Awards Ceremony for World Maritime University (WMU) Sasakawa Fellows in the Class of 2021

President Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Sasakawa Fellows, distinguished guests, It is my greatest pleasure to be able to join you on this very special day as the thirty-one Sasakawa Fellows set sail into their voyage of life.  The World Maritime University now has a global reputation as an outstanding educational institution due to the remarkable leadership of President Cleopatra. I can only wish all of you who have been able to study in this wonderful environment the very best in your future endeavors.

“One World One Family”. This is our philosophy which aims to build a better world through mutual cooperation cutting across politics, ideology, region, race and national borders. All the activities of The Nippon Foundation, including scholarship funds, are based on this guiding principle. We have been able to educate more than one thousand five hundred (1,500) fellows from one hundred and fifty (150) countries to date in ocean and maritime field alone.  I sincerely welcome you to join this network. I receive many letters from the fellows who have graduated. It makes me very happy and proud to hear about their recent news such as a new post overseas, of promotion, their marriage, birth of a baby, Fortunately, I have not yet received any sad news of a divorce.

Thus, as you can well understand The Nippon Foundation not only provides scholarships, but also considers each Sasakawa fellow a member of our family. It is our wish that we will always retain this relationship in order to realize a better society together. For that, we will spare no effort to cooperate with you. I will also promise that your study tour to Japan which had to be cancelled due to Covid-19 will be definitely rescheduled for when we are all free from the pandemic. Now that you will be each going on your separate ways, I would also like you to keep in touch and cooperate with each other and to exchange information with the Sasakawa fellows through the network and the “Friends of WMU” for a common goal of realizing a wonderful and peaceful world. Once again, congratulations on your graduation and welcome to the “Friends of WMU”.