Bashar al Assad was ousted from power after rebels swept through Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday signalling the culmination of a 13-year fight to depose the autocratic leader.
The man who ruled Syria with an iron fist was forced to flee to Russia, leaving behind a country his family had ruled for nearly half a century.
His seemingly powerful reign collapsed like a colossus with feet of clay.
He should have gone way back during the height of the Arab Spring revolution which engulfed the Arab world from 2010 and deposed strongmen in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Algeria.
Assad survived through using excessive force and in some instances was flagged for using chemical weapons on civilians.
But power does not last forever and Assad will live in exile with his family far away from the country he reduced to a fiefdom.
He failed to realise that leadership is a relay where no matter how good a runner is, he or she has to pass on the baton.
This was cemented in national constitutions which stipulate a two-term limit for presidents or prime ministers.
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Despite the term limits, the sweetness of power has seen loyalists pontificating for extensions of tenure, with the ED2030 brigade in Zimbabwe now in overdrive.
It appears the movers of the suicidal ploy are refusing to learn from history.
Once leaders extend their tenures by hook or crook, they cease to be statesmen and join the infamous club of dictators.
History is replete with examples of dictators who were hounded out of power. Some, like Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, were executed following their ouster.
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga, famously known as Mobutu Sese Seko, ran the then Zaire like a piggy-bank but died in exile in 1997, four months after his ouster.
He died a powerless man, a far cry from the feared leopard that crushed opponents.
In 2014, Blaise Compaoré fled Burkina Faso following an uprising against his plans to prolong his 27-year reign.
Assad’s ouster will send chills down the spines of autocrats and those that are burning midnight oil to prolong their tenure.
The ouster shows that political power is temporary. You won’t retain it forever no matter how ingenuous one is, it will one day vanish like morning dew.
The late former President Robert Mugabe seemed invincible during his 37-year reign, but was deposed in the two weeks of November 2017.
He died a bitter man, claiming he had been betrayed by trusted lieutenants.
The key lesson is that leaders must respect constitutions, address citizens' concerns and not rely on foreign forces to suppress people. Once that foreign help ceases, one is left exposed like what Assad experienced this month.
Leaders should resist the seduction of power and advice from the inner circle which is mainly concerned about securing their seats on the gravy train.
The day of reckoning for dictators and those that forcibly prolong their stay in power will surely come and there will be nowhere to hide. Autocrats have been put on notice.
