Let your work speak for you, Wurie counsels UNILORIN graduands
By Abubakar Imam and Mustafa Abubakar
The Sierra Leonean Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr Haja Ramatulai Wurie, has charged young people to always work hard and reduce the temptations of playing to the gallery
Dr Wurie gave the charge last Friday (October 23,2026)while delivering the 41st Convocation Lecture of the University of Ilorin, titled “From Lecture Hall to Cabinet Room: The Journey from Academia to Public Leadership,” at the University Auditorium.
The Convocation Lecturer, who described herself as an academic in public administration, charged leaders to lead with substance, purpose and evidence, stressing the need to build people and institutions that will outlast them.
She said being young and female in public leadership brings visibility and a responsibility to lead with substance, urging leaders to remain anchored in purpose and remember who their work is for.
Dr Wurie advised leaders to be prepared, consistent and evidence-minded, while building alliances, seeking counsel and avoiding leadership in isolation.
She also urged leaders to treat scrutiny as accountability and remain open to challenge and correction.
She stressed the need to design systems around people by ensuring clear information, disability inclusion, support for low-connectivity environments and strong data privacy.
On research and policy, the Sierra Leaonian Minister said research should begin with national needs, asking what does a nation need to know? Which evidence would improve a decision?”
She said universities should serve as national problem-solving institutions, providing knowledge, innovation, talent, policy evidence, entrepreneurship and leadership.
Dr Wurie further called for partnerships that build capability rather than dependency, based on mutual respect, shared ownership, complementary expertise, capacity development and shared outcomes.
She cited JAMB technical cooperation and Nigerian Technical Aid Corps volunteers as examples of such partnerships.
The Minister also stressed the importance of people and inclusion, saying people are infrastructure and that barriers affecting women, girls and persons with disabilities must be removed.
On personal leadership practice, she advocated three steps: Pause, to create space; Reflect, to learn from what happened; and Raise the Bar, by turning insight into a better next step.
While emphasising the need for continuous learning, Dr Wurie identified four core takeaways, which graduands must imbibe as learning deeply, serving sincerely, staying teachable and raising the bar.
She urged leaders to remain curious, serve where knowledge can make a difference, seek counsel and build people and institutions that outlast them.
Dr Wurie also urged leaders to move from knowledge to service, from service to leadership, and from leadership to impact.
