The thoughts that provoked this piece are not original to me; they are not mine, but the expression of the thoughts is mine while the conveyance belongs to the publisher of this column. It was the highly cerebral Professor Wale Adebanwi who introduced the idea of his thoughts on the subject matter to me. It was during his recent visit to my modest home in Ibadan that our conversation brought out a discussion on forces that drive human desires and the restless brain of Wale spoke of PMS? He said it was not what I thought; not the common gasoline, but something that burns more frenetically in human brain than petrol!
Of course the Alaafin of Oyo Kingdom, His Imperial Majesty King El- Hameed Olayiwola Adeyemi had once told me about 35 years ago that Power, Money, Brawn and the Control of Esoteric powers can make their possessors mad. When therefore Adebanwi added his thoughts to what I had already learnt from the 77-year-old Monarch, my brain went to works to put the thoughts on paper.
Power, any power, whether political, traditional, spiritual or what-have-you is usually intoxicating once it is allowed to get out of hand. Power is sweet, but it is also all-consuming. And the desire for it, the desire to have control over others is usually very strong.
This piece is actually going to address the strong and uncontrolled desire for these three essentials under our microscope. Human beings want power, long for power and control, and dream of what power can bring to their table once it is possessed. In the animal kingdom, power is also a most desirable force. Anybody in doubt could go and ask the Lion and the Tiger.
Political power is the most visible and the most common of all powers because of its ability to corner the people's commonwealth, control other people's destinies, and acquire influence and affluence beyond imagination.
In the sociology and political arithmetic of some cultures, it is 'Seek yee power; and other things shall be added unto thee!' Just acquire the power and you take absolute control on what to do with it.