By MASIDING NOOR YAHYA

MSU MAIN, Marawi City: The Mindanao State University (MSU) has conferred on the interim chief minister of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Peace and Development during MSU’s 55th commencement exercises held on Tuesday at the Dimaporo gymnasium, MSU, Marawi City.

Alhaj Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, BARMM interim chief minister, said he accepted and dedicated the conferment upon him of the honorary degree for the Bangsamoro Struggle and Bangsamoro People.

The honorary degree is in recognition of his immense contribution to humanity in building peace and the establishment of Bangsamoro Government.

MSUS president Habib W. Macaayong who introduced Ebrahim as commencement speaker and honoree said,”Only exceptional people can be given an ‘honoris causa’ award due to contribution to the country, people, or humanity.”

Tendus Rabaw is the name of Academic Year 2019-2020 1st semester graduates batch.

“This man’s life, a story of transcedence and leap of faith, is stuff of which history is made. This man who has found a secure place in the annals of the Bangsamoro as a warrior worthy of the blood of Rajah Solaiman and Rajah Indarapatra flowing in his veins and as a principal architect of the rising New World for the Bangsamoro. His adult life is a story of War and Peace that would have inspired another Tolstoy novel,” Macaayong said of Ebrahim.

“I am accepting this honorary degree for the Bangsamoro Struggle and Bangsamoro People,” Ebrahim told the graduates called Tendus Rabaw Batch, their parents and observers who attended event.

Young Ebrahim left MSU to join the Bangsamoro struggle

Fifty five years ago, Ebrahim enrolled in the university hoping to finish a university degree. But later, he had to quit in order to join the Bangsamoro struggle.

“I responded to the call of what I think is bigger than myself — that is the Bangsamoro Struggle. That was a call for obligation. To defend ourselves,” he added.

The chief minister emphasized that this is not his achievement but rather the achievement of the Bangsamoro people.

He also reiterated the true meaning of Moral Governance and his dedication to the cause of the people’s best interests.

He grew up in a rural village and had to walk long distances to reach school.

He continued this until his college years where he transfered from one college to another chasing scholarships.

Chief Minister Ebrahim then settled on taking a degree in civil engineering.

The chief minister was taking up his civil engineering degree when he saw the need for the armed struggle, thus, making him unable to finish his degree back then and joined the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

This went until Ustadh Salamat Hashim broke away from the MNLF and formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and appointed Chief Minister Ebrahim as the chief of staff.

He was then appointed as the chairman of the MILF when the Amirul Mujahideen Ustadh Salamat Hashim passed away in 2003. – RSP