The Influence of Jonathan Gullible in Africa

By Rowland Kingsley

Rowland Kingsley on the left (with red scarf) with friends from Kenya

In 2012 I came into the University of Ibadan as a freshman and became inspired by a small libertarian circle known as the African Student Liberty Organization .

Odunola Oladejo was the coordinator of the campus chapter and also part of the team that performed the stage production of “A Letter From Jonathan Gullible.” She encouraged me to pick up the book by Ken Schoolland, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible. This motivated me to dig further into the libertarian philosophy. In the wake of this process, as I read through the book, the ideals of a free market became real. The more I digested every page of the book the more my desire for libertarian ideology grew.

In 2014, I was nominated by the local organizing campus committee to plan for the West African Regional Conference. With some of my friends from the Theatre Arts Department I reintroduced the play by Adedayo Thomas, “A Letter From Jonathan Gullible.” We had an amazing stage performance that intrigued the entire audience of more than 500 students from over 10 universities in Nigeria and other countries of Africa.

Sincerely speaking, the story of Jonathan Gullible was something that depicts the reality of entrepreneurship and the use of economic rights. Thank you professor Schoolland for introducing such an amazing adventure!

When I began my first journey as a student libertarian I was really impressed with reading your book and how it inspired me. One of my dreams was to keep in touch with you someday to share more practical experiences and to learn from you.

Part of my future plans is to lead a global campaign on a free society and libertarian ideology specifically to review government policies on economic growth, rule of law and human rights. I also look forward to an internship with a top libertarian organization and a few years from now I would love to proceed for my postgraduate degree on international trade policy, international development, or any related courses within the social sciences.

I see myself engaging government in effective ways to restore freedom and to organize society to function as a free market in the nearest future.

Pictures below from 2013 (Jonathan Gullible theatrical performance).

The large crowd was at the 2014 West Africa Regional Conference in Nigeria.