It's with great pleasure that we thank Zeinab and congratulate her for her great work on and off screen
and I'm absolutely delighted to invite the Chancellor to confer the honorary doctorate of University of the Arts London upon Zeinab Badawi.
[Applause and cheering]
Nigel, thank you so much.
Good afternoon students, ladies and gentlemen.
It is really my deep honour to receive this honorary Doctorate.
And it's really specialefor me because I'm receiving it from Kwame,
somebody I've known for many many years and have admired him from near and far for all the great work he has done.
I know he has been a terrific Chancellor and he will be sorely missed.
And thank you to the Board of Governors of the University of the Arts London and all the members of staff.
And to all you gorgeous young students, you look absolutely fabulous from my position on high here.
I mean from the stage, not the afterlife, by the way [crowd laughs].
You know, you are young gifted and bright
and I was trying to cast my mind back to when I was in your position
but it's such a long time ago that I can't remember a damn thing, to be honest.
But what I can say is, with the benefit of many many years hindsight working in the media,
I think what I would have liked to have known when perhaps I was your age is to say that
after so many years of traveling all over the world, I've been deeply privileged to meet many many people from all walks of life.
From presidents right down to people living in remote villages, wherever they may be.
And I think the mark of greatness for me, what makes a person great...
I've thought about this long and hard: what are the two values that really stand out for me?
I think I would say that they are passion and compassion.
Because, you know, without compassion you can't decide or choose what is the right thing to do.
And without passion you won't have the energy or the will to actually realise it.
So whatever you do and whatever your chosen fields, always be guided by these two values - compassion and passion.
And then I believe that you will create a life of meaning and purpose for yourselves
because you're all going to try and forge wonderful careers for yourself
and I'm sure you'll be terribly successful...
You know, I love pyramids - there are 300 in the Sudan where I was born
and you are at the top of the pyramid, believe me you are.
You may come out and think: 'Oh my god, it's so hard to get a job'
but if you look at it in terms of you know the world in which you occupy
you are at the top and it is incumbent on you to create a life of meaning and purpose.
Money, yes, money is important but it's not the only thing
so, I think if you can stand many years later and think to yourselves 'what have I done with my life?'
I think that you will be deeply satisfied if you think 'Yes, I've achieved what I wanted to do'.
I'm a journalist, I've shown I have an inquiring mind
curiosity, that's very important...
and I think they're the words of advice I'd like to give you.
You understand communication. Communication is so important.
Use it in whatever manifestation you choose, because reality is complex
and a complex idea simply explained is really really powerful.
So, do remember that and I thank you all
and I wish you all the very very best of luck.
Renewed thanks to you Kwame and Nigel and everybody else.
Thank you.
[Applause and cheering]