Self aggrandisement, whatever good work one might be doing, has the off-putting effect of derailing the significance of one’s contribution.

In fact, repeatedly praising oneself suggests two, if not more, possibilities; it is either that one is doing what they are doing for the primary reason of merely pleasing society, or to merely attract society’s attention in pursuit of worldly pleasure. What is of more significance though is to do things because they are supposed to be done for the betterment of the general good. This has been the underlining principle, especially within the last few months, at the Daily Observer.

Our readers will attest to the obvious fact that the Daily Observer rarely writes in praise of our evidently relentless efforts in changing this society of ours for the better good. Yet we  often get an avalanche of letters from our readers, doing exactly that: thanking us for our “positiveness in outlook; our patriotic inclination; our effort in portraying a better and united Africa” and so on and so forth. Such commendations in fact come from outside the country almost as frequently as they do from within. From information we have gathered, many tourists rely on our website to decide their coming to this country. This means something great to us.

However, we will be wrong if we are to imply here that we do not receive mails critical of what we are doing. But this is not in any sense abnormal because nobody would expect that society would exclusively approve of what they are doing. That will be the greatest of whimsical thinking.   

Certainly, our line of approach may not represent the interest and ideals of some people. While others may not be in line with our editorial policy, for others, the quality of our paper, in terms of grammar, had been a nightmare. And one such person, until last Wednesday, had been Mr Foday Baldeh, who was nonetheless genuine enough to admit the tremendous improvement the paper has registered, as explained in a front page article  of last Wednesday’s edition.

We just want to reassure the general readership, both locally and internationally, that we shall remain true to these values that have continued to attract commendations. Our inspiration is drawn from an endless reservoir of passion guided by wisdom; love and loyalty to the nation and its leadership, as well as the wishes of you, the readers.