THE TRANSIENT NATURE OF POWER

By:
Ajukura, Fidelis O.
ajukurafidelisobi@gmail.com
6th May, 2023

There is nothing as sweet or pleasing as power. Being in possession of power makes one unique and outstanding in the midst of others. Power makes its possessors special and sometimes elevate them to the status of gods. Power can be so intoxicating that it can delude its bearers into believing that they're invincible. Examples abound where power holders forget about their mortality and begin to feel that they're gods. In this way, they demand or take accolade that is actually not theirs. For the purpose of clarity, what exactly is power? 'Power is the ability to control people or things'. Owing to the benefits that power confers on its holders, man, from the very beginning has been at loggerhead with each other over who should be entrusted with power.

Different societies have different means or methods of deciding who gets power. While some use their physical strength (military coup d'etat) to acquire power others use traditional or constitutional means (election).

One of the remarkable features of power is that it is transient. As far as man and human society is concerned, power does not last forever. This is why it is said that power has the tendency for diminishing returns. Unfortunately, power holders do not understand this: the desire or quest to remain in power forever has dominated the heart of many such that they no longer listen to the voice of reason. In this regard, many have lost everything including their lives in a most tragic manner.

Lord Acton, a British historian and philosopher observed that a person's sense of morality lessens as his/her power increases. It is against this background that he formulated his popular cliche 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. In our clime, members of the ruling or political class have found a way to circumvent the system such that, the principles of checks and balances are rendered ineffective. As a result, those vested with power of the state act with reckless abandon - they flout laws of the land with impunity. Many of them operate without regard for other, this behaviour often times have pitched them against members of the public. A typical example is the 'Endsars' protest that took place over two years ago.

Based on the enormous power at the disposal of our power holders, many of them equate themselves to God. Whenever they open their mouth to speak, you'll notice an excessive conceit of their brilliance and superiority. But a day will come when they will relinquish that which makes them swollen headed - power. That day, they will understand that they're mere mortals and belong to the human society in which Aristotle, in his book, 'The Politics' refer to as the 'Polis'. By the time they step down from power, all the paraphernalia of office and the noise that is associated with power is detached from them. At this point, the ordinariness of their being dawns on them. For instance, they will be caught up in traffic jam (go slow). They will pass on the road without anyone taking notice of them. At the end, they're just ordinary mortals open to the vagaries of life. Power has left them.

Those vested with power must understand that power is transient. They must also learn that power has its independent existence - it only abides or dwells temporarily on individuals. What is done when it comes upon an individual is clearly captured or recorded against his/her name by posterity.