Some people think strength is power under control, others say power is the ability to control and effect change. I believe power is the ability and even privilege to determine a course of action and then influence the result. The sad truth is that most people feel themselves to be at the mercy of fate, of reality. They feel powerless and emotionally, financially and spiritually impotent. It takes many years to actually become emancipated from this very depressing mindset and step into a realisation that power has been there for the taking and the using all along. I am not preaching a motivational message to give people a feel good burst of adrenaline; I am stating a fact that is becoming truer for me the older I get. Is power spiritual or political manipulation, gross abuse of authority, position and wealth or is it just a simple acceptance of responsibility, possibility and eventuality? I believe the latter to be very true.

There appears to be some measure of unanimity among analysts both within and outside Nigeria that the nation is a highly corrupt society. The country’s successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999 do not quite agree. This can be deduced from certain viewpoints that are usually officially canvassed on behalf of the nation. The first is that there is corruption everywhere, making it obvious that it is not peculiar to Nigeria. Some say, if the British knew nothing about corruption, the term would not have evolved as an English word.

Armed robbers visit your house, spending over three harrowing and traumatic hours with you and your family. Young men who are not older than your first child, or who, given their scruffiness, could easily be your mechanic or house boy slap you around and kick your butt if you are tardy in obeying their rapid fire instructions.

It was the picture of Tony Nwoye, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Anambra gubernatorial election on the front page of Sunday Vanguard of November 17, 2013 that touched me the most. The candidate looked beaten and frustrated, sweating profusely after he could not find his name in INEC voters register.

Last weekend had elements of both the bitter and the sweet. With the National Youth Sports Festival coming up in Abuja in December, I had looked forward to monitoring the final preparation drills of the local athletics group that I’m associated with.