SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – Over 100 students have graduated from the Nimba County Community College in five disciplines: general agriculture, education, information technology, geology, and business administration.

The graduation ceremony was held over the weekend in Sanniquellie. Outgoing University of Liberia president, Emmet Dennis, served as the orator during the college’s second graduation since its founding.

In his opening statements, Dennis encouraged the graduates to expand their thinking of their future roles in Nimba, and the world at large. “Please let your imagination go wild,” he said, repeating graduation several clichés. “Reach for the moon, you may probably get to the northern star. It is better to dream and not be able to fulfill all of your dreams, than not to dream at all.”

Dennis cited the rise in the student population at NCCC from 438 in 2010 to 1,408 in 2016 as a manifestation of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s educational decentralization legacy that has enabled young people all around the country to gain access to higher education in their home counties. He criticized detractors of the president who downplay her government’s achievements.

Dennis said the establishment of community colleges across the country would help produce graduates with the competence to pursue bachelor degrees and to be competitive in the job market. He also emphasized the importance of students being educated in disciplines that are applicable to their respective geographic locations.

“For example, Nimba County Community College can emphasize geology and mining; Lofa, agriculture; Grand Gedeh, forestry,” Dennis said.

In her speech, the president of the college, Yah Gono, revealed a goal of elevating the community college to a four-year degree institution.

“We want this legacy to transcend community college vision to a four-year-degree-granting institution, and eventually, a creation of a second-to-none university in the county that is the second largest in the nation,” she added.

But she said to reach this goal, the college must first take into consideration the recruitment of trained faculty and professors “who will remain true to our NCCC passion for quality education, and for growth and development.”

Featured photo courtesy of NCCC