SIGNING OFF Two years is a long time in the life of some creatures; but not so with man.

What has length of time to do with life if there is no impact? When I started writing this column, I did not know that it will last this long. I have never really considered myself a writer. I dont think I have become one even now. I still may become one someday! Passion and share doggedness is what has sustained me in this last two years. I believed I had a message and I worked hard to deliver it. Whether or not I succeeded is now a matter for posterity. It has been a real challenge to meet my deadline from week to week over these two years. I believe that I did miss one week because my submission was lost in cyberspace. Let me say here that I had the temptation to stop long ago. This had nothing to do with my editor or the loss of inspiration. Just that I dont like to do the same thing for too long especially if my life does not depend on it. I have been thinking lately also of moving on in my career to explore new places and find new challenges. Perhaps for share cowardice, I have worked in one institution all my life. I like to believe that I have remained because of my sense of patriotism. But only God can tell the truth. Let me tell you that I have really enjoyed the generous compliments of the readers of my column. I have received such glowing commendation sometimes that I have wondered if I really deserved them. In the last one week, I have received calls from some individuals urging me to continue. Even if I felt convinced you would agree with me that these are bad times for such actions. Unfortunately, I have no office to occupy in Tribune let alone perpetuate myself in the office. Life is in phases and there is a time to write and a time to read others. It is important to remember that sometime ago, there was no Preying Mantis, but life was good. After Preying Mantis, people will still enjoy Tribune. No one is indispensable. In another few weeks, most people will forget about the column and what it stood for. That is life and there is nothing wrong in attuning ourselves to the circle that life is. Every position is for an appointed time. The fact that we are applauded is not enough reason why we must begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to. Better people are yet to be born and more glorious things will be done after we are gone. I know of a man who was snatched from the jaws of death and made the ruler of a country to try him out if his conversion was real. For a while he remembered his God and for a while longer he remembered his women. Then a little while longer after his memory recessed, he sought the glories of men and enjoyed the adulation of Hippocrates. He thought in his heart to build a castle to heaven and would have climbed up high but that God in his mercy caused him to fall while he could still be saved. We must be humble enough to recognize that we are a piece in the puzzle of life. Preying Mantis stood for two values: change and reflection. The title is a pun on the insect Praying Mantis, except that I chose to prey on old, worn out and beaten paths. The insect in my culture is a symbol of meditation and sobriety. I hope that I have been able to interest ten people in these two years. I hope that I have influenced one person enough to make a difference in his or her life. After writing to others it is time to listen to myself and hear the voice within. I want to meditate and cultivate the discipline of quiet contemplation. I want to recede to the recesses of light. I want to look deep inside and close my gates to the noise outside. Life does not wait for anyone and every day diminishes in our opportunities to achieve our purpose. If your aim is to seek greatness, go on, but I will have no part in the acclaim of men. If your aim is to appropriate the world to yourself, and own all men, good luck. We can posses, but only a fool may believe that he can own anything. Perhaps your life goal is the pursuit of happiness! Until the chains of discrimination are broken and the gates of oppression lifted, there may be happiness but no joy. If you seek liberty through

human institutions, know that until we recognize the brotherhood of man and disown violence in all forms we may be free but have no liberty. As we struggle to lead men, I ask where are those who fight to serve. As we scream for rights, I seek those who take responsibility. Today I disclaim this nation. I reject my citizenship, my gender, my color, my class, my ethnicity. I am generic, I come from nowhere, I am nobody, I seek nothing and recognize no peoples. This is my ambition. Let me not be because being has lost its meaning!