Delivered at the American University of Nigeria Commencement Ceremony – May 17, 2025 By R. Brian Deaver, CEO, African Medical Centre of Excellence
Good morning, distinguished graduates of the Class of 2025. Good morning to your proud families, the dedicated faculty and inspired leadership of this university, AUN’s Board of Trustees, Governing Council, and honored guests who have gathered to celebrate this important milestone. It is a privilege to share this occasion with you today at this pivotal moment in your lives and in the life of this great institution.
It is truly an honor to be standing here. Preparing my thoughts on what I would say to you has been both a joy and a responsibility — a chance to reflect not just on the significance of this moment, but on the message that might serve as a lasting compass as you step into the next chapter of your lives. Today, I will offer more than just encouragement — I will offer a challenge, a call to rise above the average, and to never settle for less than your exhaustive and passionate best.
I mentioned this day being an important milestone. In ancient Rome, stone markers were placed along roads to show the traveler the distance traveled. The stones were typically one mile apart—hence the word "mile-stone." As your University President and your Provost have both stated over the last couple of days, your graduation today was never the destination, but rather a mile marker to celebrate and acknowledge your achievements and preparation as you now continue your journey and take this rather large step into life.
Today, we will talk about a phrase that has and will continue to follow you into every classroom, conference room, boardroom, courtroom, hospital, studio, and startup that you enter. A phrase that sounds innocent enough, even comforting. But be very careful, this is a trap. It is a quiet assassin of potential.
That phrase is: “Good enough.”
“Good enough” is the voice that tells you to turn in the assignment before checking it one more time. It is the whisper that says, “Why push harder when no one is watching?” It is the satisfied shrug that kills innovation, poisons relationships, and buries dreams.
“Good enough,” my friends, is the enemy of excellence.
The Danger of “Good Enough”
Let’s make this very clear: “Good enough” is not about effort — it’s about surrender. It’s what we say when we decide that convenience is more valuable than growth. That comfort is better than greatness.
Some people believe that excellence is an unattainable ideal. They say, “You can’t be excellent all the time.” But I will share with you a little secret:
Excellence is not perfection.
Excellence is not genius.
To quote your outgoing President of the AUN Honor Society, Israel Curtis-Dike… “Excellence is not just a goal, it is a habit.”
What does that mean? It means that excellence is not something we put on in the morning like a hat we wear to work and remove on our way home. Excellence defines who we are 24 hours a day. It is how we think and act in our personal lives as well as the workplace. It is choosing to demand more of yourself — even when no one else does. It is showing up 30 minutes early, listening ten minutes longer, and staying committed long after the excitement has faded.
San Diego Zoo Escalator experience
One autumn day 30 years ago, I was in San Diego, CA for 3 days’ worth of meetings. Two days in I knew I needed a break. I left at lunch and took a taxi to the San Diego Zoo, easily one of the top zoos in the world.
The zoo property is a beautiful area with varying elevations and hills, some requiring escalators (people movers) to assist the visitors in moving up and down steep areas. I found myself stepping on a down escalator that would take me to a lower elevation when I noticed a young family in front of me. The father realized one of his children had not stepped on with the rest of the family and could be seen standing at the top. The father began climbing past the visitors as fast as he could to retrieve his son, but every time he slowed down to get past someone or stopped moving, the escalator would take him back down and he would lose ground. He eventually made it up there but the experience left a lasting impression on me. If we are not constantly pushing forward, then we are losing ground. There is no standing still. Either we are moving forward or we are allowing ourselves to be moved backward.
I once heard someone say, “You can coast, or you can climb. But you can’t do both.” And that’s exactly what “good enough” invites you to do: coast.
In 2020, a 22-year-old engineering student named Jerry Mallo from Plateau State built a low-cost ventilator during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As hospitals scrambled for equipment and lives hung in the balance, Jerry developed a working prototype using locally sourced materials. Many told him, “This is good enough. You’ve done well.” But Jerry wasn’t satisfied. He declared, “If this is going to be used to save lives, then good enough… isn’t.”
He refined the design, integrated global safety standards, and produced over 200 ventilators which were deployed across five countries in West Africa. His invention attracted offers of support from 14 hospitals, two national governments, and six private companies. He won three major innovation awards, including the African Engineering Award and the COVID Innovation Prize. Jerry’s journey didn’t end with applause — it continued with action. And that action saved lives. Today Jerry is building exotic sports cars…in Plateau State.
Excellence is not about getting it right the first time. It’s about refusing to stop just because you got it right enough.
Nigeria — your beautiful, vibrant country — is filled with incredible minds, bold ideas, and the kind of raw brilliance that can shake the world. Throughout the world, in every leading healthcare institution I visit, I find Nigerian doctors and nurses in the top echelons of medicine, surgery, research, faculty and leadership. One of my jobs in opening the African Medical Centre of Excellence is to recruit and bring as many of these great talents and minds home.
But we must face a hard truth: for too long, we’ve accepted “good enough” in places that demand excellence.
In our infrastructure.
In our healthcare.
In our leadership.
In many ways, Nigeria and AUN are kindred spirits. Both are places of extraordinary promise. Both have faced their share of challenges. And yet, both continue to rise in global rankings, proving that perseverance, vision, and an uncompromising pursuit of excellence can defy the odds. Like Nigeria, AUN is not content with just being known — it is determined to be known for being exceptional. I congratulate you the students and graduates, the faculty, the Governing Council, the Board of Trustees, and your generous and visionary founder for rising to be ranked the #1 University in Nigeria, # 12 on the entire continent of Africa.
If this generation — your generation — is determined to abandon “good enough,” then Nigeria will not rise slowly… she will rise like the morning sun: bold, bright, undeniable, and unstoppable.
Now, you have the education, the exposure, the vision. But more importantly, you have the responsibility.
The Cost of Excellence
Excellence comes at a cost but not the type of cost you are thinking.
It will cost you excuses. It will cost you your ego. It will cost you comfort. And sometimes it may cost you extra time.
But what it gives back is immeasurable: Respect. Impact. Legacy.
The truth is, most people never regret trying harder. They only regret the moment they stopped. That moment when “good enough” felt safer than “what could have been.”
Call to Action
So what does the pursuit of excellence look like in real life? It means saying: • “This project matters — so I’ll rewrite it again.”
- “This patient’s life matters — so I’ll double-check the diagnosis.”
- “This startup matters — so I will refine and present my plan again, and again, and again.”
- “This country matters — so I will serve it with integrity and excellence, even if no one else does.”
My young friends, commit to yourselves that you will not leave this great institution with just your degree. Leave AUN with this decision:
That you will not settle. Not for yourself. Not for your country. Not for your future.
You didn’t come this far to be “good enough.” You came to build something excellent, — something lasting — something that makes people say, “They did it differently.”
Allow me to be the first to quote a young lady in this audience today, this graduating class, someone that I predict will provide us with a lifetime of inspiring messages and leadership. Phoebe Phillips said, “Do not listen to anyone when they say no one has done it before.”
Now, as we near the close of this moment together, I will leave you with one last reflection.
I have heard people say, “Shoot for the moon — even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” That sounds lovely, but let’s be honest: stars are light-years away and incredibly hot. If you aim without direction, you won’t land — you’ll drift.
Instead: don’t just shoot high — shoot with purpose. Excellence is not about reaching the stars by accident. It’s about setting your course with courage, with clarity, and with the quiet confidence, understanding, and conviction that even when no one is clapping, you keep going.
Because here’s the truth: most of life’s defining victories, our greatest moements, happen off stage — when no one is watching, when no one is rewarding you. It’s in those moments, when “good enough” tempts you to stop, that your character is truly shaped.
Enjoy the work but don’t be defined by applause. Be defined by your effort, your relentless pursuit. Let the quality and innovation of your work be your signature, your personal fingerprint on the world. Allow your excellence to speak for you and you will find it to be your loudest advocate.
Closing Words
To the graduating class of 2025:
You are not the future. You are the present that will shape the future. Be excellent today. Execute your plans today. Do it now.
Go forward. Produce excellence. Be relentless. Be kind. Be humble.
And whenever life tempts you to say, “This is good enough” — I want you to remember this day, this setting, our little time together… and say:
“No. That’s not who I am. There is so much more that I am capable of doing, I will pursue nothing less than my very best, and my very best will change the world.”
Congratulations my young friends, and may your journey be nothing short of extraordinary in your lifetime pursuit of excellence.