President Paul Kagame yesterday told a gathering of young professionals that pursuing their dreams and becoming what they want to be in life was their right but also their responsibility.

Kagame was speaking at Imbuto Foundation Young Professionals’ Forum in Kigali held under the theme, "Beyond This Moment.” The forum brought together 500 professionals from private and public sector in the country.

"We cannot change nor do anything about our past. We can only draw lesson from that past, but we can change our moments and our future. ” he said.

The President told youth at the young Rwandans that dignity and pride are essential but are only made real by action.

"Our pride should be backed up by action. We must match our pride, our aspirations with what we do.”

The President pointed to Rwanda’s past as an unforgettable lesson in taking responsibility.

"Twenty years ago, the country was standing at the edge. One step further and no one knows where we would have been. Who did you see in this whole world coming to save you?”

President Kagame added that the responsibility to shape one’s future should never be delegated:

"If you think someone is going to save you from being on the edge, you are as mistaken as you were 20 years ago. No one will show up. And why should you expect them to? No one else will do the hard work for you. Understand from the beginning that you are the one to carry this burden.”

Pointing to the prevailing tendency for African nations to be lectured or defined by others, Kagame urged the youth to demand more from themselves and have the courage to stand up to injustice:

"Have the courage to say no, this is not for me, this is not where I belong. I reject it. Just like young people got together and rejected injustice and being stateless forever.”

President Kagame cautioned against placing praise above action.

"Don’t celebrate too much, don’t congratulate yourself too much. Just feel proud that you stood up for yourself and be ready to do it whenever it comes up,” he said.

On the issue of building one nation, Kagame called on the youth to build a nation that leaves no citizen behind.

"Remember you are not alone. Think of everything as we. The beauty of we is that it leaves no one behind and includes you.

"We are one family. We are different. We can argue. But in the end, we come back together.The moment we allow ourselves not to be the family of Rwandans that we are, we are losing collectively and individually,” Kagame added.

‘Sparks of innovation’

Earlier during the forum, First Lady, Jeannette Kagame told the young professionals that if they are to achieve more than what they have today, they ought to take on new challenges and pursue innovative ideas to the limit.

"Rwanda is at a stage where we know that anything is possible; we know this because we continue to see sparks of innovations and moments of brilliance in the youth. To be impactful, we need to cultivate the spirit of connecting the good work we do at different levels, building confidence based on knowledge and sharing our knowledge with others,” she said.

Mrs Kagame added that, "What we mostly have is a solid foundation but we cannot remain at the foundation level, we need to aspire for more and for better.”

Over the past seven years, different forums discussed topics including Seeds of Leadership, while the foundation supported young people to navigate the pathways of life and select the ingredients that lead to success.

"We have encouraged youth to become ambassadors of change and to begin their journey with and in their mind,” she said.

"We are optimistic that the fire to push the boundaries of excellence, innovation and creativity, has been ignited in you. But one the key things that we have learned through our experience is that the fire at times dies down shortly after our interactions. We want to encourage a more long term outlook at the important issues we take on.”

In inspiring young professionals to aim farther than their reach, the First Lady said Rwanda is at a stage where we know that anything is possible because of its innovative and brilliant youth.

The Minister for Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, tipped the youth on how to exploit the opportunities at their disposal saying that with a growing economy, opportunities are in abundance.

"You have to be able to start with what you have in your hands whatever small and apply resilience. Whatever you have as an idea you can start from it and achieve great thing.” he said.

The forum drew several speakers on crosscutting topics. Among the speakers was Verna Eggleston, the former commissioner of New York City’s Human Resources Administration.

In inspiring the youth to go beyond their reach, Eggleston said, "the boundaries of your community will be the boundaries of your world meaning that if you only know your community and its limited, then your world will be limited – that will be your point of entry and your point of exit and there will be no more for you.”