A CASE STUDY ON INFLUENCE

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Lula da Silva of Brazil

LUIZ Inácio Lula da Silva. Everybody calls him Lula. He served as 35th President of Brazil (2003-2011). At the time of his presidential mandate, Lula was regarded as the most popular politician in the history of Brazil. Greeting him at the G-20 Summit in London, UK in 2009 United States President Barack Obama endorsed him saying, "That's my man right there... The most popular politician on earth." Call him “saviour of the poor” and perhaps no Brazilian would debate you.

Uneasy path
He was the seventh child of Aristides Inácio da Silva and Eurídice Ferreira de Melo in the midst of eight children. Lula’s childhood was quite tough and challenging. Just two weeks after his birth in the Brazillian Caetés district, Lula’s dad moved to another state with Eurídice’s cousin named Valdomira Ferreira de Góis. At age seven, when his mum decided to rejoin Aristides in São Paulo, they arrived only to discover that Aristide had started a second family with Valdomira. After sometime, Euridice decided to move Lula and his seven other siblings from Aristides’ home since the two families were not coexisting peacefully. They found a place in the back room of a bar. And since then Lula scarcely saw his father.

Being raised by a ‘single’ mother who was not well-to-do had its bouquet of limitations for boy Lula and his seven siblings. His formal education was quite limited. He didn’t start school until he was ten and by the fourth grade had to quit in order to work to support his family. From age twelve Lula worked in various capacities as street hawker, shoe shiner, lathe operator in a copper processing factory, press operator in an automobile parts outfit and union leader.

Leader, not just president
In the course of time Lula got interested in politics, teamed up with a group of intellectuals and union leaders to form the Workers Party. After three failed attempts at the presidency, he eventually won the elections of 2002 and served two terms as president from 2003 to 2011. He was a president without a university degree; the first such person in Brazil. Lula was also the first working class person to lead that huge South American state.

In spite of his coarse background, his presidency saw the Brazilian middle class grow by 29 million people enhancing the purchasing power of many Brazilians. Another 20 million people were lifted from deep poverty. Remarkably, Lula so improved the Brazilian economy that by the time he was exiting office, Brazil had become a lending nation to the IMF making available up to $5 million as loans to other nations. Not only that, before Lula left office, Brazil was awarded the hosting rights for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Together with Ghana’s former president John Kufuor, Lula was awarded the World Food Prize 2011 for his role in curbing poverty and hunger in Brazil.

Undoubtedly, Lula made an indelible imprint on his nation. Coming from highly challenging circumstances, he was able to rise to become a very influential person in Brazil. Like Lula, each one of us can be influential. We have the capacity to make a difference in the world. We have what it takes to influence the society, or at least an aspect of society.


© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana