Power, in itself, is not a bad thing. In fact, every functioning society depends on it. Governments need power to govern; teachers need authority to educate; security personnel need responsibility to protect, and managers need leadership to keep organizations running.
However, the problem begins when power stops being a responsibility and becomes a tool for domination. Nigeria is a country where many people experience abuse of power long before they ever encounter a politician. It starts in our schools, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and even at the entrance to our own homes.
A lecturer intentionally delays results or makes a course unnecessarily difficult because students have no choice but to endure it. A security guard decides who enters and who waits, not because protocol demands it, but because authority, however little, has become something to be exercised. A customer pays for a service, yet still finds themselves pleading with the service provider to simply do the job they were hired to do.
These experiences are so common that we rarely stop to question them. We simply call them “normal.”
But they are not.
Somewhere along the line, authority became confused with superiority. Instead of asking, “How can I make this easier for the people I serve?” many ask, “How can I remind them that I am in charge?”
It is perhaps no coincidence that this attitude mirrors what many Nigerians witness at the highest levels of leadership. In a country where those elected to serve often appear to be the ones being served, power is no longer seen as a duty but as a privilege. When leadership becomes disconnected from service, the culture filters downward. Everyone with even the smallest measure of authority begins to imitate what they see.
That is why abuse of power exists in places where it should never be found. It is why ordinary interactions become exhausting battles of ego. It is why kindness and professionalism are now treated as extraordinary qualities rather than basic expectations.
The most worrying part is how low our standards have fallen. We praise people simply for doing what they were already supposed to do. A lecturer who teaches without intimidation is celebrated. A civil servant who processes documents without demanding favors is described as “one of the good ones.” A service provider who respects customers is treated as though they deserve an award.
When basic decency becomes exceptional, something is fundamentally wrong with the system. Real power does not announce itself by making others feel small. It creates order without humiliation. It leads without intimidation. It serves without demanding worship.
Perhaps the question is no longer why people abuse power. Perhaps the better question is this: what kind of society have we created where people believe the only way to feel important is to make someone else feel powerless?
Until power is once again understood as service rather than status, the cycle will continue from the highest offices in government to the smallest positions of authority in everyday life.
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