Today is such an important day in the political history of Rwanda. It was just on July 1, 1962 that Rwanda managed to get, on paper at least, its "political" independence at the hands of German and Belgian colonial masters, respectively.

Being a Rwandan myself just in my mid-twenties now, I couldn't witness that historic Independence Day, 51 years ago. Neither could my mom. In fact, she was born two years later!

But all I recall from my history course, interviews and internet-assisted research is that, to sum it up, the day was, as you may imagine, such an ecstatic function. Just imagine a Rwandan, for instance, going forward to raise the Rwandan flag in replacement for the Belgian flag as a formal symbol of independence. And, to add some more flavor, with fellow Rwandans singing the national anthem at the same time. Well, I can only guess it was just breathtaking. And the same was echoed all across Rwanda and throughout neighbouring Burundi - Rwanda's colonial twin under what was then known as "Ruanda-Urundi" - which also became independent on July 1, 1962.

Years of unrest then ensued, however. Ranging from war, military coup, killings and displacements of thousands of Rwandans mainly towards Rwanda's neighbouring countries, to climax into the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi; too much of a nightmare to give room to three schools of thought, that Rwanda was possibly not prepared to become independent, that Rwanda suffered a bad governance rule and that, finally, Rwanda's colonial masters had already messed up everything when they introduced IDs bearing mention of "forged" ethnic identities in the early 1930s and, accordingly, set up dividing ideologies all geared at sowing hatred among Rwandans.

A lot of literature can be written at length around those three schools of thought to elaborate more on how each of them has been at play up till 1994. So let's not ramble on that; it was just food for thought for our dear scholars.

As Rwanda today celebrates her 51 years since independence, it's also a time to reflect on how the country has risen up again from scratch as a result of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and has, in a blink of just 19 years now, emerged among the world's fastest growing economies, according to a World Bank report released early this year. To add to that, Rwanda's GDP per capita rose from $593 in 2011 to $644 in 2012, with one million Rwandans being lifted up the poverty line and poverty dropping by 11.8 percent since 2006. And the national budget is now home-grown at 60 percent while in the education sector, there are now far more schools, universities and higher learning institutes than at any other time in the history of Rwanda.

These are just a few milestones to suggest what a true "independence" should be.

Even happier today are an estimated 100,000 Rwandans scattered around the world that have seen their refugee status written off since June 30. They had been living in exile for decades now as a result of different hardships that had been plaguing Rwanda up until the Genocide against the Tutsi back in 1994.

Some had been voluntarily returning to their homeland, Rwanda, while others had been enjoying greener pastures abroad. But even if the latter decided to keeping living abroad - because of their different interests - they would be legal settlers as they have now seen their refugee label cancelled.

Others - like the ones in composed, cheerful voices in a BBC news report aired early today as they were crossing the border into Rwanda from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo - will keep returning home to play their role in the continued development of their beloved country.