If you are a student of government or political science, it is almost impossible that you have not come across this quote by Lord Acton way back in 1887 when he said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Even if you are not cut out for politics, you cannot shut your ears to politics because politics controls everything.
If you are the apolitical type, my intention is not to drag you into politics but what if I tell you that contrary to the popular notion that corruption was the fulcrum of his postulation, Lord Acton’s message speaks more to the danger of power without control than corruption in its raw meaning as we usually allude to.
I look around the world today in somberness. Where is man’s humanity to man? Over 1000 innocent lives wasted in Lebanon, mostly children. Over 170 lives lost to missile strikes in Iran, mostly school children. At least 23 kill£d in coordinated suicid£ attacks in Borno State, Nigeria. About 170 people massacr£d in Kwara State, Nigeria. At the centre of it all is power struggle, be it economic, religious or political.
The next time you attribute change in behaviour of anyone to power and fame, think again. Fame and power does not change anyone, it only reveals the part of that fellow that was hitherto hidden. There is economic power, religious power, political power and there is social power. The most potent of all is political power because of its overbearing effect on all the others.
Holders of power, sometimes, forget that power is transient. By error of judgement, they think that the power they wield is perpetual. From local to national to international politics, from the corporate world to the business world, from social to religious circles, those who hold public office in trust, sometimes, forget that power has expiry date.
Before you point accusing fingers, pause and ponder. As the head of your village meeting, what does power mean to you? You were appointed the departmental head in your local church, does it make you flaunt your access to restricted places? If you are chosen as the class captain among your peers, does it make you feel important than the rest?
If by dint of hard work you get to position of authority in your organisation, how do you exercise your authority? If you worked so hard to attain a social status that brings you fame, does it inflate your ego so much that you unconsciously ask ‘do you know who I am?’
Fame has a price, it amplifies your small mistakes and, sometimes, gives you a false sense of importance that makes you feel higher than mortals. Power gives you control but you have to exercise control over your power or power will control you, expose your weakness and open up your little flaws, that would have gone unnoticed, to public scrutiny.
Many times we ignore the misnomer nearby and look far away to blame societal ills on political leadership even when power is conveniently abused in our small circles of influence. Before you accuse anyone of indecent dressing, your dress sense has to make sense.
Lord Acton struck the chord when he said power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. My only improvement to the theory is that no one has absolute power except that which belongs to God.
I imagine a world where the power of love overpowers the love of power.
Peace 🕊️
©️Akin Oluwadare Jnr.
23 March 2026
