I have been running the Caravan of Liberty for close to two months now, it has its highs and lows, joys and disappointments, but whatever happens I keep reminding a supple heart I have that all we are doing today is worthwhile for the African continent. I keep reminding myself that I and a generation of other young Africans like myself shall come good for the African continent.
The generation of young Africans I am helping bring into the fore are; unripe, rough like uncut stones, all of them nonetheless are have loads of optimism and hope. Optimism that with the bowels of the African continent lay an abundance of resources to make all their aspirations and dreams come to fruition. They are hopeful that they have it in them to change Africa into the continent they so desire, trust me life for many a young and ordinary Africans is riddled with countless insurmountable challenges. In such an environment remaining hopeful rather coiling up in destitution remains a challenge and an ode of praise for all those who remain hopeful is in order.
What does liberty have to do with Africa’s future? What do ideas of libertarianism (that seem abstract at first) have to do with African development? Why should we the young and the students of Africa care? Over the lifetime of the Caravan of Liberty project thus far I have met students who study; Law, Mathematics, Graphic Design, Medicine, Human Resources, Business Administration, Environmental Health, and myriads of other academic disciplines. All these students, with the exception of none have one thing in common, they have a belief that they can bank on whatever they are doing today to give them a stable and fulfilling career tomorrow. What if; a force in society, an authority in comes in the way creates a buffer between them and their dreams?
What if students of medicine learn that in future they will not be allowed to practice their trade, of saving people’s lives wherever they wish, earning salaries commensurate to theirs skills and expertise? What if these students of medicine learned that efforts to create a wonderful vaccine against Ebola for example, would come to naught because of weak intellectual property systems? What if the graphic designers are constrained in an artistic environment that does not protect the rights of the ingenious artists who come up with the masterpieces? What if governments came up with legislation governing the practise of law, regulating who and who cannot become advocates for whatsoever reason?
The reason why we engage in liberty as we African Students diligently employ our energies and faculties today is simple, we need to secure our futures. We need to ensure that our table in years to come shall have milk and buttered bread on it. For us to actualize our dreams and potential we need not live in enfeebling environments, and governments almost without fail enfeeble individual ingenuity and enterprise. We need to live in environments that allow us free rein that allows us to come good and make our hard work count.
For Africa to match the pace of her development aspirations and the pace of change towards the achievement of those aspirations then the social, political and economic environment should allow individuals to breathe; to innovate and reap from that innovation, to work hard and enjoy the fruits of that diligence, to live as one deems fit, to pursue one’s own happiness. That holds true not for all societies, individuals are the anchors upon which all societies are built; all societies are functions of the strength of individuals in those societies. Societies that build arises around institutions, authorities rather than people, at the moment Africa needs the strongest people she can get and the Caravan of Liberty is project geared towards inspiring a new generation of young and strong Africans.
