The Luminous movement popularly abbreviated as LM was etymologically coined from the slogan, The Future Is Luminous. The movement was founded by Owiti Owayo – a student at the University of Nairobi. He’s actually the coiner of the slogan which has pervaded almost the entire nation.
The slogan is common among youths. It’s a sort of inspirational quote which holds that despite the present state of turbulence, there lies ahead, the future state of magnificence. The slogan is philosophically coined given the fact that Owiti Owayo is a pursuer of philosophy.
Now, given the massive number of people who were cherishing in the slogan, Owayo also known as Mr Luminous, was motivated to form a movement out of the slogan and he called it, the Luminous Movement. The establishment of LM as Owayo once put it, “…is predicated on certain philosophical ideologies and concepts”. Such include, the philosophy of the imbalanced Beam (Owiti’s) and the Philosophy of Nonviolence.
The primary objective of LM is to educate varsity students on the need for peaceful resolutions to their problems as opposed to violence. Owayo says that in the past, students in different institutions of higher learning, have always resorted to violence as the only recourse to their grievances and this has far-reaching consequences.
In the same vein, the movement intends also to change the nature of engagement between the students and the administrations. In fact, LM advocates for structured dialogue and discourses as opposed to combative approaches. This, in the long run, will put each opposing side to a point of compromise which evinces a particular course of action. Besides, LM is looking forward to partnering with other stakeholders in preaching peace and building bridges as well as reconciling other Kenyans. By extension, it intends to help in the area of environmental conservation e.g planting of trees.
The movement has also been incorporated by the UNESCO, Kenya, under its initiative, Wajibu Wetu. The Luminous Movement is scheduled to have its conference on 1st August 2018 – a conference where all the members of LM from across the country, will be attending.
Statistics show that LM is currently the most popular initiative by students to change the status quo. The movement has its branches in the institutions. So, generally, I think LM if properly organised, might transform our society.
Guest post submitted by Ian Njogu, an electrical engineering student at the University of Nairobi.
