There was a former Undersecretary of defence who was invited to give a speech at a large conference about 1,000 people and he was standing on the stage with his cup of coffee in a styrofoam cup giving his prepare to march with his PowerPoint behind him and he took a sip of his coffee and he smiled and he looked down at the coffee and then he went off script and he said you know last year I spoke at this exact same conference, last year I was still the Undersecretary and when I spoke at last year they flew me here business class and when I arrived at the airport there was somebody waiting for me to take me to my hotel and they had already checked me in and they took me up to my room and the next morning I came downstairs and there was somebody waiting in the lobby to greet me and they drove me to this same venue, they took me through the back entrance and took me into the green room and handed me to a cup of coffee in a beautiful ceramic cup he says I am no longer the Undersecretary
Every year coach I took a taxi to my hotel and I check myself in when I came down the lobby this morning I took another taxi to this venue I came in the front door and found my way back stage and when I asked someone do you have any coffee he pointed to a coffee machine in the corner and I poured myself a cup of coffee into this styrofoam cup he says the lesson is the ceramic cup was never meant for me it was meant for the position I held. I deserve a styrofoam cup remember this as you gain Fame as you gain Fortune as you gain Position and seniority people will treat you better they will hold doors open for you they will get you a cup of tea and coffee without you even asking they will call you sir and ma’am and they will give you stuff, none of that stuff is meant for you and stuff is meant for the position you hold it is meant for the level that you have achieved as leader or success or whatever you wanna call it but you will always deserve a styrofoam cup remember that lesson of humility and gratitude you can accept all the free stuff you can accept all the perks.

I remember getting off your seller I took the acela from New York to Washington DC and I got off the train like everybody else and I was walking down the platform like everyone else and I walk past General Norty schwartz who used to be the chief of staff of United States Air Force the Head of the Air force and here I did you see a guy in a suit schlepping his own suitcase down the platform just like me and just a couple months ago he was flying on private jets and an entourage and other people carried his luggage but he no longer held the position and so now we got to dragging his own suitcase and never did it sort of remind me more that none of us deserve the perks that we get we all deserve a styrofoam cup.

Reality at home, when I heard about the impeachment of a certain Senate President, as a journalist I rushed down to his country home. No long queue of exotics cars, no kind of attraction not even a bike. A grave yard silence decipher, I gave a fearless knock on the gate the security guard who is always unaccessible beam with smiles as if already inform about my coming, within split of seconds the impeached Senate President spy through the big passage entrance, usher me in and said welcome my brother. You are my first visitor in two weeks!how’s Abuja? I was dumb because that’s the greatest courtesy I could receive from one time number 3 citizen of the country. He became a preaching Pastor all through our conversations. We chatted for hours and it revolve round men and power. Power is a crazy aphrodisiac it made men blind to seeing staggering reality and pitfalls.

The ceramic cup and the deserving styrofoam cups. Ring a disturbing bell at heart. Yes we’d the lunch together a pounded yam with egusi soup.

The lesson here is that men are more humble when power fall out of hands. Remember that the styrofoam cups is not karma but a reality treatment.

Today’s power broker will soon give away the ceramic cup because it’s transient. Waiting for their styrofoam cup to drink the coffee. You can’t separate the mallam from his kettle…the ceramic cup will give way.