The African Students For Liberty (ASFL), a branch of the global network of organizations under the umbrella, Students For Liberty (SFL) has held its 2nd annual conference, with the theme: 'Understanding Individual Freedom', centering on knowledge, expertise and active engagement with the youths, with the main aim of sharing and contributing to the depth and breadth of development of the youths.
Put together to inspire students across Africa, the Washington-based nonprofit organisation has a mission to provide a unified, student-driven forum to support students and student organisations dedicated to human rights, social, intellectual, individual and economic liberties around the world.
The 2-day Conference which was held at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan, recently, had gathered more than 600 students within Nigeria and few countries in Africa, ranging from Kenya, Ghana, among others.
African Students For Liberty is an offshoot of Students For Liberty; a non-profit organization, whose mission is to provide a unified, student-driven forum of support for students and students organizations dedicated to liberty. Also, the body seeks to empower students to become leaders and agents of change in their communities, particularly within their university community.
SFL has a presence around the world with over 1, 200 groups and has trained over 400 student leaders who undergo extensive leadership trainings, while also providing hundreds of thousands of resources to students globally.
During his remark, the organisation's African Programs Manager, Mr Olumayowa Okediran, said the conference was borne out of the fact that Africa has been faced with myriad of problems which are affecting the country youths negatively.
In his words: "Africa has been a case of charity for too long, but the narrative has been about a continent so poor that it cannot by itself break free from the shackles of poverty. it has been about a continent struck with the pestilence of corruption and horrendous economic situations".
During the conference, participants were, however, opportuned to hear from top speakers in the freedom movement, network with other pro-liberty students, discover countless opportunities for jobs, internships, conferences and seminars.
Among the speakers featured at the conference were; Japheth Omojuwa, blogger and activist; Alexander McCobin, President, SFL International (USA); Calvin Burgess, Founder and CEO, Dominion Group and Dominion Farms Kenya; Dr Wale Okediran, former member, Nigerian House of Representatives and Author, Tenants of the House.
Others are Peter Goettler, Former Managing Director, Barclays Capital, USA; Kofi Bentil, Vice President, Imani Ghana; Fred Roeder, Director Young Voices, Germany and Dele Babatunde, Managing Partner, Career Forte, among others.
Alexander McCobin, a Co-founder of Students For Liberty and Executive Director of the organization, while speaking with newsmen said: we look forward to an exciting and successful sessions deliberating on the state of Africa and the role of individual and economic liberty in Africa's development.
He further stressed that the organisation is non-part ian, we are a Libertarian movement and we give students platform to network with other pro-liberty students, discover countless opportunities for jobs, internships, conferences and seminars and have a lot of fun while doing this.
Speaking earlier on students' expectations for the programme, Japheth Omojuwa, blogger and activist, said that the event is a platform for students to meet with an array of inspiring lectures and build an endless networking with pro-liberty students and young professionals from around the world.
"It will be an avenue for students to relate with speakers that would speak on entrepreneurship, self-reliance and the respect for the rule of democracy. A lot has been put together to ensure that African students at the conference will be impacted positively," he said.
The conference seeks to serve as a combination of pep rally, debate forum and networking session for students interested in the principles of true freedom in Africa.
