I would like to address our convocation ceremony, on behalf of the IED and SONAM classes. Today is our convocation ceremony, whereby our stay at this university has ended. It is a great privilege for me to address the 2017graduating cohorts who have completed their journey of Bachelors of Science in Nursing, Masters in Education respectively. Indeed, it is an historic occasion for all of us, the outgoing students and the remaining ones. This is a day of celebration. The storm is over!

I would like to start by congratulating each and every one of us on our great achievement. It has taken hard work, commitment and sacrifice to successfully complete the challenging programmes we signed up to. Many of us have studied while continuing to deliver our responsibilities in the work place, sacrificed family time, hobbies and social life to complete our Masters and Bachelors programme respectively. We feel a sense of significant achievement and pride today.

I remember all those nights we spent studying for the test the next morning, all of the books we read and the scholarly work wrote, all of the lessons we learned from not only our lecturers, but also the multi-disciplinary staff and from our own colleagues.​

We thank the University Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan for his vision, the Board of Trustees for their direction to mould this precious academic institution which has contributed and continues to contribute to transform this world to become a better place. We beg that you continue to instil the spirit of wellbeing of many people across the globe.

Special thanks also goes to all individuals and various groups and organizations, both national and international , that supported AKU in many ways . Your continual generous sponsorship positively contributes to high-quality of our academic achievement at the AKU.​

On behalf of my fellow graduates, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all who made our dreams come true: the heads of SONAM and IED, the Office of the Registrar for ensuring that our student experience was rich and that our records were well managed and are safe; faculty members and the library staff for their academic support; the IT staff for making us feel that it is possible to work without papers and pens; the finance and admin department for standing firm to make sure we received the support that we needed; the house keepers for making the learning environment clean and tidy; the cooks for their palatable and energetic meals; the security personnel for guaranteeing our security at the campus, to mention but few. Indeed, Aga Khan University is its faculty and staff, who together create such a motivating conducive learning environment.

The faculty members are exceptional for their willingness and ambition to help students excel. They have taught us how to develop our careers, they made sure we got to this day, and many of them are here now to see our transition to the next part of our lives. We were real friends and of course, we’ll miss them a million times. We have changed each other’s lives and due to their efforts, we are better than before.

I hope all of us will achieve our highest potentials within our professions. We will secure great positions because of the drive, and vision that has been instilled in us by AKU faculty members. We also understand that our societies are eagerly waiting for our contributions to care for the sick, prevent disease, promote health and provide better education to our people.

We are graduating with a top class qualification from Aga Khan University with international accreditations. We are well equipped to achieve personal success and to become exemplary leaders of the future. Strong leadership requires ability, courage, resilience and support. While the health and education sectors have faced innumerable challenges over the past decades, there are also many positive legacies and real steps towards concrete improvement. We can build on these positive legacies, and work together to strengthen our communities.

As I finish this speech, for sure we could choose to stay here forever, but the community calls and needs us, well world, get ready here comes the AKU class of ​​2017!!​

Thank you very much.​