Is Power all about Control?
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely (John Edward Acton, 1887).
For all Power belongs to God, now and forever (1 Pet. 5:11).
Since the death and burial of Queen Elizabeth II, there is this impression that has refused to let go of me. It was when the Imperial State Crown, the Orb and Sceptre were removed from the Queen’s coffin and received by the Dean of Windsor, the Rt. Revd. David Conner, who placed them on the High Altar. They remain objects with deep history and meaning to her reign and the royal family’s history. The orb and sceptre were created in 1661 and have been used in every coronation for the British royal family since King Charles II’s coronation that year. The crown on the coffin is the Imperial State Crown, which is made of gold and set with 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls, and 4 rubies. That singular act alone of removing the Imperial State Crown, the Orb, and the Sceptre, signified the end of an era (70 years reign) and placing them on a high altar illustrated the fact that truly, all power belongs to God. Every earthly power is transient and temporal. Indeed, everything, including power, that has a beginning, surely has an end.
The motive behind power acquisition and the manner it is exercised are burning issues today in leadership and human resource management. The way people understand their powers and how they exercise it over others also matters. Why the quest for power? What is the motive for this quest? These questions are pertinent especially in this season of electioneering and political campaigns in Nigeria. Why are people interested in the various offices they are vying for? Is it truly for service or for control? And what do we really mean by power?
Sue Gardner, Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation, has this to say about power: “Stereotypically power would be thought to be authority, command and control…That is coercive power… When I think about power I think about commitment, influence, and the power to actually get something done. You get that by being authentic, honest, straightforward, and working hard and letting yourself be vulnerable.” I could not agree less with her definition of power. It is not all about coercion, force, and command. It is about building influence and relationship with people in making things happen and getting things done.
Power is never to be pursued for its own sake, but unfortunately, this is often the reality today. That people assume leadership positions and acquire the powers they have always sought for, and at the end of the day, they seem grossly ignorant and incompetent on what to do with it, save to exercise control and domination over the human and material resources at their disposal. The essence is to grab power for the sake of power and nothing more. Little wonder that there is a crop of leaders who exercise certain powers but are shamelessly clueless and visionless. To say the least, they lack the competence, charisma, and character required.
Edgar Straehle (2016), in an article, ‘Between power and rebellion: rethinking authority’, argues that an act of power not endowed with authority is tyrannical and despotic. The basic implication, therefore, is that the decisions taken by this power is bound to be opposed or disobeyed. This is because, he continues, ‘authority was like a different kind of power, acting as a sort of symbolic, spiritual, validating or legitimating force.’ For him therefore, without authority, power was widely seen as a naked or despotic power devoid of authority and legitimacy. A power without authority, sustained only on itself or on the means of violence, is insufficient and it is condemned to be disobeyed, contested, challenged, and finally overthrown in the future.
This way of thinking speaks to the episode of the End SARS protest of 2020, when the youths in Nigeria resisted the intimidations and molestations suffered in the hands of the officers of the infamous Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). It also affirms the several judgments delivered by the judiciary regarding party primaries and election related incidents where certain individuals abused their powers and authorities by imposing candidates and manipulating the processes which were later invalidated by the competent court of law. Little wonder Edmund Burke once averred, “the greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.”
Truly, in the memorable words of John Acton, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In typical situations where power corrupts and is corrupted, power not only becomes an instrument of force, but also of control, command, domination, manipulation, intimidation, and abuse. There is a popular adage that, “to know a man’s true character, give him power.” Therefore, where there are no checks and balances, there is always the urge to go beyond the track as far as exercising one’s power is concerned. No doubt, there is wisdom in the principle of the seperation of powers, a term coined by the 18th century philosopher Montesquieu, to prevent abuse of powers and tyranny.
Just recently, Pope Francis denounced and condemned in no simple words, the “perverse abuse of power” on display in the raging war between Russia and Ukraine. He used the opportunity to call for aid to Ukrainians, whom he described have been attacked in their “identity, history and tradition” and were “defending their land.” His words came just some days after he told the head of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, that the idea of a “just war” was fast eroding and no longer fashionable in contemporary times. And he insisted that pastors must preach peace, not politics.
When power is seen as a viable instrument of control, it reduces humans into mere objects at the mercy of the powermonger. It can only breed a lord/slave, master/servant, celebrity/nonentity kind of relationship. And the kind of communication system expected is a top-bottom type. There is no place for mutuality and dialogue in such relationship but a one-way, linear situation. It is a straightforward way to exploitation, subjugation, abuse, oppression, and violence. Situations like this cannot be sustained for too long. With time, people who feel exploited and alienated can easily resort to protests, withdrawal tactics, civil or religious disobedience and agitations, non-violent and sometimes, violent means to express their grievances and dissatisfaction.
This is the more reason why there is an urgent need to rethink the concept of power beyond control, force, and domination. There is an urgent need to reframe the idea of power beyond manipulation, contestation, and who controls what and who. Yes, beyond control, power is overwhelmingly about service to humanity, building healthy, virtuous, and positive alliances, relationships, friendships, and connections. Power is about building bridges and not fences. Power is about service delivery and relationships that promote and boost growth, development, prosperity, and progress. Alliances that entrench and improve on already existing structures, systems, and infrastructures. Power is about ending the reign of impunity, colonization, and de-humanization. It is about establishing and sustaining the reign of God’s kingdom of justice, peace, prosperity, equity, fairness, tolerance, and eco-fraternity. Power is about creating communities and never about building ‘fortresses of self-protection and isolation.’
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Robert Greene (1998), in his world-renowned best seller, ‘the 48 laws of power’, says in law #18; “do not build fortresses to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous.” He maintains that such an isolation could make the powerholder retreat into a fortress and lose contact with the people and the source of his power. ‘You lose your ear for what is happening around you, as well as a sense of proportion. Instead of being safer, you cut yourself off from the kind of knowledge on which your life depends.’ This could degenerate to the extent that one becomes so far from the streets that one cannot hear what is happening around. Attitudes like this, sometimes arise when people see power simply as an instrument of control and domination. They end up losing touch with reality and with the people.
Sometimes, the personality of the powerholder may significantly contribute to abuse of power even in religious, political, and cultural settings. In an article titled ‘All about narcissistic personality disorder’ (NPD), Casabianca Sandra (February 14, 2021), describes NPD as a mental health condition that affects how someone feels, thinks, and behaves. It includes behaviours that are dramatic and exaggerated, emotional and intense, erratic, and unpredictable. She stated that narcissists have a high sense of grandiosity and self-importance, fantasies of perfection and superiority, over-rated sense of specialness and uniqueness, need for praise and attention, intense sense of entitlement, a tendency to exploit others, lack of empathy, and a strong tendency to be arrogant, scornful, envious, jealous, and distrustful. One can only infer therefore, that such a person may use the power at his disposal to control, dominate, and manipulate others into a feigned obedience and loyalty.
All power belongs to God and comes from God. It is God who bestows power on every person. He gives and takes power. God bestows power for good and not for evil. That is why anyone who abuses the grace of office may suffer disgrace from office. People are privileged to occupy offices in life, so that they could use that office to help and promote human development and flourishing.
In Jesus, we see a perfect model of what power means and what it is intended for. He always used power constructively, and not to manipulate people to kowtow to his wishes. He warned his disciples against tyranny and the habit of lording it over others, reminding them that he came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). As a leader par excellence, he showed that power is from God and intended for service to the people and not for the self-aggrandizement of a leader. He practically de-emphasized the wrong notion that power is simply ‘blatant control and use of brute force’ over people, without regard for their fundamental human rights, freedom, and innate dignity.
He would also advise against the use of power to promote and perpetrate violence, when he rebuked Peter for slashing the high priest slave, Malchus’s right ear with the sword (John 18:11). Even when he was tempted by Satan to demonstrate the capacity and magnitude of his power to command, he resisted the urge, and would rather not exercise such vain power just for its own sake (Matt. 4:2-4). He used his power to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Luke 4:18) and to grant abundant life (John 10:10). He used his power to reconcile, forgive, and show mercy to the people (Luke 23:34). All these are instances of constructive, positive, virtuous, and healthy ways of exercising God-given power.
Power, to repeat for the umpteenth time should be put at the service of humanity and the community. Power must be harnessed and exercised to heal and save, to reconcile people and forgive wrongdoings, to establish the reign of justice, peace, equity, and fairness, to build and expand the frontiers of the human fraternity, to liberate and unite people, and finally to preserve our common habitat and planet. Any power well utilized will always honour and glorify the source of all power – God and help to maintain order in the world. But any power used viciously, negatively, and destructively is a disdain to the divine majesty and tampers with the orderliness and peace of the world, as is currently experienced in the unnecessary war Russia has launched against Ukraine. Power is not all about control. Power is about service. All power belongs to God, and ultimately, all power must be relinquished to God and a proper account given.
—By Fr. Valentine O. Anaweokhai
anavalobee@gmail.com
