Why Power Alone Cannot Create a Nation
MUSA-ODODO ABDULRAHAMAN
What is Power?
Power is the capacity or ability to influence or control the behavior of people and events. It is often expressed through political authority, military strength, economic dominance, or institutional control. Power commands, it imposes, it coerces, and often governs from the top-down.
But here lies a profound paradox:
The Powerlessness of Power
Power without Purpose is impotent. Power without Vision is blind. Power without the Spirit of the people is a shell. This is the tragedy of many nations, particularly Nigeria, where power has been rotated endlessly across personalities and parties since before Independence, yet the country remains stagnant – impoverished, fractured, and rudderless.
From colonial administrators to military juntas, from democratic transitions to civilian rule – power has always been present. Yet:
Nigeria remains one the poorest Countries in the world.
Development is skewed and unsustainable.
National cohesion is weak, with ethnic and religious divisions deepening.
Patriotism is low, and the Nigerian Dream is absent or undefined.
If power could create a nation, Nigeria would have been a global model long ago.
This proves power is not the cornerstone of Nationhood. Instead, what is required is Conscious Nation Creation.
The Illusion of Power
Many chase political power believing it holds the key to transformation. But history teaches otherwise. Power may build roads, sign laws, or control armies – but it cannot build unity, identity, or a people’s soul.
Power cannot inspire belief. Power cannot create meaning. Power cannot forge national purpose.
Can Power Help in the Creation of a Nation?
At best, power can maintain order within an already formed nation. It can protect borders and enforce laws. But power cannot birth a nation – just as money cannot buy love, and force cannot produce loyalty. Nations are not built by decree; they are built by shared conviction.
So, What is Nationhood?
A Nation is not merely a state with a flag, anthem, or territory. A Nation is a Revelation.
A Nation is:
A Covenant of People United by Shared ideals.
A Collective Spirit, a People’s Soul in organized form.
A story people tell themselves about who they are and what they are destined to become.
A Nation is the Spirit of the people organizing itself for a Common Purpose.
How Do You Create a Nation?
Not through power, but through:
Shared Identity: Who are we?
Common Destiny: Where are we going together?
Unifying Purpose: Why do we exist as a people?
Noble Values: What do we believe and hold dear?
A Collective Dream: What do we all aspire to become?
This is the Spiritual, Moral, and Intellectual architecture upon which enduring nations are built – not on power struggles or territorial claims.
Do You Need Power to Create a Nation?
No. You need vision, wisdom, unity, and a people’s will. Power can only serve as a maintenance mechanism once the nation is born from these ingredients. Power cannot give birth; it can only serve what has already been born.
The Human Person is the Nation
A Nation is not land – it is the people. And more deeply, it is the people’s inner life. Each citizen must:
See themselves in the national story.
Feel that their personal dreams are achievable within the national aspiration.
Be emotionally bonded to a common future.
Nationhood begins with inner awakening. Not elections. Not military strength. Not economic leverage.
Why Nigeria Has Failed So Far
Despite all the power that has passed through Nigeria – politicians, generals, governors, presidents – the country remains undeveloped because there has been:
No shared national purpose.
No consensus on our collective identity.
No common dream for all citizens to work toward.
No spiritual covenant among the people.
What we have had are power-holders without nation-builders. Individuals in power seeking personal or sectional gains, rather than shepherding the soul of a nation.
What Then is Nation Building?
Nation building is not infrastructure alone. It is not GDP. It is not even constitutional design.
True nation-building is the cultivation of a shared imagination.
It is the forging of:
A common purpose,
A sense of destiny,
A collective dream,
And a national spirit that inspires sacrifice, unity, and loyalty.
You don’t need power to inspire people to love their country.
You don’t need power to tell a better story about who we are and where we’re going.
You don’t need power to build consciousness.
But you do need wisdom. Vision. And truth.
Power Versus Spirit
Power coerces. Spirit convinces.
Power imposes. Spirit inspires.
Power is temporal. Spirit is eternal.
Power commands loyalty. Spirit earns it.
No lasting nation can be built on control. Enduring nations are built on voluntary allegiance to a national ideal.
A Nation is a Covenant
Ancient Israel became a Nation not through power, but through a Covenant and a shared Spiritual Destiny.
America was born not in the White House but in the hearts of people who believed in liberty, opportunity, and individual dignity.
The greatness of nations like South Korea, Singapore, and post-war Germany were born from National Consciousness, Collective Will, and a Unifying Dream – not raw power.
Where Then Does Power Fit?
Power becomes useful after nationhood has been established. Power is the custodian, not the creator. When guided by national consciousness, power maintains order, delivers public good, and protects the collective vision.
But when power is pursued without a unifying vision, it becomes a parasite on the people – serving selfish ends and breeding disunity.
Conclusion: The True Foundation of a Nation
A Nation is not where we live in, a Nation is what lives in us.
Until Nigerians awaken to the truth that they are the nation, and until we consciously create a new unifying purpose for ourselves, no amount of political power can redeem us.
We must now Consciously Create the Nation of our Dream – a Nigeria:
Where everyone belongs.
With a common national identity.
Rooted in shared values.
Guided by transcendent wisdom.
Driven by a collective aspiration to become a light to the world.
Let it be said of our generation: we did not chase power; we Created Purpose.
We did not seize office; we gave Birth to a Nation.
Power is not the creator. The People are.
Let the Nation be born – Now.
Shepherd of the Nigerian Destiny
Musa-Ododo Abdulrahaman,
Founder, Initiative for Discovery of Nigeria Heritage and Endowment (IDNHE)
Convener, The Conscious Creation of a New Nigeria
Chairman, National Policy Dialogue.
www.nationalpolicydialogue.org