Liberia: “Education Is the Only Tool to Eliminate Poverty”

Liberia’s Vice President Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor said education remains the only tool to eliminate poverty in Liberia, be it formal education, vocational training or skills training.  

Speaking at the inauguration of the new Aveem University College for business, she said it is only education that can help transform the people and give hope to the presence and next generation and therefore, Liberia should invest in education for the betterment of the young people and society. 

The Aveem University College, located in Paynesville, is a Christian faith-based institution of learning poised to begin offering bachelor degrees in civil engineering, electrical engineering, general agriculture, banking and finance, criminal justice among others.

Howard-Taylor said the decision by the university to also prioritize agriculture is welcoming as it will help to enable Liberians to feed themselves as a country and people, thereby leading to liberation because once anyone can feed his or herself, all the other issues are secondary issues.

She said Aveem University is unique, based on the subjects that the university will be offering to Liberian students, as those subjects will change the mindset of Liberians and the subjects will enable citizens to dream big dreams and be committed to continuing the rebuilding process of Liberia.

“I am waiting for the day that we will begin as Africa's oldest nation to send our aid and support to other parts of the world that need it. Let me thank the Ministry of Education and National Commission on Higher Education for providing all the legitimate documents that are needed for this university to operate and become one of the corners of our nation,” she said.

The Founder of the Aveem University College, Pastor Akin Oguntimehin, said the institution aims to contribute to national development as there is a growing demand for tertiary education in Liberia.

“We solely align ourselves with the United Nations sustainable development goals of zero hunger, zero poverty among others. We are going into a demonstration farm of not less than 150 acres, with modern rice, soya, maize/corn processing on a mechanized level. We intend for job creation, food sufficiency, even for exports,” Oguntimehin said.

Oguntimehin said the university’s mission is to train students to become quality, skillful and qualified professionals in high demand career fields by creating useful and concrete employment pathway through carefully chosen programs in order to meet Liberia president and future workforce demands

He said everybody is responsible for the outcome of his life and he is determined to raise children to adults, not to put baby diapers on healthy adults. “Self-discipline is a priority. Three investments-spiritual investment, we are from God, He is a spirit, John 4: 24, intellectual investment, God called us to be the light because knowledge is light, practical and physical,” he said.

Deputy Director for Planning, Research and Development, F. Reginald Z. Mehnpaine, said the Aveem University College is one of the newest universities approved by the Board Commissioners of the National Commission on Higher Education.

He said that they will work with the university authority to achieve the remaining standards. 

“Authority of the Aveem University College has fulfilled our minimum standards because we have a very rigorous process of evaluating the institution and once an institution meets the minimum standards, they can operate,” Mehnpaine added.