Congratulations to you and your team on the 22nd anniversary of your publication The Anguillan newspaper.
Indeed, you are among the brightest and best (traditional Anguillan son of the soil), among those of us who had the opportunity to acquire a secondary education back in the day at the (V.S.S.), that was known as the Valley Secondary School on the island nation of Anguilla.
As you may recall, you may have been ahead of me by a form or two, but nonetheless we were more than fortunate to have come of age after secondary education came to Anguilla. It gave us an academic foundation to take us to greater heights, and that is why you are a visionary, a scholar, an icon, an entrepreneur, a creative thinker and a doer, who realized and filled the need for a weekly publication to chronicle Anguilla's news at home and abroad throughout the global community.
I say this with a sense of home-grown Anguillan pride (whose roots are firmly planted between Anguilla and her island neighbors across the channel (St. Martin/St. Maarten), wherever we are planted and bloomed throughout the Anguillan diasporan community ... you made us look good.
Kudos to your strength, courage and endurance for rising above, and your willingness to share opinions that differed from others, that includes yours truly, whom you gave the opportunity to write my commentary under the column, “I call it as I see it,” or Letters to the Editor. Most often, it was published without editing, and with an opinion on the other side of the spectrum from a totally different point of view.
I am truly humbled, honoured and thank you for your tolerance to realize a different point of view matters. Yet, it is not a put-down, because traditional Anguillans (sons and daughters of the soil ) and their descendants are not a monolith. Our lens may differ ever so greatly, but at the end of the day it also makes us unique.
Your tolerance broadened the scope of our lens at home and abroad. It may have been sometimes a bit off the chain, to hammer home a point of view that is different, but during most times it was precise, affirming and respectful.
Nat, you have traveled many roads, stood as tall as Mount Kilimanjaro amidst life's pathway, you have done us real good, you have taken us to greater heights, somebody knows our name (Anguilla) ... we thank you for that.
It is such a blessing that Mr. Snow, a true Friend of Anguilla and publisher of the SXM Daily Herald, is also printer of The Anguillian newspaper. As you may know, he has also given me the opportunity to express my opinion in his publication ... and I am indeed also gratified.
In closing, I wish you and yours God's richest blessings throughout 2021 and always. You are a winner with traditional home grown Anguillan pride, you are second to none. Keep on keeping on.
Yinka
P.S. I have often said many traditional Anguillans underestimate themselves when it comes to paving the foundation to make the island nation of Anguilla what it is today. I would be remiss if I did not make honorable mention of the fact we probably would have never gotten a secondary education on the island nation of Anguilla back in the day, had it not been for another visionary traditional Anguillan son of the soil, my late paternal uncle David S. Lloyd. Not only did he as a duly elected legislator in the former government initiate a proposal for a secondary school to be built on the island nation of Anguilla, he secured the funds, and as a general contractor he supervised the building of the school. It paved the way for a wordsmith and publishing guru like you, as well as so many of us whose diverse careers have taken shape at home and abroad.
