Students Honour Legacy of Ratu Sukuna

Students across Fiji National University’s campuses in the country paid tribute to the enduring legacy of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna through cultural displays, educational reflections, and renewed commitments to indigenous knowledge and national development yesterday.

At Natabua Campus in Lautoka, the Ratu Sukuna Day celebration concluded as students showcased their talents through traditional activities.

From coconut husking and scraping to basket weaving, the event blended festivity with reflection placing emphasis on the values and leadership of Fiji’s most revered statesman.

Chief guest Kasanita Nayasi, Assistant Professor in Education said: “My own Ph.D dissertation powerfully echoes and expands upon the visionary leadership of Ratu Sukuna. My work honours indigenous knowledge systems, particularly vanua pedagogies, not just as valid, but as vital. It offers a model of education that uplifts, rather than erases, identity.

“It asks: How can we create learning spaces where iTaukei students excel academically, not by leaving their culture at the door, but by bringing it with them, proudly, as a source of strength?”

Meanwhile, at the Nasinu Campus, chief guest Lavinia Tiko, Associate Professor in Monitoring and Evaluation at the College of Humanities and Education, reflected on Ratu Sukuna’s balanced vision of progress.

“Ratu Sukuna understood the importance of blending the strengths of Western knowledge with the richness of our traditional values. That spirit of balance, of modern advancement rooted in cultural identity, is one we continue to uphold here at FNU,” she said.

“Every time we teach, research, innovate, or graduate a new cohort of young professionals, we are living out his legacy. We are helping to build the kind of nation he dreamed of, one where leadership is informed, grounded, and guided by a deep sense of responsibility.”

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