Six years ago, I started

this column with a piece titled “Challenge Before the African Youth”. It was an article I wrote as a homework during my postgraduate studies in Journalism.

Strictly speaking, I had no intention whatsoever to be a columnist. I was never a practising journalist, and my job as the Business Development Director of the Rivers State  Newspaper Corporation did not leave me with enough time to engage in a challenging task as writing a weekly column. But Mr Victor Tew, a gifted historian and versatile journalist, who was the Editorial Page Editor at the time fanned my zeal in starting the column. He described the first piece and indeed the subsequent ones as incisive and purposeful and encouraged me to keep up the tempo of my writing.

My major teacher in maintaining the column was the Research and Training Editor, Mr Desmond Osueke. With his formidable background in the theory and practice of journalism, he would cross the t’s, dot the i’s, and sometimes modify or completely change the titles of my articles with an amazing professional ease. And so were the likes of Messrs Boye Salau and Nelson Chukwudi who would usually go through my scripts before publication. These are inspirational workers and seasoned journalists who motivated me to keep the column going for the past years.  In fact, they tried to dissuade me from ending the column. But I have to give it up to enable me prepare for my retirement from public service this year.

Mention must also be made of Messrs Arnold Alalibo and Jeminah Amachree, who at every edition of my column would not fail to comment on my piece. Without the encouragement of these people, this column would perhaps have died a long time ago.

Yes, as defined by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 6th Edition: “A columnist is a journalist who writes regular articles, usually on a particular topic, for a newspaper or magazine.” But to all intents and purposes, a columnist is a spectator described by the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, as a thinker. According to Pythagoras, those who go to Olympian games can be classified into three categories: the first, that is, the lowest, is the group that goes there to buy and sell, to make profit; the next is the one that goes to compete, to gain honours, and the last which is the best group is the one that is there as a spectator, reflecting upon and analyzing the activities of both the first and second categories.

The activities of the columnist as a  thinker and philosopher uplift him or her above the slant of a sports man, an engineer, a medical doctor, an artist, a university professor, a business man, a lawyer, and so, to a very high plane where he sees political and socio-economic happenings holistically, without bias or prejudice.

So whether a columnist is writing a book review, editorial opinion, or a sports piece, he must have passion for wisdom, truth, right knowledge, frankness, and reading. And above all, he must develop a burning interest in words and writing.

The challenge of developing an article that offers a personal point of view on a topical issue every week has impressed upon me that not more than two out of every ten persons who want to be columnists would succeed. Why? These requirements, especially time and interest, for success in sustaining daily or weekly columns are highly elusive among many journalists.

When H. Allen Smith, the author of Low Man On A Totem Pole, a humour book collected and published in 1941 from his popular column was interviewed, he said: “Just between you and me, it’s tough. A typewriter can be a pretty formidable contraption when you sit down in front of it and say: ‘All right, now I’m going to be funny”.

My academic background in development economics, public policy analysis, and advertising helped me a great deal in maintaining the column over these years, but my major key to success was interest. With interest, I found time to do research for each column; with interest, I came up  with fresh ideas; with interest I increased my writing skill, and with interest, I tried every week to meet deadline.

I must say that I have enjoyed tremendous benefits from writing the column for some years now. The column provided me with a unique opportunity to add my voice to political, economic, and social discourse that have guided not only the policy decisions of the various levels of government in Nigeria but also those of other nations across the world.

Since 2006 when the column was started, I have covered a wide range of topics some of which are: Planning the National Economy, The Far Country, The Privatisation Mystic, Weep Not Teachers, Truth: Just One More Step, and When the Oil is Gone … Others include The Burden of Poverty, Royal Fathers and Quest for Political Stability, Amaechi and the Challenge of Development, Food Scarcity: Perils Ahead; Civil Service of Our Dream, Gaddafi and the Burden of Karma, and Who are the Progressives?

My articles within the last one month are The Forces Against P. I. B; Asuu’s Unending Strike, Still on Nigeria’s Corruption War, Budget and Primacy of Politics, and Bomb Blasts, Too Many.

In fact, not only has the column made me more relevant to my organization, it has also, I believe, added dignity to my person.

I thank the wonderful people who urged me deeper into maintaining the column for about six years. And I salute those who kept faith with it while it lasted.

Mostly, I thank my wife, Mrs Ernestina Ochonma and my late son, Mr Vahana Ochonma for their cooperation, understanding, and loving support to a fledgling writer.

I wrote this column to help myself and my readers expand our awareness of the critical issues that are shaping the destiny of our nation and the rest of the world. But just like the season and every other thing in this world, I find today the time to end this column and say goodbye to my highly esteemed readers.