Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has told the newly graduated 37 young men and women to be Liberia’s diplomats wherever they find themselves and not just when they were in class at the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute (FSI) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Min. Ngafuan, who is also the Dean of the Liberian Cabinet, also told the graduates, he knows that all of them desire to be placed at some of Liberia’s best missions in places like Washington D.C., U.S.A.; Pretoria, South Africa; Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; London, United Kingdom; etc., but they don’t necessarily have to be in those places before they can ably represent Liberia as good diplomats.

“To be a good diplomat in Washington, Pretoria or Paris, firstly try to be a very good diplomat on Broad Street and in your present places of work and your homes,” the Liberian Foreign Minister told graduates on Friday, August 28, in the C. Cecil Dennis Hall of the Foreign Ministry.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, despite saying that, he assured that there would be placement for some of them. However, he reminded them that it’s not all “milk and honey” at Liberia’s foreign missions abroad.

The Minister renewed an earlier promised and announced that he would immediately place the Valedictorian and Salutatorian — Misses Christiana Wablo and Georgette Dennis, respectively — on mission. He, however, announced that he would include Ms. Wablo within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ delegation attending this year’s United Nations’ General Assembly in New York in order to gain her first experience.

Among other things, Minister Ngafuan disclosed that in the next FSI academic year students would be prepared to do mandatory service within the Foreign Ministry.

The Institute also, in the same week of its graduation, hosts what it calls Ambassadorial Lecture Forum (ALF).

The Forum highlights Liberia’s former ambassadors’ role and contribution to Liberian Diplomacy and Foreign Policy achievements; and it also presents an opportunity for lectures on topical diplomatic issues on the international agenda.

The Minister, however, proposed to the Institute’s Director-General, Dr. Augustine Konneh, that alongside the ALF, what he (Min. Ngafuan) termed as Ministerial Lecture Series. He hoped that this will allow Cabinet Ministers of various ministries to come and lecture on the progress and challenges within their ministries so that future diplomat trainees can be all rounded and not only verse on the nation’s foreign policy issues.

The Guest Speaker of the graduation day, Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, stated that itmay come as a surprise to some that the Liberian Foreign Service is one of the oldest Foreign Services in the world. 

“History has it that Liberia was the first independent Republic on the Africa Continent. That gave necessity to the establishment of diplomatic contacts with other countries at independence as far back as 1847. Both England and France that subsequently recognized Liberia’s sovereignty had to have diplomatic representation from the new Republic. We can thus boast that our country is old at this game and therefore must show mastery of it. You go forth today to prove that.”

VP Boakai further stated that as graduates majestically stepped out of the doors of the Institute, they (VP and others) go with the expectation that the students have been tremendously transformed individually into a great new person, “that person who now bears so much to positively impact society.”

The Liberian VP reminded the graduates that Liberia stands in want of improvement in many areas of professional calling. “Those of you who have opted to pursue diplomacy-- and as such be the face of our nation in distant lands—cannot afford to falter and fall for mediocrity. You have too much to shatter if your indulgence shows up in acts that demean your nation and people. You are the lenses that Liberia will be seen through.

“You are required by the dictates of your certification here today to exhibit highest standard of professionalism at all times in the execution of your Foreign Service duties. Cultivate that good spirit of nationalism and be dutifully loyal in the performance of your respective responsibilities at posts of assignment. 

“I encourage all of you to engage in economic diplomacy. This new direction has become a prominent part of Liberian diplomacy.”

Speaking earlier, FSI DG, Dr. Konneh, stated that the students were post-Ebola graduates, who having survived the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD), “returned to the classroom with vigor to continue their learning process.”

Dr. Konneh stated the two main objectives of the FSI include to develop competent and expertise. However, the objectives are not only limited to those two. “But to be able to make inputs into foreign policy developments, and also to effectively carry out foreign policy decisions, wherever one is posted and representing his/her country,” he added.

He stated that 14 faculty members helped in the preparation of the nation’s aspiring diplomats. Those lecturers taught at least 26 different courses, including Introduction to Diplomatic Practices, Protocol and Etiquette, International Regional Organization, Africa Contemporary Politics, Liberian Foreign Policy, Economic and Investment Development, among others.

He further stated that enrollment when they started in January 2014 was 45 but on the day of graduation, only 37 students had successfully made it.

On his plans for the immediate future, Dr. Konneh said they include doing practical and internship and long distance learning through video link. He added: “This can only be realized through our farsighted Minister, who will go out there and gather support for the Institute.”

For her part, Valedictorian Wablo stated that as she and her colleagues begin their diplomatic journey, they weren’t certain that they are going to make it to the zenith of their career. However, she said that they now have within them what it takes to succeed in their career.

She told her colleagues that they do not have to kill or do things that are unbecoming of a diplomat just to make it to the top, but that they should exercise patience.

She spoke on the topic, “Be not Too Complacent with Your Present Status.”

Ms. Wablo stated that while all of them would want to be placed in foreign missions, she, however, urged her colleagues not to only look at being placed in foreign missions as their ultimate goal, now. She told them to exercise patience and emulate some employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who have spent years working within the Ministry and not on foreign missions.

The Val and her colleagues were awarded a Post-Graduate Diploma.