Meeting President was a priceless moment Mr Justin Salani (left) and Tapiwanashe Bhibhi (right) pose for a photo with President Mnangagwa at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) last Friday.

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
A former Chronicle intern one of the two recipients of President Mnangagwa’s Chancellor prize at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) has said the US$1000 cash prize money he received will enable him to kickstart an entrepreneurial project.

Mr Justin Salani from Queens Park suburb in Bulawayo who graduated with a publishing degree emerged as one of the two best graduates from 3 290 students who graduated at Nust last week.

He was awarded the Chancellor’s prize which comes with US$1000.

President Mnangagwa is the Chancellor of all State universities and has been awarding the best two graduating students with a prize money of US$1000.

Mr Salani graduated with a distinction in publishing while Mr Tapiwanashe Bhibhi, a civil engineering graduate also won US$1000.

The President took time to interact with the best students.

Mr Salani described meeting President Mnangagwa as a priceless moment.

“I never thought I would win that award especially considering that I was doing publishing, I expected it to be won by someone from the natural sciences,” said Mr Salani.

“It was actually exciting to interact with the President. That was an incredible experience I never thought we would meet in person like what happened last Friday. Although I did not get much time to chat with His Excellency, I was more inspired by the engagement with the President. He made us more comfortable and encouraged us to work hard so it was an inspiration to meet him.”

He said he has a project that he is working on hence the US$1000 came at the most opportune time.

“That award money is very important because it will fund the project that I’m working on. I have a media project that I’m working on. I want to start an eco-tourism media company, and have already set up a website so the money will enable me to scale up the operations of my project,” he said.

Mr Bhibhi who comes from Chinhoyi said meeting the President was a humbling experience.

“It was an honour to meet the President. I liked his humour and I was really inspired that the highest office in the land is recognising that we are raising the flag high in terms of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. I did civil engineering and the President said he did not expect such high passes in civil engineering. My overall degree class is a distinction and I got an average of 84 percent,” said Mr Bhibhi.

He said his family is building a house and the prize money will therefore be his contribution to the project.

“I was very happy and I didn’t know that the Chancellor’s award would come with such money. It will go a long way in supporting my family,” he said.–@nqotshili

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