Muhammed Ngallan: The Youngest UTGSU President and the Journey He Never Planned

Muhammed Ngallan did not set out to become President of the University of The Gambia Students’ Union (UTGSU). Yet, at a young age, he found himself making history as the youngest person to hold the position.
His journey to the presidency was shaped by years of student leadership, personal struggles and, as he puts it, Allah’s plan.

Before becoming Union President, Ngallan had already built a record of service. At the University of The Gambia, he served as Vice President of the Law Students’ Association, Campaign Manager of Alliance in 2024 and later Chairperson of the Alliance 10-Man Committee.
His leadership experience began even earlier at Nusrat, where he served as Vice President of the Peer Health Educators Club and President of the Nusrat Students’ Welfare Association.

Ngallan remembers a moment during his freshman orientation that he initially dismissed as a joke. After the then President of the Law Students’ Association, H.E. Mariama Sowe Esq., delivered her speech, his colleague Fatoumatta Baldeh whispered to him, “This will be you in three years.”
He laughed it off.

Three years later, the prediction had become reality. His journey took him from Vice President of Law to Campaign Manager of Alliance and eventually to a presidential candidate. But alongside his growing leadership profile was a personal struggle with finances.
Financial difficulties forced him to defer a semester, despite writing to more than 30 institutions in search of scholarship opportunities. Looking back, Ngallan believes those disappointments were part of a bigger plan.
Had he received a scholarship, he believes he might never have qualified to contest for the presidency.

Becoming President brought a different kind of responsibility. Ngallan said one of his major challenges was navigating what he described as excessive bureaucracy, procrastination and delays within university management.
He recalled an attempt to secure a bus for students through the Chinese Embassy and UTG Confucius. Although the proposal had been submitted and only required a supporting letter from the Vice Chancellor, months passed without the matter being resolved.
Frustrated by the delay, his administration eventually engaged the relevant government ministry directly. Within a week, the proposal and supporting letter were secured.
For Ngallan, the experience demonstrated the importance of efficiency and institutional responsiveness when advancing students’ interests. He also identified limited partner support and what he perceived as gaps within some directorates as additional challenges during his administration.

Among the achievements of his administration, Ngallan considers the expansion of scholarship beneficiaries to 150 students particularly significant. The achievement was personal for him.
Coming from an underprivileged background, financing his own education and experiencing the consequences of inadequate financial support, he understood the difficulties faced by students from less privileged families.
Providing financial support to students therefore became more than an administrative responsibility. It was a cause he could personally relate to and a source of fulfilment.
His administration also advocated for more than 40 students who, according to him, had been unfairly sanctioned by the Senate. Through his advocacy at the Governing Council, he challenged the decision and questioned the competency of the lecturer involved.
Another significant milestone was the passage and assent of the Persons with Disabilities Bill, which sought to establish stronger mechanisms for protecting the rights and advancing the welfare of students with disabilities at UTG.

For Ngallan, leadership changed his understanding of responsibility. He said the experience taught him patience, honesty, respect, directness and the courage to engage in difficult arguments when necessary.
As President, he interacted with professionals, future professionals and people with different levels of knowledge and experience. Navigating those relationships required emotional maturity and adaptability.
But one lesson stood above the rest: leadership is sacrifice.
The Legacy of the Youngest President
Despite making history as the youngest UTGSU President, Ngallan does not want his legacy to be defined by his age or title.

He wants to be remembered as a servant who honoured the trust placed in him; someone who understood his responsibilities and fulfilled them to the best of his ability, with respect, dedication and loyalty to students.
Most importantly, he wants to remain the same person he was before assuming the presidency. He wants to be remembered as the Ngallan who entered the journey and the Ngallan who remained through it. Because, in his own words, “there never will exist another Ngallan.”

To students and aspiring leaders, Ngallan’s advice is simple: be humble, respectful and honest. He encourages young people not to reshape themselves simply to satisfy the expectations or perceptions of others.
For the youngest President in UTGSU history, authenticity was not just a personal principle. It was part of what carried him through a journey he never planned, but ultimately embraced as his purpose.