Convocations programs, by nature, are moments for lavish celebrations and copiously instructive speech making. This year’s convocations ceremonies at the nation’s premier academic referral institution, the University of Liberia, have not been short of those. Various speakers addressing sets of graduates based on colleges have poured out their hearts with wisdom and admonition necessary to inspire young graduates about what they will certainly face in the professional, working world. Amongst the speakers was also an opposition leader from the Caribbean nation of Belize. He urged hundreds of UL graduates at the Fendell Campus to use their education acquired for the sake of humanity. The Analyst reports.
Not everyone who acquired education uses it for the betterment of mankind. Against this background, graduates of University of Liberia were on March 21, 2022 advised and courted to use theirs in the interest of humanity.
The Opposition leader in the National Legislature of the Belize, a country of the northeastern coast of Central America, Moses Michael Levi Barrow, has called on the graduates not to only use their education for Liberia, but for the whole of humanity because their education means nothing if it does not show who it has helped or what impact has it created for the benefit of the people.
Mr. Barrow who is a renowned musical artist turned politician extolled the historical importance of Liberia among other nations of the world from the start of his speech, describing it as the beach of hope of liberty and freedom of the black race.
“It is such a serene moment for me to be here in Liberia, in the motherland in Africa. It is my first time on the continent of Africa and I am so overwhelmed,” he said. “I am so pleased to be here in Liberia.”
The Belizean lawmaker noted that Liberia is a special nation that represents those free human beings who were in the clutches of inhuman slavery and returned to their motherland to create a nation of free human beings.
“We all have the inalienable rights to freedom and liberty and the pursuit of happiness and Liberia represents that,” he said while receiving standing ovation for the statement.
His reference to Liberia in such a glowing way underscored his own experience according to him when he migrated to the United States with his mother at the age of 8 and had to endured hardship growing up with support only depending on his mother’s meager income garnered from domestic jobs she did for people who offered her employment.
He minced no words on what he called the systemic and deliberate activities of the supremacists to exterminate the blacks either through death or long prison terms and he had to endure those challenges to come out of the difficult conditions he found himself growing up.
Adding, he said, “So you my friends should celebrate because you are the beacon of light to the nations and it reminds me why I am here.”
He told the audience that he attached much importance to the visit to Liberia despite his very important schedule being an opposition leader in the national legislature of Belize where he had an engagement to speak to his colleagues on the national budget and make sure that the government implements it to the benefit of the people because it was the taxpayers money that the government intends to use.
“I have a budget debate on Thursday, because as opposition leader in the House of Representatives, it is my responsibility to debate the budget and hold the government accountable and make sure that they spend the taxpayer dollars responsibly in a way that will benefits the people,” Mr. Barrow said.
“So it is important for me to come here today to talk to these graduates that will not only go forward shouldering the responsibility of Liberians but all of humanity because the world is watching.”
The Belizean politician whose address focused mainly on the need for the graduate to work for humanity and not for their own interest also found time to discuss his difficult pass and how he was able to come out from the situation to be where he is today.
He said he lived a life many thought would have been possible to endure and accomplish the things that he has accomplished.
“But I am not special. I am just a humane being that was able to think deeper within and said that divinity was in me because God created all of us; so that means God is within all of us and it is up to you to find the divinity within you so that you can begin on your purpose in life and your purpose should be humanity,” he told the UL graduates at the colorful ceremony held on Fendell Campus.
He continued: “It is not the degree you hold today; it is the key that unlocks the possibilities for opportunity for humanity. Not just for yourself, it is a very difficult lesson that I learn very difficult. I have been through devastation, a life that you can hardly imagine. But what has got me through the devastation is focus. If I can give you one gift, it is the gift to identify your purpose.
“And whatever the purpose is, whether it is to be a technician, whether it is to be a medical doctor, whether to be a lawyer, whatever it is, that purpose must be guided by the ambition to serve humanity, to serve the people of Liberia. You don’t need to be a legislator to serve the people because it is a human responsibility to serve each other; it is not a passport to aristocracy; to be in the upper echelon of the society.”
The 43-year-old renowned politician said amid cheers from the audience that while he had a difficult life growing up, his father had a flourishing career as a lawyer and later became Prime Minister of Belize but did not benefit from any of the privileges of his father’s affluence and position.
He said he soldiered on all fronts to get himself out of the predicament life threw him.
Mr. Barrow, who was the cynosure of all eyes at the program from many people who followed his career as a rapper, songwriter and a top musician told the graduates that he has a mindset that one has to equip yourself with the technical training to do the task of a giant and defined the task as helping humanity to succeed.
“You are nothing if what you have is for a degree; is for professional accomplishment, if you cannot show me the people you are helping. And that is why I stand before you here today because I have been committing myself to helping others,” he said.
He called on the graduates to imagine Liberia being a country with opportunities such as having people with wealth.
Honorary Degree and Citation:
In keeping with tradition, the University of Liberia conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters (L.H.D) Honoris Caucus with an impressive citation which read: “Honorable Moses Shyne Barrow MP LOO, Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs & Diaspora Affairs, National Assembly of Belmopan, Republic of Belize. You are a Grammy Award Winning Writer/Publisher of Solomon’s Works, Belize/Brooklyn, and a Grammy Award Winning Performer of Omni Records, Brooklyn/Belize.
“Prior to those positions and awards, you served as Shadow Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Diaspora Affairs of the National Assembly, GOB, Belmopan, from June to September 2021, a position in which you were tasked with shadowing the Prime Minister as well as Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs holding them accountable and put forward alternative policies for the respective ministries.
“Between November 2020 and September 2021, you served as Shadow Minister of Culture, Youth & Sports, Opposition Leader of the House of Representatives, and Chief Whip House of Representatives. As a young elected Member of the House of Representatives for Mesopotamia, you focus on education, employment, entrepreneurship, housing and land ownership. You also continue to focus on athletics, women empowerment, youth intervention, and human development. As a legislator, you advocate for public policy and legislation that allows your country to develop and realize its full potential. You support ethical governance, strengthening parliamentary independence, transparency and accountability.
“From April 2014 to July 2018, you served as Vice Chairman of the UDP Mesopotamia Executive Committee, Belize City. From July 2006 to present, you served as Chairman of Omni Hybrid Holdings, Brooklyn. You have also served as Chief Executive Officer of Omni Records and Solomon’s Works, Brooklyn.
“Honorable Moses Shyne Barrow, you hold an Associate of Arts Law Certificate from UWI, Belize City. You attended the New York College of Technology in Brooklyn, but you later left the college to pursue your efficacious career in music.
“You are well known for the writing and publishing of songs and albums and have sold over forty (40) million copies/albums globally. You are a writer, publisher, and performer of music. You are a youth advocate.
“Therefore, in recognition of your remarkable contributions and relentless efforts of advocacy and to improve the lives and education in youths as well as advocating for good public policy and legislation coupled with transparency and accountability in Belize and other parts of the worlds, the Board of Trustees, upon the recommendation of the President of the University of Liberia, has herewith approved the conferral upon you, Honorable Moses Shyne Barrow MP LOO, the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) Honoris Causa. Congratulations!”
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