University of Ibadan hosts West Africa Regional Conference 2021

Olajide Oladokun
The 2021 edition of the West Africa Regional Congress, which was hosted by Student For Liberty, Africa, was held on Saturday, September 11, at Otunba Subomi Conference Hall of the University of Ibadan.
The conference is aimed at bringing together hundreds of young African students and professionals, leaders and experts across the continent to debate critical issues and propose free market based solutions and steer social change across Africa.
The tone for this edition of the conference, which was anchored by Oluwadamilola Adepoju and Bayonle Fesobi, was set by three top leaders of the SFL who introduced the organization’s programs and operations to the participants and shared success stories recorded so far.
The first speaking session was handled by the Director of Programs, Olumayowa Okediran. He spoke on police brutality and human rights abuses in Nigeria. Drawing from his wealth of experience, he schooled the participants on how to stay safe should they have a bout with the unfriendly police force.
Taiwo Adebulu, the Head of the Fact Check desk, The Cable Nigeria, was in charge of the second speaking session. He spoke to the audience about the brutal killings of protesters on October 20, 2020, during the EndSars protest and the truths and untold stories of the Lekki massacre which were investigated.
Other speakers were Vahyala Kwaga, a policy analyst for BudgIT, who exposed the audience the negative effects of deficit spending and excessive borrowing, particularly among state governments in Nigeria, Linda Kavuka Libert, the Managing Director at African Liberty, Kenya, who educated the participants on how to open Africa for business, and Wale Ajetunmobi, the Special Assistant (Media) to Lagos State Governor, who emphasized on accountability in Governance in the last speaking session.
Various panel sessions were also held during the conference. The first was titled ‘Media gag in Nigeria; Dictatorship guise in Democracy?’ The panelists debated extensively on this, examining the roles of the press in Nigeria and the part being played by the Nigerian government.
Bayonle Fesobi, the regional coordinator, moderated the second panel session which was centered on ‘Youth Engagement and Citizen Participation in Governance ’. The third and fourth session were tagged ‘Will Crypto Make or Mar The Economy’? and ‘Women and Human rights in Africa’ respectively.
The conference director closed the conference by appreciating the speakers, panelists, friends, guests and leaders of the organization including donors and sponsors.