How Political Authorities Abuse Power

“It takes conscience to use power as a shield, and ego to use power as a sword … Real power is strength under control.” – Goodluck Jonathan.
Concept and Scope of Power Experts in the management process would define power simply as the ability to do something, but the exercise of power needs to be backed up by authority which confers the right to do what is to be done. To use the ability to do something without the protection or backing of a right to do so, would be a wrong application of ability. Authority confers the freedom to exercise right in the use or application of ability, or power.
Within the scope of an individual adult, there is the freedom to apply personal ability with the backing of his conscience as the authority giving him the right to do so. But where other people are involved who can be affected by the results of his actions, the protection of the rights of the other people demands the authority of state or government. Among a group of persons at various settings, the use of ability demands a common agreement or consensus of the people as the authority to confer the right for anyone to do something on their behalf.
Therefore, the concept and scope of power differ widely, from personal, group, communal, national and international settings. Power remains the ability of an individual to do something, while conferment of authority for the exercise of such power must come from a definite legitimate source. Such legitimate sources of authority also differ widely, according to several factors. In modern free societies, legitimate authorities include (1) Democratic or legal authority derived from governments, agencies of government as well as legally approved organizations. (2) Traditional authority, having to do with recognized traditional institutions or stools such as monarchies, chiefdom and local power-holders etc. (3) Paternalistic authority is the right of a father which he can exercise over members of his household, etc. (4) Charismatic authority is a combination of power and right to exercise it, derived from personal valour, mass acceptance by others and loyalty of those influenced. (5) Sapiental authority can be described as “faceless cabal” or informal influence on actual power-holders.
Manifestations and Application of Power
With the hierarchies of authority mentioned above, it is obvious that power can arise from many sources and also manifest in various ways. There are people born with various unique abilities which manifest right from childhood, ranging from talents in music, sports, valour, leadership, craftsmanship, intellectual brilliance, seeing and healing abilities etc. It is quite unfortunate that such natural abilities common in some individuals, do not remain sustainable till old age, arising from many factors, including interferences or discouragement by parents and personal frustrations.
Happily, a number of people, with a little support, encouragement and education, rise higher than their peer groups and contemporaries, as stars and heroes. There are also some persons who veer away from their natural abilities, either in infancy or old age, as a result of many factors, ranging from imitating other people whom they see as role-models, to the lure for fame or wealth. Not all personal talents and abilities carry the tags of fame and wealth, because, there are some individuals whose callings and abilities manifest in unassumingness and withdrawal from the crowd.
For some people of great talents, exposure and publicity can become embarrassing hindrances in the manifestations of their abilities. There have been many of such persons whose contributions to humanity became known long after their death. For example, the works or plays associated with William Shakespeare were not crafted or scripted by the person who merely served as a means of expression of works that needed to be planted in secret. Not all stars desire heroic acclaim of men and society, particularly works of sensitive nature.
The lure of fame and wealth can drive some people endowed with some power and talents to dabble into activities beyond the scope of abilities natural to them. What has someone whose parents were herbalists and who trained as a pharmacist, got to do with veering into music, becoming a music star but dying by taking herbal poison? There are many similar cases of great medical practitioners who veer into politics and being called ugly names, despite wealth and power accompanying politics of power. A former president, Goodluck Jonathan, would admonish that “politics should be about people and not about fight to occupy offices. Power is a means of service.”
Power as an Aphrodisiac
Those who had tasted and traded in power via politics have been known to confess that there is something strange about the wielding of power, which passes human understanding. A more astonishing part of the possession and wielding of power over people is the verdict that the more of it that you have, the more its holder would want to have, for keeps. Thus power becomes an aphrodisiac, an addictive and appetizing comfort-giver. Like every addictive appetizer, power soon reduces the ability of an individual to manage its influence on the holder. Thus hubris goes with power.
From Shakespeare’s Macbeth, to Cardinal Wolsey under the service of King Henry VIII, we have the lamentations of those who had fallen foul to the enigma of power. Cardinal Wolsey had this to say: “had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not, in mine age, have left me naked to mine enemies”. His life ended in disgrace. Macbeth would remind us that: “to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequences”.
Not many holders and wielders of power, particularly in the political and macho lines, would confess the truth that power-holders are usually closer to the instruments of darkness. It is usually through such instruments that power becomes an aphrodisiac, predisposing men of great power to acts which can become the causes of their fall in the end. As an energizer, aphrodisiac works like Viagra.
VVA Syndrome
VVA is an abbreviation for vanity and vaulting ambitions. The hubris which results from power becoming a sword through the addictive effect, is the infection called VVA Syndrome. In this stage, power ceases to be a shield to protect people but a sword or weapon to boost and protect power-structure, for the benefit of those who serve it. To say that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is to say that ego in the use of power, brings about the affliction of VVA Syndrome-a real mental disorder!
Power holders who become victims of this ailment rarely know that point of transition from normalcy to a state of abnormality. Unfortunately, there are several court jesters, sycophants and praise singers around great men of power who would rarely tell a king that he is dancing naked in the palace. The strain of power and leadership can require the use of sedatives and music to bring some comfort and solace. During such process it is also common to bring in charming women who can bring some apples to powerful men who enjoy such stuff. Many factors combine to unload the mind of a victim of VVA Syndrome and it is usually at this stage that spin-doctors and the “cabal” come in to help.
Unfortunately, spin doctors and sapiental authority can take over control of the power of a constitutionally and legally recognized authority and power-holder; to keep away intruders, several security strategies would be introduced, all full of trails of vanity and vauting ambitions on the part of the sapiental authority.
Strength, Authority and Power
“It is excellent to have the strength of a giant, but it’s tyrannous to use it like a giant”. The real test in the use of power is the ability to have it under control, which manifests through self-discipline. An authority without justice is demonic and tyrannical, and therefore, power can be abused in the following ways: Premature use of power is like harvesting a fruit when it is not yet fit for consumption, because of impatience, curiosity, pride, etc tyranny consists in the use of power without justice and self-control. Corrupt application of power is when it is used for the benefit of a few fawning loyalists and as an exclusivist strategy to institutionalize a power-structure.
Power can also be abused when it is used for revenge and sadistic purposes, to foster animosity and punish perceived enemies. When power is used for indulgent purposes, pandering to base human weaknesses and sentiments, tolerating incompetence and errors, then it stands to lose its value. Building up a formidable power-structure in a democracy turns politics into a cult system, whereby power becomes personalized or deified. Sanctimony is an abuse of power whereby a cult-like power-structure becomes a “haven of saints” who known and can do no wrong, amidst a nation of corrupt people.
Another way of the abuse of power consists in going into some clandestine alliance with some foreign powers or interest-groups without the knowledge or prior consultations with the people. The purposes can be quite many but the implications are unpredictable.
Dr. Amirize is a retired lecturer at the Rivers State University, PH.

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