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Power Is Transient: Never Let Temporary Power Cost You Permanent Relationships


At an auto mechanic workshop recently, I overheard something that shocked me deeply.

A man said a former two-term governor, two-term senator and former minister was currently broke and struggling to survive.

Think about that for a second.

That is almost 24 years occupying some of the most powerful political offices in Nigeria and still ending up with survival problems afterwards.

At first, I found it difficult to believe until our discussion shifted to how easy it is for wealth, influence and relevance to disappear when discipline and structure are missing.

But that is not even the real lesson.

At my tennis club, one of our members, Mr Frank, once informed us that he was being considered for a major appointment in one of Nigeria’s ministries. We were excited and prayed along with him.

Eventually, he got the appointment.

If you understand how Nigeria works, you will know what many of us were thinking:
“This connection could become useful for everybody.”

But immediately he assumed office, he disappeared from the tennis court.

Calls stopped going through.
Messages became unanswered.
Even his closest friend at the club, Ayo, eventually gave up trying to reach him.

Ayo simply said:
“We were surviving before he got the appointment.”

A few months later, petitions and controversies started trailing the ministry he worked in. Rumours of his replacement filled the news.

Then one evening, Mr Frank suddenly returned to the tennis court.

This time, not as a powerful appointee, but as a worried man looking for advice from the same people he had ignored.

The silence that greeted him was heavy.

Ayo finally told him:
“I have no advice for you because once you got power, we stopped becoming human beings to you.”

It was painful to watch.

Within weeks, he was replaced.

Thankfully, shame did not stop him from returning to the tennis court afterwards, although some people occasionally reminded him of one simple truth:

𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓.
𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐩.

Shalom.


 

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