BY NED GAGAHE
Solomon Islands National University Vice Chancellor Professor Transform Aqorau says under his leadership the national university will continue to fight against corruption.
In the second edition of his personal reflection for last year, Aqorau said he will ensure that SINU continues to operate under a corrupt free environment for the benefit of this institution, staff, students, and the country as a whole.
“We have a higher responsibility to each other and for the country. Under my administration, we have zero tolerance for corrupt practices here at SINU. SINU in 2023 has lost a lot of well qualified staff due to corruption and dishonest practices.
“It’s a shame to see high qualified people who should have done better and lead by example did the opposite. SINU is our only national university and every staff who served under this institution should serve with integrity and to the best of their ability and not the other way around.
“SINU under my leadership will continue to fight against corruption to ensure SINU operates under a corrupt free environment for the benefit of this institution, staff, students, and the country as a whole.
“Let me start by saying, no one wants to invest in an institution where corruption is rife. SINU is the highest education institution in the country and if we do not address corruption here there is no hope for the country.
“If we want to see SINU grow, and if we want others to invest in this university, and if we want donors to help us, and to get the quality that we would like for our future thought leaders of Solomon Islands in the program and kind of degree we offered, we really need donors onboard and donors would not want to invest in an institution where corruption is rife.
“I recognized we cannot do it on our own that others must help, meaning SINU can only grow with the support of others. We need their intellectual horsepower, but we also need the money that they must bring in.
“I’ll just give you an example, if we want to get Australia and New Zealand level qualification, we must bring in New Zealanders and Australians to come and help us with the accreditation to their standards. They are not going to come if they knew corruption is rife here, that is why I recognized that for us to be able to do accreditation and ranking, getting and addressing corruption in this institution is a priority and a must.
“In addition to that, SINU is the highest education institution in the country, if we don’t address corruption here there is no hope for this country and that is why we must demonstrate in this institution where young people are coming to learn. So that when these young people complete their studies, they will go away with the values and spread good governance of ethical and critical thinking throughout the country. That is why I want to make sure that we SINU must work against corruption.
“I do realize no one is perfect, we all have our weaknesses, but as an institution we can do something good, and that something good that we can do is going to be good for the country. We want to see thousands of students who came through SINU to propel more to the nation with the value of good governance, the value of ethical leadership, and the value of critical thinking and become the agents of change in this country.
