The brotherhood of man is not determined by blood relationships, but by the celestial latitudes and life-waves that human consciousness operates – Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881)

O’ Hare Airport, Chicago, USA, December, 1980. Visiting America from London, even with a return-ticket but with not much cash in hand, and even after a confirmation from my host, as well as my status as a post-graduate student, US Immigration personnel insisted on deporting me back to London, from O’Hare Airport. Then stepped in a tall, handsome man of awe-inspiring countenance, intervening in the situation and asking politely if I was from Barbados or Nicaragua. The man whom I told that I was a Nigerian studying in U.K, turned out, after many years, to become US Secretary of State, Colin Luther Powell.
Born April 5, 1937, Powell was reported dead, October 18, 2021. A 4-Star General of the US Army, he became a politician and served as the 65th United States Secretary of State. During the George W. Bush administration in 2008, Powell was succeeded by Ms Condoleza Rice, another African-American that did the Black race proud. He also served as the 16th US National Security Adviser (1987 – 1989) and the 12th Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff (1989 – 1993).
The Powell family moved to USA from Jamaica when Colin was young and then attended the New York City Public School and the City College where he had a bachelor’s degree in geology. He was a professional soldier for 35 years and held the highest military position in the Department of Defence, during which time he oversaw 28 crises, including the invasion of Panama in 1989. Also Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq (1990 – 91) .
What is known as the ‘Powell Doctrine’ was a US military policy which limited American military activities within the framework of American national security interests. Especially vital in that policy is the provision of conditions of ‘Overwhelming force and widespread public support’. His tenure as the 65th US Secretary of State was controversial because of inaccurate justification from America’s Iraq War in 2003.
My American Journey is the title of Powell’s autobiography (1995). As a prolific writer, despite his busy schedule and activities, Powell wrote other books: It Worked for Me … being lessons which he learned practically in life, and Leadership (2012). In line with the political philosophy of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Powell shares the truth that: “A country that allows its rulers to revel with impunity and reckless abandon in the worst form of corruption and misrule, cannot hope to be blessed with the grace of light”. Light shuns dark places!
Nigerian retired Generals should, like Colin Powell, invest in writing motivational books on how to build up their country, rather than building hotels in each of the state capitals. One retired General Jibril Musa Sarki, in his Born to Rule, threw some light into the lifestyle of the top hierarchy of the Nigerian military. What great differences, reading Powell’s books!
After retirement from public services, Powell pursued a career as a public speaker, addressing and motivating diverse audiences across America and other places across the globe. His mission was to spread the philosophy of how to turn personal adversities and liabilities into rewarding assets and legacies. As Chairman of America’s Promise — the Alliance for Youths, that non-profit organisation is dedicated to mobilising people to build up noble character and personal competence. No idleness!
Rather than sponsor and finance gangs of bandits who cause mayhem across the country, let retired Nigerian Generals emulate the life-after-retirement of General Powell. What men do, especially in old age, is usually a reflection of the values and ideals which they stand for and cherish. No matter how a man may have lived in the past, there is nothing more demeaning in old age than to pander to narrow, mean, ethnic and clandestine interests. Especially when such agenda do not add value to the status of collective humanity, then such project cannot be a worthy or ideal legacy to foster.
Retired General Powell is so popular, especially among the American masses, that even when he did not seek to contest an election in 2016, he received votes from Washington D.C. for the Office of President of the United States. He received numerous awards and decorations in the military circle, both in America and foreign countries, as well as civilian awards, including Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Gold Medal, Presidential Citizens’ Medal, etc.
Powell was such a role model that students in schools and universities would invite him to come to give inspiring lectures in campuses. Hence, several schools and universities honoured him across the country. Neither did he look back on his Jamaican root, but inspired and encouraged struggling youths, except that he would not condone hashish or any form of gangsterism or hooliganism. Naturally, with age, the human body begins to degenerate towards feebleness. Powell was treated for blood cancer, and died October 18, 2021, from complications of COVID-19, close to 84 years of age.
No human is perfect; neither does it pay to wear the garment of sanctimony. It is also true that “Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water”. But Powell’s virtues would live in brass and gold, largely because of his concern for those that the establishment seek to oppress. Powell was neither an Immigration officer nor an advocate, but a ‘busy-body’ who played an advocacy role for a distraught student at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, USA, in 1980.
The pride of USA lies in picking and using the best, no matter where found, but the plight of Nigeria, in the words of one Abagba Ndubuisi: “Mediocres who otherwise should hide away in shame now become not only leaders, but cynosures and political fulcrums… We should come out of our lethargy rather than watch apathetically from the side while a few gluttons glibly talk us into another war, with their seemingly arrogant and trenchant dispositions” (Daily Sunray of 1/9/94). Colin Luther Powell, please stride on in the hereafter as you did here on Earth – boldly!

By: Bright Amirize
Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer in the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.