Twenty-five years ago, a few hundreds of young men and women courageously took up arms to liberate Rwanda from the tyranny of a murderous and greedy clique that condemned hundreds of thousands of citizens to life in exile, while aggressively violating basic rights of those inside the country with impunity.

These brave youths would later go on to liberate this country and effectively put an end to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, even as the rest of the international community idly stood by as the genocidal regime, backed by some in the West, tried to eliminate a whole section of the population of Rwanda.

Twenty-one years later, there are lots of lessons to learn from the gallant men and women who liberated Rwanda to inspire a new generation of leaders.

For starters, some of the Liberation heroes abandoned good jobs and the respect they had earned in the countries where they and their parents had lived as refugees, while others forewent their education and business for the common good.

These were just some of the sacrifices bore by those who risked all to liberate Motherland. They sacrificed their youth with many of them paying the ultimate price.

Today, Rwanda is a new country, a liberated and thriving nation.

It’s not enough for the youth of today to acknowledge that the freedom and economic development that we enjoy and see today did not come on a silver platter. They need to critically understand the Liberation struggle, its genesis, the factors that brought it to bear and their role in consolidating the gains registered thus far.

Most importantly, the younger generations need to embrace the same values espoused by the Liberation heroes with view to walking in their footsteps and, in turn, leave this legacy to posterity.

Selflessness, self-reliance patriotism, resilience and steadfastness are values that should be cherished and promoted by all Rwandans, especially the youth, if Rwanda is to truly occupy its rightful place in the community of nations for many generations to come.