If you are looking for a profession where power and influence operates at it's highest high, then look no further because the best of men (Army) is the playground for the manifestation of power and influence. Here in the military, we are guided by rules and order, and what ever your superior tells you to do, you would have to do it with every level of discipline and dedication even though the person is wrong.
This reminds me of the popular military quote "Obey before complain" which implies that you must obey every order and oppression given to you by your senior colleagues even though you are not comfortable with it. As far as the military is concerned, the senior colleagues are always correct and as such they are given the authority to command and oppress their junior collegues.
This was exactly what happened to my fellow regulars and I few months ago. A certain young officer who just graduated from the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) was posted to come serve in our unit here at Cross River State. He was still a very young boy about 23 years of age, so although some of my regulars were his far senior by age, but he was our superior now because he went to the NDA, and now has all the influence and power to give us orders.
The young officer came to train with us on the football pitch where some of my colleagues and other boys were playing football. Some of us knew he was one of the newly posted officers to the unit so we greeted him and gave him his maximum regard.
Our coach was around 50 years old and he was equally a senior sergeant in the unit, but as courtesy demands, he equally greeted the new officer who was young enough to be his son. The young officer was very proud and aggressive during the football training session, as he could be seen warning other smaller boys and even soldiers that they shouldn't tackle him aggressively.
He was my opponent in the football training, so I was among the people tackling him aggressively, lol. I realized that whenever he holds the ball, most of my colleagues were scared of tackling him because of his relentless complains and warnings, so I decided that I would be the only one to tackle him in the game.
Whenever his teammate passes the ball to him, I would quickly charge at him and make him loose possession of the ball and this frustrated him. He started shouting at me, telling me to be careful but I paid deaf ears and I jokingly replied him to "train better because this is football not ludo."
This young officer became very furious and angry that I replied him in that manner. Before anyone could even say a word he told me to report myself to the guardroom and stay there for some days. I was not happy but at the same time I couldn't complain because even the coach was not up to the officer's rank.
I quietly moved to the guardroom from that training ground with my sweaty body and football wears. This made everybody on the field to loose interest in the game that day, because they had just witnessed an injustice and abuse of power on the path of the young officer.
But this is one of many because I see abuse of power and influence in every sector and area of our everyday lives. I have learned from my experience that power is toxic and it could even break your relationship with others if not controlled properly.
In conclusion, I would say power and influence are good but building character and morals as well is what makes you truely powerful.
All images are mine.
I appreciate your time around here❤️:-)