Students reap fruits of their efforts

International University of Management (IUM) founder and managing council chairperson David Namwandi says it is encouraging to note that despite challenges, including Covid-19, the institution’s new graduates still managed to shine.

“Take it from me: The nation is extremely happy with you. We know the extremely difficult study conditions you experienced, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Still you forged ahead, and today you are reaping the fruits of your efforts,” he said at the IUM’s 19th graduation ceremony last week Friday.

Namwandi reminded the graduates that the only the fittest would survive in society.

“If you did not succeed in one area, try the other. Rest assured you will make a mark in one area or another, but just keep moving as opportunity doesn’t offer itself to cowards,” he said.

Namwandi said the imnstitution includes entrepreneurial components in all its programmes to ensure flexibility and mobility for graduates to try avenues other than the fields they have been trained in.

“When it comes to employment and job creation, many graduates of the IUM have produced since last year to date.

“This year’s winter convocation produced 1 972 graduates, and this year’s summer convocation produced 832, bringing the total to 2 804 graduates,” he said.

Namwandi invited graduates with bankable business plans to apply for seed capital through the David Namwandi Trust.

“I know for sure you will encounter disappointment along the way, but be consoled by the words of Mahatma Gandhi when he said . . . the darkest hour is always before dawn,” he said.

IUM vice chancellor Osmund Mwandemele said: “We at the IUM have set before ourselves the task of moulding future generations of enlightened great minds.”

He referred to an African proverb saying a lack of knowledge is ‘darkness’ and a 16th-century English philosopher Francis Bacon saying knowledge is power.

Mwandemele said the role of education in development and in combating poverty, ignorance, diseases, and other socio-economic challenges is incontestable.

He said the IUM has become a significant player in the higher education landscape.

Student representative council president Loide Nghuulondo at the event said education is only powerful when graduates are able to put the knowledge they have acquired into action.

“So, graduands, I am encouraging you to put your skills and knowledge to good use. Don’t be limited by social norms or expectations.

“Break free from any constraints and confidently utilise the skills you have acquired within these walls to make a significant impact in your community,” she said.

Nghuulondo said it was imperative that graduates remember the vision and mission of the university.

“That you are not trained to be jobseekers, but job and wealth creators,” she said.

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