I'm 40 !!

Today, I was woken up by phone calls, text messages from old and new friends. I just thought about how precious it is, to be able to close out another decade, still alive. Many have gone before me; since July I have lost 4 friends, all in very unusual circumstances. Life is valuable and I intend to make the most of the next few decades so help me God : ). There are many lessons I have learned over the years and there are many more I still learn on a daily basis. Yesterday, I had an interesting discussion with a friend; he walked into my office laughing, saying how pathetic it was for us to think we could actually change the world. We're both journalists and activists with varied backgrounds. He is significantly older than I am and has had much more experience working in the trenches, challenging governments. I sympathized as I realised that the work he had done over the years hadn't necessarily created the 'grand' change he had so hoped for. This happens to the best of us; we have a romanticized view of how we want the word to be like and how we could actually make it happen but the reality is change starts from the individual. You change one individual at a time and hopefully as their story changes, they attempt to change another individual. That's the way it works. Grand changes can happen when you have a critical mass of people who have come to together for a common cause but history has shown clearly that revolutions do not automatically lead to positive change; protests don't either. We can only keep at our work as individuals, groups and organisations, hoping that the seeds we plant in the lives of others will continue to be nurtured and eventually germinate and create a harvest but in the meantime, we will continue dreaming of a better world as we set out to change it, one person at a time.

It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.~Mahatma Gandhi

Empty Suit Syndrome

This syndrome characterizes that which is largely responsible for the failure of leadership in Africa. As Nigeria prepares for the forthcoming 2015 elections, many empty suits are already on parade,with promises  to build hospitals, roads and schools. We demand so little of our leaders so it's no surprise these empty suits use the same script every election cycle. Once they're voted back into power, the parades will be over and not even a knock on their doors will attract their attention. That's the story of our lives ladies and gentlemen; the story of the empty suits and their 'subjects'. It's little wonder that despite attempts to rebase our economy, the human development index is still very low. 

Here's a description of who an empty suit is, hopefully you'll recognise one the next time they come calling for your votes:

'An empty suit is someone puffed up with his own importance but really having little effect on the lives of others. It is often used as an insult to disparage others who really don’t deserve the title. The true empty suit, which conjures up the image of a business suit of clothing without a person, really doesn’t know what he or she is doing. He or she is ineffectual, perhaps a phony, and is about as relevant or helpful as a suit hanging on a rack. 


To call someone an empty suit implies that you think they are a complete waste of time. Editorials on politicians love to use the term empty suit to describe people seeking political office. This politician is just 'an empty suit', to quote the words of numerous political critics, and is thus undeserving of our attention. 


Some politicians deserve the title. A senator with a very poor voting record, or failure to attend senate sessions could clearly be called an empty suit because he is not really performing the job for which he was elected. On the other hand, some politicians may advertise themselves as “not just an empty suit” in order to distinguish themselves from their implied empty suit peers. 

Urban Dictionary

Rules for Radicals

The passions of mankind have boiled over into all areas of political life including its vocabulary. The words most common in politics have become stained with human hurts, hopes and frustrations. All of them are loaded with popular opprobium and their use results in a conditioned, negative emotional response. Even the word 'politics' itself which Webster says is the 'science and art of government' is generally viewed in the context of corruption. Ironically the dictionary synonyms are 'discreet, provident, diplomatic, wise'.

The same discolorations attach to other words prevalent in the language of politics such as power, self interest, compromise and conflict. They become twisted and warped, viewed as evil. Nowhere is the prevailing political illiteracy more clearly revealed than in the interpretation of these words. That is why we pause here for a 'word about words'.

Whenever the word 'power' is mentioned, somebody sooner or later will refer to the words of Lord Acton and cite it as follows: 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' In fact the correct quotation is 'Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. We cant even read Acton's statement correctly, our minds are so confused by our conditioning.

The corruption of power is not in  power but in ourselves.

Pascal who was obviously not a cynic, observed that 'Justice without power is impotent, power without justice is tyranny'. St. Ignatius the founder of the Jesuit Order said,'To do a thing well, a man needs power and competence'. We could call the roll of those who have played their parts in history and find the word 'power' not a substitute word in their speeches and writings.

To know power and not fear it is essential to its constructive use and control.



Rules for Radicals, A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky (1971)