On January 28, 1845, on the brink of releasing his last breath, Remy Ollier urges his friend Emile Vaudagne to continue his work.

This work is called La Sentinelle , a newspaper founded by him two years before ,a  masterpiece which in such a short time has helped change the outrageously unfair  landscape of our country. Indeed, in 1843 when the young coloured maverick Ollier, launches his publication,  the press is controlled by a power-hungry white oligarchy. Berquin has tried before him with La balance, but it did not last long.

Survival in a post slavery context dominated by a plantocracy highly  reluctant in catering for  the fulfillment of its  coloured fellow citizens was not an easy task. Yet,  the determination and the conviction of Rémy Ollier was to make all the difference, he relied on  his pen he called "a thousand banched whip[] " to "fight for the couloured population  but in the context of the whole nation."

In two short years, against all odds, despite the hatred, persecution and brutal attacks despite being dragged in court on ten occasions, the editor of la sentinelle made numerous breaches in the citadel of an oppressive power which sought to keep non-whites in the rent.

The brief editorial control of  Rémy Ollier was able to extract a representative for the people of color to the Legislative Council in 1843.

Besides, the institution of the British scholarship in 1844  as much as the democratisation of  traders'' access to bank loans previously  reserved for whites is attributed to his unflinching struggle .

These are but some of Ollier's achievements.

Above all, the man stands as a model for journalists who crave for truth and justice. Using his pen as a sword and his paper as a shield, Ollier turned into the knight in shining armour defending the weak. Mounted on his horse pacifique, he informed, raised awareness and protected their interests with religious zeal.

Since 1843, things have certainly changed. Our basic rights are protected and the skin color is no longer a determining factor of social mobility, but does it for that much mean that the struggle of Ollier belongs to another time?

Evil is too cunning let itself be caught without fighting back  and  modern journalists, more than ever need to uphold the challenge of  trapping its numerous strategies, should they aim at building a better society.

Rampant drug abuse, all-out violence, indifference, corruption, misinterpretation of freedom, carelessness, communal discrimination cleverly stowed under the veil of some so-called social cultural movements are  hunting grounds  likely to hide this  evil that corrodes our society. If in general, our local press takes up the torch of Remy Ollier, economic imperatives or some other vested interests sometimes seem to influence in the opposite direction, some editorial guidelines.

 The sensationalist exploitation of human tragedy favoured by a few would certainly have shocked Remy Ollier as he was scrupulously respectful of human dignity!

Anything that sells is not necessarily good, aren’t some drugs not  bitter in taste ?

That much, both readers and editors should always bear in mind...