“The power of the people is stronger than the
people in power”…Wael Ghonim (1980 - ) Internet activist and computer engineer.
I’ve got the power!
Naturally,
virtually everybody loves to be powerful. We all want to be independent and
also crave to be in control of the affairs that surround us, and ultimately we
like to take charge of our environment. The lust or apparent thirst eventually
extends to supervisory roles of companies especially when we own them, and then
to politics, which provides the ticket to the presidency, the highest and most
powerful office of any nation.
The
hierarchy of needs of the human race is quite peculiar as it highlights the
progression of the degree of our needs from one stage to another, stating how
we fare at each stage and the level of power that we wield.
The
eco-system also realistically enunciates who is actually powerful in certain
settings as delineation separates the wheat from the chaff, and nature unveils
the food chain in clear ranked form, with the strongest atop.
“ Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if
you want to test a man’s character, give him power ”…Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) American Statesman and Lawyer. He
served as the 16th President of The United States of America.
Heroes!
Legends,
folklores and even Greek mythology have painted fantastic images in our heads
that give us a pretty good idea of what heroes look like. They are unusually
strong people that have the power of many men. For instance the Holy Bible
gives a vivid description of Samson who single-handedly defeated a thousand
Philistine soldiers with the jawbone of an ass, and snapped the neck of a Lion
with his bare hands. The Greeks gave us Hercules the son of Zeus who had the
power of a god and had a good heart. The DC comics gave us superman the man of
steel whose only weakness is kryptonite; otherwise he can literally move
mountains.
The
point here is we adore heroes and even wish to be them, but we fail to realize
that they also have their own challenges, and if only we were in their shoes
perhaps we would appreciate the sacrifices they make, the temptations they face
and how difficult it is to maintain their standard and integrity especially
when great power calls for an even much greater responsibility.
“Knowledge will give you power, but character
respect”…Bruce Lee (1940 -1973) Hong Kong and American actor and Martial artist.
All on us
African
countries, especially Nigeria have had great challenges in grooming leaders of
repute for as long as we can remember. Although no leader is perfect, and no
matter how good a leader is, there will always be massive criticism, which is
by principle and politically a healthy blend of capable opposition and is also
the beauty of diversity of thought. Nonetheless, most African leaders have
embarrassed themselves with greed, which culminated into corruption borne of
ignorance and lack of true intentions to prioritize the need of the people such
as the very basic amenities, oh what misuse of power.
A more
holistic perspective however reveals that the anomaly has been a long time
coming incident. Unfortunately, probably due to myopia or selfishness of the
then western world, they played a smart psychological drama on Africa.
They brought
education in part to make Africans only half-baked yet feel liberated.
Education brought to Africa is tailor-made to indoctrinate Africans to work
like slaves for people, companies and corporations.
The onus came on Africans
to break off the chain of servitude. Through the display of strength, courage
and heart, Africa has caught the world’s attention. Africa has been able to
showcase her own heroes that have real power, the power to change the world and
make it a much better place to live in, through sports, science, discovery,
entertainment and even politics, beating the western world at their own game.
The
current FIFA soccer world cup has further put Africans on the map, with
Nigerian striker Musa scoring two goals to the amazement of Nigerians. Despite
the hardship the country currently passes through, there was a reason to
finally rejoice in a long time, outshining the people in power.
In all,
it is all truly not a competition, When two elephants fight in show of
strength, it is the grass that suffers, to enjoy life, it is saner and more
humane to collaborate so that we can have both a shared mission as well as a
shared glory, why not? There is enough to go round. At this point our
government must realize that leadership and power is all about the people.
God
bless Nigeria, Africa, and the world!
Thank
you, and be awesome because you
truly are.
Akin
Abimbola.
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Sources: Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Revolution 2.0, Wikipedia,
You tube
This article is an
original piece, which was reasonably researched, contains considerable opinion
and is composed in a unique style of the author.
The names in actual
stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are fictional.
Consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for
quotes and news that are typically referenced.
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