President Akufo-Addo receives Honorary Doctorate Degree from University of Liberia
The honour was conferred on President Akufo-Addo at the 98th
Commencement Exercises of the University of Liberia, on Wednesday, 13th
December, 2017 by its Board of Trustees and upon the recommendation of
the President of the University, Professor Ophelia Weeks.
It is in recognition of President Akufo-Addo’s substantive
contribution to strengthening the Rule of Law in Ghana, and also in
recognition of his substantive contributions in Liberia’s peace building
process, coupled with his invaluable service to the Ghana over the
years, as a veritable patriot.
A statement issued by the Flagstaff House announcing the honour,
quotes President Akufo-Addo as stating, “I am honoured by the award of
the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and assure you that I will
do my best not to disgrace the award.”
The statement acknowledged it is the second such honour President
Akufo-Addo has received from “a famous African University, the first an
Honorary Doctor of Law Degree, in May 2016, from the celebrated Fort
Hare University of South Africa, which has been the cradle of African
nationalism, responsible for graduates such as Nelson Mandela, Julius
Nyerere, Desmond Tutu, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Seretse Khama, Herbert
Chitepo, Robert Sobukwe, Joshua Nkomo, Chris Hani, Kenneth Kaunda,
Robert Mugabe and Mangosuthu Buthelezi.”
“I am lucky, as the first was received during my time as leader of
Ghana’s opposition, and this in my period as President of Ghana,” he
said, to a rousing applause from the gathering.
Whilst congratulating the President, Vice Chancellor, lecturers,
students, and all alumni at the 98th Commencement Exercises of the
University, President Akufo-Addo stated that the University of Liberia
has done more than most in shaping the intellectual, moral and political
outlook of Liberia.
“And I must confess that I feel so proud to be part of such a seminal
moment. I feel very keenly the weight of history and the burden of the
aspirations of the men and women who passed through these gates,
especially in its early years. They had to believe in themselves and in
the African race, when all around them said they counted for nothing,”
he said.
The President continued, “They had to believe in the capacity of the
African to conduct his or her own affairs, and be a respected member of
the global community, when all around them said they were not up to it.
The University of Liberia, from its opening in 1863, to becoming a
full-fledged University in 1951, told the young people, who came to
study here, that they had the same capabilities as every other young
person of every colour, language or race.”
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