Fall and Rise: Heraclitus, Power, and the Burden of Leadership

 

By Abioye Tosin Lawrence

Heraclitus reminds us that nations fall and nations rise, because nothing ever stays the same.

Nigeria shall rise again.

No matter the bitterness or controversy one may feel toward this nation, I am still searching for a stage where I can ask Nigerian youths to pause and thank God for being Nigerians. It is not easy to belong to another nation. Every country carries its own burden, history, and contradictions.

Ask a simple question: who can rule Nigeria for forty years? Yet, across Africa, there are countries where leadership resembles a monarch’s throne. Nigeria is different. To sit as Nigeria’s president is to confront layers of ethnicity, religion, regional interests, and inherited conflicts. You are forced to fight battles you did not start and solve problems you did not create.

Recently, President Joe Biden fell during the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs. He rose again, because he is human. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also stumbled during an official ceremony abroad. In these moments, Heraclitus’ postulation comes alive: the world exists in the tension of opposites, fall and rise, strength and vulnerability, order and disorder.

Power does not erase human nature. Authority does not suspend gravity. Leadership does not cancel fragility.

To the younger generation, I know many of you dream of being welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or standing on grand international stages. But history is not built on wishes alone. You did not emerge from the crucible of coalition politics. Your party did not fall many times to rise democratically. 

There was no amalgamation in your generation like ACN, ANPP, CPC, and others. No grand coalition was forged. No national convention was successfully organized. No ruling power bloc was wrestled down.

Today, there are few voices advocating for the youth in both the lower and upper chambers of government, yet everyone wants one among them to be called Mr. President.

Instead of getting angry or rejoicing over a ceremonial stumble by a sitting president, the younger generation should study leadership more deeply. Observe how leaders fall, and how quickly they must rise. Power is not sustained by mockery but by organization, resilience, and strategic patience.

Heraclitus was right: conflict is not chaos; it is the engine of change. Nations stumble. Leaders fall. But history belongs to those who understand the rhythm of fall and rise, and prepare for their moment wisely.

Nigeria shall rise again.

About the Author

Abioye Tosin Lawrence is the publisher of OrionTimes Online Newspaper and the author of Voices From the Fire: My Journey Through a Hollow Empire. He is a Nigerian writer and political commentator whose work explores governance, power, youth participation, and African political philosophy.