Truth: Working without going on retirement!.

As I celebrated my 75th birthday, with the grace of the Lord, at my Liberty Garden residence in Mutengene, on Saturday April 25, 2026, some friends in the governing system asked me: "Why are you still working at The Guardian Post and agitating for the retirement of governors at 60?

Scientific medical reports confirm that at 60, reflexes are feeble, especially in demanding command positions and tasking elective or management offices.

But the same research shows that some people, and with the grace of the Creator, I belong to that category, are "mentally more alert than some, many years younger than them".

I thank God, and apart from the Divine grace, writing does not require the challenging physical dexterity needed for complex conflict and management crises or even strikes by workers or provision of social amenities and infrastructure, which governors, ministers and some top political office holders are confronted with daily.

Writing as I do, and to quote Kristian Ngah Christian, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Post, who employed me as Editorialist without an application, is to "sharpen your writing skills so as not to forget them".

It has indeed done that, thanks to Information and Communication Technologies. It has deleted the hustle and bursting of going to the motor park to dispatch my handwritten script, or to the fax machines that are almost obsolete.

I work from home with no hassle, and at my pace, although often dictated by the Energy of Cameroon, ENEO, which decides when to provide electricity. There is no gainsaying the fact that much is needed for the country to emerge in the magic year of 2035.

That's the difference working on retirement, depending on professions, callings and not on taxpayers' dollars. 

To tie the classical distinction between occupation and profession as Sociologist Everett Hughes puts it: "The occupational identity goes with the unlimited working activity along the life of a journalist till he dies".

Research has also indicated that working after retirement age offers significant advantages, including increased financial security, improved mental and physical health, and a stronger sense of purpose.

Other benefits include staying socially connected to reduce risks or keeping control of dementia, high blood pressure, arthritis, Parkinson diseases etc, which are often associated with people above 60. 

It is not in all professions that working at retirement age is normal till death do the professionals part.

In politics, councillors, parliamentarians and senators can work to the end of their life if their constituents find them fit. So is in music, and the film industry.

But not in positions like government ministers, State corporation General Managers, the defence and security forces and certain high-level government or foreign service diplomatic requiring alertness, and even physical fitness that make retirement at 60 not negotiable.

So, when I shout that all those due retirement should be given rest for the youth who are future leaders, I should not be liken to the Catholic priest who loves to conduct marriages but can himself not marry in opposition to Apostle Paul's writing in the Biblical Book of Timothy 3.2 (KJV/ESV); which says: "A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach".

It is not a question of using a finger and thumb to point at others while three fingers point to my heart for preaching what others should do and not me.

As a watchdog of society, to borrow from the Havard educated Ekinneh Agbor Ebai in his tribute to me at my anniversary: "... a journalist is not the comfort he provides to power, but the discomfort he imposes upon it", even on retirement.

Postscript: It's a journalist's job to try and get as near as we can, in an imperfect world, to the truth and get the truth out – Robert Fisk