Please permit me to regurgitate this excerpt from the archives on power; and plead with you to chew on it against the backdrop of current political developments in Naija.
"Almost everyone I know wonders why people in power change radically; why they become so utterly disconnected from reality that they suddenly become completely unrecognizable to people who knew them before they got to power; why they get puffed-up, susceptible to flattery, and intolerant of even the mildest, best-intentioned censure; and why they appear possessed by inexplicably malignant forces; and why they are notoriously insensitive and self-absorbed… Of course, there are exceptions, but it is precisely the fact of the existence of exceptions that makes this reality poignant. … Abraham Lincoln once said, 'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.' Look at all the power brokers in Nigeria–from the president to your ward councilor–and you'll discover that there is a vast disconnect between who they were before they got to power and who they are now."
Farooq A. Kperogi, "How Political Power Damages the Brain–and How to Reverse it." USA/Dialogue Series, Saturday July 27. 2019.
Ike Udogu
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