Report by Gabriel Ogunjobi, 400L Student of Obafemi Awolowo University

On the 25th and 26th of November, 2016, African StudentsFor Liberty (ASFL) organized a 2-day Write For Liberty Workshop which took place at the U.I Cooperative Building, University of Ibadan.

The aim of the workshop was to educate, develop, empower and motivate pro-liberty students to write in defense of liberty in and outside their schools and local communities.

34 students from the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Ilorin, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Delta State University, and Ladoke Akintola Univeristy of Technology were engaged through series of lectures by various speakers at the maiden writing workshop.

Olumayowa Okediran, SFL African Programs Manager who spoke on “Liberty in Contemporary Africa”, emphasized the need for pro-liberty writers to understand what sells in their immediate environment in order to channel their writings to issues that matter most.  Also, he encouraged participants to find their strength in writing, either about Africa’s contemporary policies/issues or libertarian ideology.

Dr. Pogoson, a Political Science lecturer at the university pitched the cord on “How Youths Can Write Actively on Democracy’. She challenged the participants to think wide enough in order to identify the features of a functional democracy. She outlined some areas which she believes youth advocacy could be focused, which are: protection of fundamental human rights, economic freedom. She emphasized the importance of a vibrant civil society in democratic processes in Africa.

A journalist from The Cable, ‘Mayowa Tijani lectured on “The Importance of Data-driven Journalism.” He analyzed how to consult reliable sources for facts in journalism. This, he advanced, will help writers resist the confrontation of tyrannical governments or individuals who may not be comfortable with their works.

Peter Oluleke, former Local Coordinator at ASFL and founder of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development spoke on “Economic Freedom and Development in Africa.” He explained why some countries are poor while some are rich; and also how greater economic freedom leads to overall wellbeing in a society.

On the second day, Femi Ogunjobi, Chairman of ASFL Executive Board, took the audience through the topic, “How to Write for your Intended Audience”.  The interest of the audience, he explained, should be the priority and focus of the writer. He also established on the crucial importance of feeding one’s particular audience with the right information peculiar to their culture with a view of promoting or correcting certain ills within. “The primary assignment of a writer is to an exact audience and every piece of work must be channeled towards this”, he added.

Remilekun Alex Ojekunle from the Nigerian Bulletin gave practical ways of maximizing social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and so in pitch ones articles to a larger audience. He said, “Writers find satisfaction when they know they have a large audience.”

Wale Ajetunmobi, editor at the Campus Life of The Nation Newspaper lectured on “Introduction to Writing and Publishing”. He gave a clear-cut distinction between mere writing and journalistic writing. He admonished student journalists to be brief, updated and not opinionated in their news stories if they are to meet publication requirements.

Stephen Oyedemi, member of the ASFL Executive Board and lead organizer of the workshop spoke on “Utilizing Technology to Advance Freedom in Africa.” He explained how the internet is being used to advance freedom and how writing goes hand-in-hand with the use of social media and blogging platforms. He also encouraged the participants of the workshop to take advantage of opportunities in SFL such as the SFL academy and the Local Coordinators Program for those willing to join ASFL leadership.

Certificates of participation were issued to interested participants at the end of the workshop.