Dear Editor,
The gravest mistake many people make in life is the belief that status and money are the defining measures of worth. We live in a world that glorifies wealth, applauds titles, and bows to positions. Yet these things, so fragile and fleeting, crumble in the face of life’s hardest truths.
When a person is at their most vulnerable, stripped of health, weighed down by immense pain, or staring into the face of death, all the glitter of status fades into silence. The possessions that once filled their home and the power that once turned heads cannot soothe a trembling heart or ease a suffering body. In those moments, people finally see life with piercing clarity: the only currency that matters is love, and the only status worth having is loyalty.
It is in weakness that we discover who truly stands with us. The loyal are not drawn by glamour but anchored by devotion. They are the ones who sit quietly at a hospital bedside, who answer the midnight call, who offer their strength when ours has gone. They ask for nothing in return, because their presence is not a performance, it is a commitment born of love and when we are at our lowest we then realise it is not the status nor the title or even the money that matters but that soul who is willing to give it all up to ensure our dignity is maintained to the final end.
Love, in its truest form, is not loud or showy. It is quiet, patient, and unyielding. It does not waver when titles disappear or fortunes fade. Instead, it reveals itself most powerfully when we have nothing left to give.
Perhaps this is why many, at the end of their journey, regret not how little money they made, but how little love they gave. They regret not the loss of status, but the loss of time with those who loved them in spite of it. For in the final hour, when the world grows small and tomorrow is no longer promised, we all come to understand that the greatest wealth is found not in possessions, but in the people who choose to walk with us even in the darkest valley.
It is at those moments that we are filled with regrets and we try to make amends fully recognising that those we thought would have given it all, look the other way and even those who choose to look intermittently do so without the ultimate burden of sacrifice.
So let us learn this truth before it is too late: status may impress, and money may serve, but only loyalty and love endure.
When the body weakens and the curtain of life begins to close, it is not applause we crave, but the touch of a hand that will not let go. The hand that is there, soothing and guiding till the very last where,in our final moments, our fears of transitioning is met with a steady and ever present hand of guidance and love.
I am a living witness to this not once or twice and nothing in all creation can change the course of this realisation.
Melville Robertson Roberts
UK
President Barrow’s speech: The difference between words and actions
Dear Editor,
I just listened to President Barrow’s speech, and I have to say that I was very disappointed. It was a speech with very little substance. As in many episodes where he has been forced by circumstances to make an appearance before the nation, the speech was not a testament to good leadership. A leader does not wait until circumstances force them to the podium.
The president made reference to the right to protest. However, the tragic incident that occurred in Mandinary was the wrong context in which to bring up that issue. The loss of life did not occur during a protest that turned violent. Rather, individuals came out to display their grievances only after a life was taken by law enforcement. There is a big difference.
In any case, the president’s mention of the right to protest is at odds with his government’s track record. Recently, many requests for permits to peacefully protest were denied by the IGP for no good reason. It was only after citizens forced the issue that subsequent permits were granted. This is not a government that respects the constitutional right to protest. The government treats protest as a privilege it grants rather than a right.
The president also mentioned that his administration is open to dialogue. This is laughable. A government that is open to dialogue, particularly with the youth, would not wait for moments of crisis. Given the crisis facing the youth of the country today – in terms of lack of employment, lack of investment in sports facilities, and general hopelessness about the economy – a serious government wouldn’t be talking about dialogue during moments of crisis. It would have initiated it long ago.
Finally, there was a glaring omission in the president’s speech. There was no mention of the much-needed security sector reform. This omission was not surprising, because that would be an admission of failure in his leadership. This failed leadership is the actual cause of the crisis we are facing as a nation.
Dr Ousman Gajigo
KMC
