PRIME MINISTER VOREQE BAINIMARAMA'S REMARKS AT THE FNU STUDENT ASSOCIATION FIJI DAY 50TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

The FNU Acting Chancellor and Chair of Council,  Ms. Tessa Price; 
The Acting Vice-Chancellor, Dr. William May; 
Honourable Cabinet Ministers; 
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps; 
Members of FNU Council; 
Management Group and Valued Sponsors; 
FNU Staff, Students, and Alumni; 
Distinguished Guests; 
Ladies and Gentlemen. 
 
Bula Vinaka. 
 
Tomorrow marks a milestone in Fijian history, and I can think of no better place to honour this new chapter in our history books than at the Fiji National University, among many of the future leaders of our country. Thank you to the FNU Students Association, and to all of you here this afternoon, for welcoming me.  
 
Every year, the 10th of October holds a special place on our calendar. We gather with family and neighbours, we celebrate with friends, and we put on our best Fiji blue to show our pride in our country. But this year, as we all know, is particularly momentous.  
 
For your parents and grand-parents, a half-century represents five decades of trials and triumphs for our great nation.  
But for all of you in the audience, our bright young students, an independent Fiji is all you’ve ever known –– and there’s something remarkable about that.  
 
You are the generation that will define our future. 
 
You are the foundation, the rock of a Fiji that will build upon the progress that we have fought so hard to achieve. 
 
You are the generation that has been shaped by Fiji’s independence, and you are the generation that will shape where we go next. 
 
You are the generation that will take the baton we pass to you and run with it, full speed ahead.  
 
You are the generation that has tapped into your full potential, seizing on the opportunities at your feet by taking advantage of free primary and secondary schooling, and unprecedented access to tertiary institutions like FNU.  
 
You are the generation that will represent Fiji on the world stage, knowing not a colony that answers to the whims of a greater power, but to the needs of our people.  
 
It’s all you’ll ever know –– and for that, you are the future.  
 
You will fight with vigour, and with patriotism, for yourselves and your country.  
 
You will be unfettered as we march forward, and conquer enemies of the grandest scale –– from climate change to contagion. 
 
You will lead an independent Fiji forward, not lurch us back into the past. 
 
That’s what this Fiji Day –– 50 year on –– is all about.  
 
It’s about overcoming adversity, and tapping into our true potential.  It’s about coming together as we chart a course for our country that will bring us unity, bring us harmony, and bring us hope. 
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, today is not only about celebrating the birth of our nation –– of an independent Fiji. It’s about celebrating the privilege of being Fijian.  
Because that’s what we all are now: Fijians. Irrespective of our background, who we know, or where we come from. That, my friends, is a Fiji to be proud of. 
 
The bright minds in this room give me comfort that the work we have put in as a Government has been well worth it, and that we are passing down a 50-year legacy to Fijians of truly unmatched potential.  
 
It’s why we decided, early on in my term as Prime Minister, that the best way of opening opportunity for Fiji was to open opportunity for our young people. First and foremost, we needed to give our people –– all of our people –– the opportunity to gain an education.  
 
I’m convinced that when you give people an opportunity to learn by breaking down the barriers to education –– and especially the barrier of poverty –– they will seize it. And I’m proud to be in front of an audience this afternoon that has seized that opportunity with eager arms and even more eager minds. 
 
If we’ve learned anything as a nation over the past 50 years, it is this: There is now no reason for any Fijian –– no matter what their background or family circumstances –– to miss out on getting the best education they can. Our free schooling, and the scholarships and tertiary loans we are providing, have transformed the prospects of even the most disadvantaged Fijian children. Now more than ever, you are your only limit.  

We have given you the key to a life of opportunity through learning. We have given you the best chance any Fijian has ever had to carve out satisfying and worthwhile careers for themselves and contribute to the development of the nation. But it is up to you to take that key and unlock the door to a world of opportunities. To work as hard as you can –– and to the best of your ability –– to acquire the skills you need, and our nation needs, to fulfill not only your own dreams, but for our collective dreams as a strong, independent Fiji.  
 
That is why we are investing more in our education sector –– starting, first and foremost, with Fiji’s flagship university, FNU. I’d like to especially recognise the leadership of your Acting Chancellor and Chair of the Council, Ms Tessa Price.  
Working with the FNU Council, we are committed to building better FNU facilities, developing our FNU campuses to a standard that would be envy of not just the Pacific, but any country around the world. And indeed, we are pursuing practical steps to make this a truly global institution, as we seek international accreditation for your courses.  
 
Together, we will build Fiji National University to be the premiere university in the region –– one that serves the needs of Fijians, and one that makes Fiji’s next 50 years even more bright. Because when students gather for our next milestone anniversaries –– 25, 50, or even 100 years from now –– it will be in awesome wonder of all we have built, and the pioneering footsteps that each of you took before them. 
 
Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you. Happy Fiji Day, and God bless Fiji –– for the next half century and beyond.  
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