of excellence in TVET education in the country because all the trade shops have been renovated and also equipped with contemporary equipment and tools, while others are currently nearing completion.
He also presented what he calls a policy statement that said turning BWI into a technical Institution that will produce most of the agricultural machines needed to make life easy for farmers, assuring that looking forward to government support along with development partners, the school can, without doubt, transform the policy statement into practical reality.
“Wish to call on President Boakai Government to kindly support the elevation of BWI to TVET University during its first term probably during the first year.
“I am also appealing to the Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) for the restoration of the grant status that was removed by the out-going leadership at the MFDP. The restoration of the grant status will enable us even deliver more on vision and mandate,” he added.
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jackson J. Paye, expressed gratitude to the principal for the mature manner in which he continues to steer the affairs of the school, and paid homage to the partners and the government for their consistent support and urged the government to support the elevation of BWI to a TVET university.
