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Food for Living: Celebrating Another Wonderful Milestone
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is with great pleasure I wish to share with you the goodness of the Lord in my life. You may be wondering what this goodness of God in my life is. Yes, the goodness of God in my life is the celebration of my entire being on earth. You may also be wondering what the special thing about my life is. Yes, I will tell you; it’s my birthday! I can’t thank God enough for the great things he has done for me, especially the life and blessings he has bestowed on me. It is not because I am the most righteous, handsome, hardworking, strongest etc., that I am alive. It’s just because of the grace of God upon me and His awesome faithfulness.
That explains why I chose CeCe Winans track “The Goodness of God” as a favorite line to buttress how grateful I am to him and the universe. Today calls for a sober reflection, but most importantly, it calls for gratitude to God for making me come this far. I’m quite aware of the fact that many people who arrived on planet earth on the same day with me are no longer on the surface of the planet. Some are married with kids, have accomplished careers, and are celebrated globally, while some are still confused and still trying to find their path to life.
And so, in whatever position you find yourself, I just want you to take a moment to reflect about your life and you will see that you will find something to be grateful for, and if you don’t see any reason you should be grateful, be happy you are alive. As you may rightly know, when there’s life, there’s hope. The problem many people have is that they don’t practice gratitude and appreciation.
Birthdays are for celebration. There’s always something to celebrate about life. Personally, when I look at the trajectory of my life, I can say for a fact, I’m not the smartest person, but favour and grace found me. I say this because if anyone truly knows my background, they will hardly believe there’ll be light in my family. The turning point was education.
My late parents didn’t have the opportunity of going to school, but they knew the value of education and ensured my siblings and I had a decent education. Why am I saying this? If anyone had told me I will ever be a globally celebrated author, I might not have believed it; If anyone had told me I will be a prolific and creative writer the world will read on a daily and weekly basis, I might not have believe it. If anyone had ever told me I will ever be interviewed by the New York Times, I might not have believed it. If anyone had told me I would be a favourite television guest, I might not have believe it. Being interviewed by News12 about my book, I will say, it’s one of the biggest achievements I have attained in recent times.
You may be wondering why I am saying all this, well, the reason is quite simple, it’s a huge milestone for me judging from where I started. This is a man who worked as a security officer for many years in New York City despite being a graduate of New York Law School. I was given little or no chance of surviving in the United States of America, especially New York City because of my horrible writing skills and how the system operates. I never gave up hope. I still persevered.
Birthdays to me call for gratitude and reflection. To say, I am not grateful is the highest act of disservice to God and humanity. I am particularly grateful to God, my late parents who instilled in me the right virtues and training, my family, friends and the universe who have conspired to make me who I am today.
As I look back from where I started to where I am today, I’m glad I’m not where I used to be. The best way to express my profound gratitude and appreciation is by taking some wonderful lines from the amazing Goodness of God” lyrics from CeCe Winans where she stated “your mercy never fails me; I will sing the goodness of God; All my life you have been faithful and so good; I will sing of the goodness of God. You have led me through the fire. I have known you as a father and friend.”
How do I begin to explain the mercy of God upon my life? How He saved and provided for me in the presence of my enemies. His grace is utterly sufficient for me. As mentioned earlier, there are certain things that happened to me which made me realize that it’s not by my power, might or ability, but just the mercy of God upon me. That’s why I am not ashamed of talking about the goodness of God in my life. It is pertinent to note on this birthday of mine, I have decided to dedicate my life to God and work according to his purpose for me. This is particularly because I have been through the trenches, but God saw me through even when men were trying to humiliate me. In recent times, the relationship I have with God is that of a father and friend. This singular act has made me so vulnerable to God.
In conclusion, as I look forward to more prosperous years, I toast and pray for more wisdom, understanding, grace, favour, direction, protection, provision, blessings, and more especially good health and prosperity. Amen.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Secrets are exclusive preserves of certain individuals or institutions. They are one’s advantage over others, in the sense of ‘there’s something I know, which no one else knows. No one can ever claim that they don’t have a secret, either in the good or bad light.
Secrets therefore, exist in the family circle, business terrain, academic environment, career/professional pursuit, health management, spiritual connectivity and even in everyday personal living. It is an undeniable fact that everyone has a secret that works for them.
Let’s take a minute to discuss some of the aforementioned secrets.
Family
Every family has a secret. It will be foolhardy for anyone to disclose family secrets. Most families die with their secrets. To understand how family secrets work, imagine the Coca-Cola company. The family is said to be the only one in the world that has the formula for the beverage; a trade secret that originated with its creator, John Pemberton.
It is said that not even all family members enter the room where Coca-Cola is mixed or manufactured for fear of the secret being divulged. Imagine where spouses have access to the room and the marriage goes south, there’s a tendency that a spiteful divorced partner might leak the secret and the rest as they say is history.
There are many secrets that bind many families which only the immediate family members know. In some cases, only the parents or grandparents know. They can decide to share the secret to either the first male child, first female child or even a member of the family that one considers rational. For instance, imagine where a family is faced with a peculiar life threatening illness which ordinarily might scare anyone who wants to get married into that family, it will be stupid for anyone to spit it out, that act alone can make the intending spouse to reconsider his/her plan to marry from the family.
Business
Every business has a trade secret. Trade secrets are what makes a business unique. Every business has a unique selling point. (USP), which is a distinct benefit that sets the business or product apart from its competitors. A shrewd businessman will never leak his secret to his employees or competitors. The best his employees will know are the values, the operational systems or structures of the business and how his mindset works. But what makes the business stand out is the mystery that one will need to unravel.
Academic
Every student has a distinct trait that makes him/her succeed academically. This unique trait makes the student exceptional. For any student to succeed in their academics, he must know himself and what works for him. While some might study at night, some might study during the day, others might just listen during the lecture and understand the key points.
It’s sad to see students, who haven’t discovered who they are and what works for them following students who have discovered who they are. For example, while some students have good listening and understanding ability, and can listen to lectures and read a little and pass their examinations, some other students will have to read the course material before the lecture, listen during the lecture, read after the lecture and read thoroughly for examination before they can get a decent grade.
In some cases, they might not get the desired grade. Some students will even party hard during the day and at night they study, while some will party at night and study during the day. So, you can see that while some students have discovered themselves and what works for them, some others follow them sheepishly. Moral: Know what works for you and do what works for you because according to Oscar Wilde, “be yourself because others are taken”.
Career/Profession
Every career professional has a secret that works for them. In the same way, every industry knows what makes it stands out. The secret of what makes someone in the entertainment industry successful is quite different from what makes someone in politics or law enforcement, energy, education, legal, or health sector different. They all have different strokes, and the ability of one to do the needful in addition to playing the associated game can be the game changer.
Health
Health is a personal thing. Nobody knows you more than you know yourself. To show you how secretive and important one’s health is, it’s been said that there are three kinds of life: Public life, private life and secret life.
Your public life is the life that is generally known by everyone. It is the character we exhibit in the public space. It can also be regarded as the image perception lifestyle; we don’t generally go around revealing our health status in the public domain except where necessary. The private lifestyle; this is the kind of life only our family and close friends know.
Again, we don’t disclose such pertinent information to them only where and when necessary, then we have the secret lifestyle which only us and our creator knows. In some cases, we go to the graveyard with this. Do you see why health is a personal issue which needs to be kept in a secret place?
Personal
As mentioned earlier, everyone is unique. One of the best things that can happen to anyone is knowing themselves, and knowing what makes them different. I strongly believe we all have seeds of greatness in us. What works for Mr. A might not work for Mr. B. Like I always say, you can copy my style, but you can’t be me because imitation is a limitation.
For instance, I have unique energy and inspiration when it comes to writing. I have developed a keen interest and passion for writing. If tomorrow I become very successful or attract a unique opportunity, and someone decides to try writing to attract similar opportunities, the person might fail because God is the one that decides what opportunities come to anyone nor matter how hard someone may work.
Spiritual
This is another interesting aspect of life. Life is indeed spiritual. There’s nothing that happens physically without taking place spiritually. Everyone has a covenant point that was assigned to them at birth. Once that covenant point is touched that fellow might lose their blessings, anointing or what makes them strong.
There have been many testimonies about this. For instance, in the Bible, Samson’s touching point was his hair. He knows his power lies in his hair, that’s why Delilah tried so many times to know the secret of his strength, but Samson refused to tell her. She tried to make him drunk, but Samson still has the power. Samson repeatedly lied to Delilah about the secret of his strength, first saying it was new bowstrings, then new ropes, and finally by weaving his hair into a loom. Each time, he easily broke free, but Delilah continued to pressure him.
Weary from her constant questioning, Samson finally confessed that his strength was tied to his hair, which had never been cut because he was a Nazirite from birth. Delilah then called for a man to shave Samson’s seven locks of hair while he slept in her lap. His secret was revealed. His hair was cut. He strength was gone.
Do you see that Samson’s secret place was his hair?
In conclusion, depending on what we are working on, we all have our secret strength and place. The onus is on us to cultivate and dwell on this secret place to avoid losing power and focus.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
Amid growing insecurity in different parts of the country, Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, has urged residents to defend themselves against persistent bandit attacks.
He insisted that his administration would neither negotiate with nor pay ransom to criminals under any circumstances.
Bago made the declaration during a visit to the Rijau and Magama local government areas, where several communities were recently attacked by bandits operating from the Kontagora axis.
The governor said the State has reached a critical stage that demands collective action, warning that ransom payments would only embolden the criminals and turn kidnapping into a profitable venture.
“I will not negotiate with bandits. I will not pay ransom.
“The moment we start paying, they will open shop on our heads and continue kidnapping people,” he said.
“The situation has reached a state of war that requires collective resistance. We are surrounded by enemies, but we will not give up.
“The constitution gives us the right to defend our lives and property, and we will do just that,” the governor added.
Describing the recurring attacks and displacement of residents as “embarrassing and unacceptable,” Bago announced plans to recruit and train 10,000 personnel into the state’s joint task force to strengthen community security and restore peace.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso, the governor also announced a total ban on all mining activities across Zone C of the state.
The affected local government areas include Magama, Kontagora, Rijau, Wushishi, Mariga, Borgu, Mashegu, and Agwara.
Bago explained that illegal mining had become a major driver of insecurity in the zone, noting that many miners had unrestricted access to forest areas considered unsafe for residents.
“It is suspicious that miners can enter the forests freely, yet the bandits don’t touch them. I have ordered the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to arrest anyone caught engaging in mining activities,” he said.
Governor Bago also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ending the cycle of violence and restoring lasting peace throughout the state.
The Nigeria Police have reportedly arrested human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.
Sowore was taken into custody at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
This was revealed in a post on X by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who accused the police and President Bola Tinubu’s administration of undermining Nigeria’s judicial system.
He wrote: “The arrest of Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja moments ago is preposterous.
“The police and the Tinubu regime are making a mockery of our judicial system.He should be freed immediately. Stop the shenanigans.”
Sowore had earlier posted on Facebook that he was with Kanu Agabi, the lead lawyer for Nnamdi Kanu, at the Federal High Court.
According to him, Agabi disclosed that his team would be withdrawing from the case, leaving Kanu to continue his trial without representation.
