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Food for Living: Destiny As a Catalyst
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The concept of destiny is very broad because it means several things to several people in diverse fields including religious, politics, education, entrepreneurship or family. It’s meaning is however, dependent on the interpretation one gives to it. But one thing is certain, destiny connotes the end point or destination of somebody or something.
As the author of Design Your Destiny, I believe I am in a better position to speak about destiny and how it is applicable to life. Not only have my life been transformed by destiny, but I have also seen in real times how destiny played a significant role in the lives of ordinary people.
To understand the concept of destiny, I will be writing from an inspirational and rational point of view. It is important to state that for the emancipation of anyone, one needs to understand how life and the principles of life work work, otherwise, one will be confused.
It is normal for someone to be concerned about what the future holds for him. Sometimes, one will be concerned about where the next food or job opportunity will come from. I have good news for you though, relax, destiny is working purposely for your benefit. You don’t have to know, but just believe and trust the process.
No human being can know what will happen the next second, minute, day, week, month, year, and decade. We only live by the grace of God. So, don’t be anxious of what life has in stock for you, just do your best and continue to add value to your life, and the universe has a way of aligning circumstances and life for you. In my native country, we have a saying: nobody knows the stomach that will give birth to a king.
I have personally seen and experienced transformation in my life. I have seen the grace of God. I have seen people who the world has given up as people who don’t have any chance of making a headway in life, succeeding in an exponential manner. A classical case of study is former President Goodluck Jonathan, who rose from a humble position of being a lecturer to Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President and President, in a way no rational mind can decipher.
What most uninformed people fail to understand is that nobody knows tomorrow, and God is the greatest orchestrator of human destiny. It’s so sad to see some people play God. It’s also instructive to know that the son of a certified pauper can become a man of means tomorrow if properly educated.
To put it in better perspective, no matter how one may try, nobody knows who will be elected as a Representative, Senator, Governor of a State, or President of a country. Nobody even knows who the wealthiest man in the society will be when tomorrow comes.
One may have a mentor or a biological parent who may be wealthy, or in a position of authority, or influential in the society, and note that no matter how much your parent or your mentor will love you, he can’t dictate what will happen when they are no longer in authority. The best the person can do is to strategically position you or give you publicity within his network of influence, but that will not determine if you’ll get what you desire in the grand scheme of things.
To really understand how this works, let’s take a case of Nigeria, where a mentor might influence the position of someone who is likely to be the President or Governor of a State. Upon expiration of the mentee’s tenure, they might decide who their successor will be, and the successor will also determine who their successor will be, and the list continues.
Do you now see the concept of destiny is relative. The creator might position somebody to take a position 10, 20 or even 50 years ahead just to fulfil a purpose.
Let’s take another perspective of destiny; the creator of heaven and earth might strategically position somebody to travel out of the country just to fulfil a destined purpose. The person might not know he is being used to fulfil a purpose just like the devil can be used to ‘bless’ someone in disguise without knowing.
Destiny can be quite complicated, some people might be destined to be in a particular region, while others might be destined to succeed in another region. To know where you are destined to be, I will strongly advise everyone to reach out to their creator by seeking the face and mindset of God through prayer and meditation. God has a way of revealing his plans to everyone.
The sad part of life is sometimes, human beings try to play God by working out their destiny and purpose in life. They fail to realize that they didn’t create themselves and didn’t get whatever they have by their ability, rather by the grace of God. Whenever, men think they are god, God will let them know in subtle ways, he is the Lord and God of gods. So, be humble about life because you don’t know what life will unfold for you. It is pertinent to mention that, when royalties are failing, God will raise people, stones to praise him, so be humble before life will humble you.
On a personal experience, during my chamber attachment while in Nigerian Law School, I was experiencing a little bit of financial challenge, especially living in the expensive City of Abuja, and as such, I was trying to mitigate cost. I reached out to the posting coordinator in law school to give me a nearby firm which won’t allow me to spend more money, he stated, such practice is not allowed. He was kind enough to listen to me to explain my reasons, he really felt for me and asked for the name of the firm I wanted to intern with, I gave him the name of the firm, he searched the directory, but couldn’t find the name of the firm. I didn’t know the law firm uses a partnership name as opposed to an individual name. He asked me a question, “are you a Christian”, I said yes, he said believe in your God. He used himself as an example, he said, as Muslim, he doesn’t believe in working things out, because one might work out one’s destiny. I took his word to heart.
Guess what, when the list was posted, I was posted in my estate where I didn’t have to spend a dime on transportation. The funny part was that, assuming my plan worked out, I would have to pay a decent amount of my money to get to my desired law firm. Do you see God came through for me? It’s destiny at work. The most joyful part of it was that, not only did I work with a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, I had the humble opportunity of being on television on a number of cases because my boss was handling the case of the daughter of the former President of Nigeria at the said time. More importantly, during my sojourn to the United States this great man played a significant role with his thoughtful advice and assistance. He was later appointed a Minister by President Buhari in 2015., but the cold hands of death snatched him away.
Another interesting story was during my National Youth Service Corp. While most people were working out their posting, I refused to work out mine despite pressure from friends and family members. I borrowed some sense using my experience during my law school. Ordinarily, I was posted to a remote place, but God came through for me when the Governor of the State came with a friend of mine who works with African Independent Television to cover the event.
During one of our engagements, he mentioned to me, the Governor gave him 500milion naira to set up African Independent television in the state. This great man asked me to recruit youth corpers who will work for him, and he will pay them 100 thousand naira every month, and mine will be special. I thanked him for the opportunity and informed him, I won’t be able to deliver because I will travel to the US after my service year. After a decade, this man facilitated an opportunity to interview in Abuja. The moral of the story is that, imagine if I worked out my posting, who knows where I would have been.
Furthermore, when destiny is at work, God can command a sick person who is supposed to die to live simply because it’s not yet time for the person to depart this sinful world.
In conclusion, regardless of what you are going through, please don’t be hard on yourself, whether you are looking for an opportunity, life partner, mentor, etc., just seek for the creator to design your destiny by connecting you to the right people who will enable you to fulfil his purpose concerning your life.
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 Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Wealth is of the mind, and not necessarily the amount of money in one’s pocket or in the bank. It takes a great mind to know that if the only thing one has is money, that person is poor because at a stage in life, money may not play any role. It is worth noting that for one to pay for everything they need in life, it’s either they are poor, or you haven’t invested in anyone.
It’s always good therefore, to live for humanity. Life is not about ‘me’, but about humanity. When you consider other people, life works out for you. This is a timeless principle I have adopted overtime, especially when I see a progressive mind who is hungry to learn.
One of the reasons most people are poor is simply because they have the wrong mindset, ideology and information. It’s instructive to know that when you learn well, you stand a better chance of earning well because the more you know, the more you get paid. Nobody pays anyone what they desire, but what they deserve.
Let me explain a little; a poor mind will think a rich man is wasting money by paying triple for a three-bedroom apartment in a porsche neighborhood while a rich mind will think he’s paying for security, and peace of mind.
Again, a poor mind will think a rich man is being extravagant when he buys a luxury perfume or watch when he can buy a decent perfume which ordinarily will perform the same service, but a wealthy mind knows that in the real world, life is governed by perception. According to Dr. Joe Abah, “as a man, there are three things you shouldn’t compromise: solid watch, good shoes and nice perfume”. He further went on to state you can be as casual as you like but once those three things are present, you don’t need to tell anyone you are decently comfortable.
Do you see that life is not about how much you have, but how you manage what you have, but more importantly, how you people perceive you. Some people might have money, but they will find it difficult to invest in their outlook by buying decent clothes, perfumes, shoes and watches.
Another great source of wealth is information. Like I always say, information is power. If you are not informed, you are ill-informed, and once you are ill-informed, you can’t perform because information leads to reformation and transformation. So, it’s fair to say information leads to formation. You are a product of what you know.
It’s sad that many people don’t take time to invest in themselves by buying books of interest, paying for certification courses to enhance their knowledge, or even volunteering their time to intern to learn how great or successful people think.
When rich minds invest their minds to seek knowledge to gain information and knowledge which will set them apart from their contemporaries, they tend to gain access to opportunities in which they can earn decent money, entitled minds will begin to beg for money. That’s poverty mindset.
It should be noted, nobody owes you anything, most people worked hard to get to where they are today. They didn’t succeed because they looked nice, or luck favored them. Yes, those might be contributory factors, but the sacrosanct truth remains that, in civilized climes, they did the work, after all, luck is opportunity meeting preparation. If they were not prepared, the opportunity would have slipped by, and they would not have succeeded.
When we talk of wealth, it doesn’t only relate to money, wealth can also relate to how one thinks, speaks, acts, and prays. All these play critical roles in defining a human being. According to the Bible in Proverbs 17: 28, “Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue”. So if you are unsure about something, it is better to keep quiet because when you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are. So, when you meet a great mind, be careful how you engage them. That’s why it’s generally stated that it takes a minute for a great man to know if he likes someone who is seeking an opportunity. These great minds have six sense perception. They have the discerning minds to see through your mind.
There was a story I recently read from Dr. Femi Otedola’s book, “Making it Big”. The story is that of a young man who was trying to strike a deal with the business mogul. He came in an inferior car and was looking for a multi-million naira contract, Dr. Femi Otedola, being a shrewd businessman, evaluated the man and priced the him low, forcing him to grudgingly accept.
When the contact was sealed and the young man was about to leave, Dr. Femi called him back and asked him, do you know I priced you low? The man said no. Dr. Otedola said, it doesn’t make business sense to come with a cheap car to seek a multi-million business contract. What that really means is that you ought to dress the way you want to appear. Mr. Otedola, went on to inform him that in life, especially in business, perception rules.
Did you see it would have been better for the man to come in a decent car even though it doesn’t belong to him because he wouldn’t have been prized low. As a matter of fact, his value would have been elevated. The car opened a lot of canker worms about his mindset. Did you see that this statement corroborates with what the Bible stated in Proverbs 17:28.
The power of the mind can’t be overemphasized. Mindset cuts across every corner of our life. My late dad used to own a hospital with his brother, the motto of the hospital was “we care, but God cures”. That to me was very inspiring to know that doctors and nurses were limited in their thought process.
Furthermore, I once visited a general hospital in my hometown in Nigeria, each time I visited the hospital to see a patient, I discovered there’s always a gospel song in the background with a melodic soothing message to comfort everyone. In all honesty, even if one has given up hope of recovering, the song is capable of restoring hope. Again, that’s the power of the mind.
The moral here is that the mind controls everything. Napoleon Hill stated in his famous book, “Think and Grow Rich”, that “whatsoever the mind can conceive, believe, it can achieve it’.
In conclusion, if you want to be wealthy, please consider working on your mindset because that’s where everything, including success and failure start and end.
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
Three Nigerian secondary schools are in the ring for the grand prize of N5m in the ongoing Glo Innov8 National STEM competition for girls in Senior Secondary Schools across the country.
The three top finalists were selected for their originality and innovation in the different entries for the competition. A total of 20 secondary schools were picked from over 200 schools which registered for the competition. After a series of considerations, 10 of them made it to the semifinal from which three; Ephraim High School, Isolo Campus, Lagos; Regina Pacis International School, Onitsha, Anambra State; and Peakfield Academy, Jos, Plateau State eventually coasted home to the finals.
Schools from Plateau, Kano, Lagos, Rivers, Edo, Borno, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Oyo, Anambra, FCT, Delta, Kaduna and Adamawa states had signified intentions to participate following a call for entries by Glo Foundation, Globacom’s corporate social responsibility arm as part of its celebration of the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child.
Glo Innov8, a STEM-driven challenge, has scheduled prizes worth N5 million to the three schools in the finals. The competition “is geared at inspiring young girls to Compete, Innovate and Win, while also strengthening their confidence and expanding their knowledge in STEM subjects”, Glo Foundation explained.
The eventual overall winning school will go home with a cash prize of N2,000,000 while the 2 students representing the school will each get a laptop. The Teacher/Mentor/STEM Coordinator also gets N200,000.
The schools that come second and third places and their Teachers/Mentors/STEM Coordinators will also receive mouth-watering consolation prizes.
The three female judges of the virtual phase of selection of the top 20 schools said they were excited by the quality of presentations by the competing schools. One of them, Tosin Olabode said: “I was particularly impressed by the prototype presentations from some schools. They demonstrated that they had done their homework”.
In the same vein, Amina Gabriel disclosed that she was thrilled by the variety of ideas that the schools came up with. “The schools presented innovative solutions tackling issues in agriculture, security, waste management, and firefighting. The top 10 schools showcased outstanding prototypes, from apps to robots, making the judging process truly competitive. I’m grateful to Glo Foundation for the opportunity to serve and support young girls in STEM”, she said.
According to Sharon Ibejih, the third judge, “This competition has showcased a highly competitive next generation of women leaders in STEM. This was an excellent exercise and a means to encourage more students in STEM to develop problem-solving and innovative thinking skills”.
The overall winning school will emerge at an event set to hold later this year at the Mike Adenuga Centre (Alliance Française), Ikoyi, Lagos.
The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Nnamdi Kanu, has filed a motion to stop the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in his trial for alleged terrorism.
Justice James Omotosho, on November 7, fixed November 20 for judgment on the case.
The judge fixed the date after Kanu’s defence was foreclosed following his insistence that he would not enter his defence under a repealed law.
However, in the motion on notice marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, he personally filed, the IPoB leader sought seven reliefs.
In the application dated November 10 and filed same date, Kanu sought an order arresting the delivery of judgment in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015.
The document was made public on Tuesday.
In it, he alleged that the proceedings were conducted under a repealed and non-existent statute and in disobedience to the Supreme Court’s directive contrary to Section 287(1) CFRN 1999.”
He sought a declaration that by virtue of Section 287(1) CFRN, the trial court was constitutionally bound to give effect to the Supreme Court’s finding that count 15 (now count 7) “does not exist in law,” and its failure rendered all subsequent proceedings null and void.
He also sought a declaration that the court’s failure to take judicial notice of the repeal of the 2013 Terrorism Act, contrary to Section 122 Evidence Act 2011, vitiates all steps taken thereunder.
The IPOB leader equally sought a declaration that by virtue of Section 76(1)(d)(iii) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to try him in the absence of proof that the alleged conduct constituted an offence under Kenyan law or of any Kenyan judicial validation or extradition order.
Besides, Kanu sought “a declaration that the plea purportedly taken on March 29, under a repealed and non-existent statute and in violation of Section 220 ACJA 2015 is void and incapable of conferring jurisdiction.
