When Your Profession Becomes a Weapon: On Bingeing on the “Food of the Gods”

When you were growing up, “professional” meant something.

The professionals were the ones with rare knowledge:

• the lawyer who could read what others feared,

• the accountant who could make numbers speak,

• the engineer who could make things stand,

• the doctor who could interpret what tests really meant.

They were the people invited into rooms others couldn’t enter — to advise, design, sign and certify.

I sometimes call this rare knowledge “the food of the gods”.

The problem is not that professionals eat the food of the gods.

The problem is what happens when they binge on it without honouring their duty to the public.

That’s when professions stop being shields and start becoming weapons.

How professionals quietly enable corruption

Most big scandals don’t happen with politicians alone. Somewhere in the background, there is usually a professional who:

• drafted the documents,

• structured the transaction,

• signed the report, or

• chose to look away.

Three common patterns:

1. Designing “lawful-looking” vehicles

• The lawyer who sets up a maze of shell companies to hide the real owner.

• The consultant who structures a PPP so complex that only insiders can see where value is leaking.

• The tax expert who builds schemes that are technically “legal” but clearly designed to dodge contributions to the common good.

On paper, everything is clean. In reality, knowledge is being used to confuse and extract, not to clarify and protect.

2. Certifying what they know isn’t true

• Auditors signing off on accounts that flatter reality.

• Valuers inflating prices to justify bloated loans or contracts.

• Professionals signing reports that omit critical risks or defects

Excuses are familiar:

• “The client insisted.”

• “My boss will be angry if I delay this.”

• “This is how things are done.”

But once the signature is there, everyone downstream treats it as truth.

3. Weaponising discretion against the honest

• A banker fast-tracks those who “cooperate” and frustrates those who don’t.

• A regulator punishes some infractions but quietly ignores others.

• A professional uses their power to intimidate, confuse or delay those without connections.

The message becomes:

“If you want fairness or protection, you must buy it — not just with money, but with your own complicity.”

Why this matters for young professionals

You may think:

• “I’m not the one signing big deals yet.”

• “I just follow instructions.”

But the making of a weaponised professional starts small:

• Adjusting figures you don’t understand because “senior said so”.

• Drafting documents that hide more than they reveal.

• Using your expertise to threaten or confuse, instead of to explain and guide.

The real question is:

When your turn comes, who will your power serve?

What integrity looks like in practice

A few marks of an Integrity Generation professional:

• You say “I don’t know” before you say “Don’t worry”.

• You read what you sign, and ask the annoying questions.

• You treat standards as floors, not obstacles to be outsmarted.

• You refuse to weaponise discretion against honest people.

• You build small alliances with colleagues who also want to practise with a clean conscience.

You won’t get it right every day. But your direction will be clear.

A mini-manifesto you can adapt

If you’re a young lawyer, accountant, engineer, doctor, banker, techie:

• I will not use my skill to hide theft.

• I will not sign what I know is false, just to keep a client or please a boss.

• I will not threaten or confuse people with my knowledge; I will explain, guide and warn.

• I will rather lose a deal than lose my name.

You may never post this on your office noticeboard. But you can write it for yourself — and quietly let it shape what you accept.

Joining The Integrity Generation

If you’ve ever left a meeting feeling uneasy about what your skill was just used to do, this is for you.

The Integrity Generation is simply this:

Professionals who want to be street-smart and straight at the same time.

Join us here: https://integritynigeria.org/the-integrity-generation

This week, here’s your prompt:

👉 Think of one moment when your profession was used (or almost used) in a way you’re not proud of.

👉 What would you do differently if it happened again today?

👉 Write down one sentence you will use next time to draw the line.

If you’re willing, share (without names or details):

What’s one line you wish you had drawn earlier in your professional journey?

That’s how we start reclaiming the food of the gods — one professional, one decision, one signature at a time.