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Food for Living: Listen to the Voice of Your Conscience
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By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
I wish to begin this article by wishing everyone a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Today being the 25th day of December is 2020 is an opportunity and day to be happy. As widely proclaimed, it is the assumed date Jesus Christ was born. One of the greatest lessons Jesus Christ taught us is to have a clear conscience, and he admonishes that if only we can have a clear conscience, we’ll never be found wanting.
The purpose of this article is not to preach religion, but to use conscience to direct, inform and enlighten us on how our life can be transformed.
We all have a conscience which speaks to us in different capacities. Our conscience is regarded as gatekeepers to our life. It is rather unfortunate that some minds are devoid of conscience. Conscience works in several ways. According to the book of life, “The Lord gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves. You can lie to others, but you can never lie to yourself. Doing so will be tantamount to an act of disservice.
As mentioned above, conscience works in several ways, it can act like an alarm signifying danger; it can act as a guidepost giving you direction and it can serve as the self-discovery coach telling you who you are and what you can do. A rational mind with the right conscience does not need to be afraid in life. They can stand alone. They don’t care about the bank wagon.
To unravel the mystery of life, your must work with your conscience. To ensure your conscience is working well, before you make any decision, make sure you are at peace with your mind. If your friends, family and the world neglect you, but your conscience is intact, you are a winner because your conscience can never deceive you. Your conscience is regarded as the compass of your soul. Martin Luther King Jr., said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
According to Abraham Lincoln, When my presidency is over, I may not have any other friends, but I’ll have one friend inside of me – my conscience. This simply tells you, the greatest friend and companion a living person can have is their conscience. This is because if the world is singing your praises and you join without understanding the dynamics of politics that is at play, you might lose out, but if your family is with you, you are good to go. When your conscience leaves you, you are as good as a living corpse. “Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.”
As human beings, there are many things battling for our attention. It could a search for a soulmate, travelling, starting a business, deciding or embarking on a journey; amid all these life experiences, we have our intuitive spirits speaking to us. This act of intuition can be regarded as your conscience. When we fail to listen to our conscience, we are bound to make mistakes
The conscience is a walking spirit, you don’t see it, but you feel the presence around you. Conscience plays many roles in human life. Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, spoke about “The Seven Social Sins, namely:
Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
and Politics without principle
Amongst all these seven social skills, one thing is certain; you can feel empathy and conscience at work. It is a well acknowledged fact. In life, if you don’t work, you don’t deserve to eat. It will be inhuman to deprive people who work for their wages; having illicit pleasure or fun without considering their value and neglecting one’s responsibility can be regarded as stupidity; having knowledge without sound character is like giving a pig a diamond or jewel to wear. This is because the beauty of knowledge comes with character. Any scientific development which doesn’t take into consideration humanity will not be embraced by the world, especially when the negatives are more than the positives.
Moral: There must be a balance. As a Christian, your worship must come with sacrifice in order for it to be attracted and finally but not the least, any politics without principle is likened to lack of ideology.
In all, it was a good experience. According to H. L. Mencheken “Through our individual conscience, we become aware of our deeply held moral principles, we are motivated to act upon them, and we assess our character, our behavior and ultimately ourselves against those principles
The tales of woe over the deplorable state of roads in Edo are not limited to commuters in transit on the linking highways in the State, as residents of Benin City, the capital, also groan as most intra-city roads have become deplorable.
Most hit are roads within the Government Reserved Areas (GRA), which were constructed decades ago without any visible rehabilitation work done by successive governments in the state.
But more appalling is the condition of the Oba Ovoranmen Square, otherwise known as Ring Road, which, in recent months, has become an eyesore with potholes and deep craters, with the residents of the metropolitan city calling on Governor Monday Okpebholo to rescue the city centre.
From the Mission Road, Oba Market Road and Plymouth Road entries to the Ring Road, it has become a herculean task for commuters using the square as they meander through the numerous potholes that have almost rendered the city centre impassable.
The situation is indescribable, especially in the early hours of the day when workers struggle to get to work and late in the evening, when the workers and traders close for the day.
Besides, commercial drivers that were previously barred from dropping and picking up passengers at the Kings Square have turned the place into a motor park, just as the rains have not helped matters either, as vehicles break down in the potholes that are usually covered by erosion.
In the GRA, Ihama Road by the House of Assembly Quarters remains impassable whenever it rains, while the Boundary Road towards Airport Road and Adesuwa Grammar School Road suffers the same fate whenever the rain falls.
Giwa Amu, Gapiona and other adjoining roads are also at the mercy of erosion as there are no drainages to take the overflow of water out of the GRA.
Gardens built around the King’s Square by former Governor Adams Oshiomhole have overgrown with weeds, even as hawkers are seen all over the place, turning all the walkways into extensions of their stores.
The National Museum, which used to be a point of attraction from any point of the King’s Square, has now become unkempt, overgrown with grass.
Some residents, who spoke with journalists over the deplorable state of the Ring Road, described its current state as a bad tale ahead of the Oba of Benin’s 10th coronation anniversary.
A resident, Mr. Osaro Idemudia, said: “We are not happy with the way the Ring Road is looking. Bus drivers are supposed to take passengers at the Central Park. Look at dirt everywhere.”
Another motorist, James Igie, said that “Kings Square represents the image of the State, and called on the government to attend to the situation promptly.
“It is sad that the Oba Ovoranmen Square is allowed to look dirty. This is not good, and we hope the government will address the situation.
For Solomon Aibangbee, a businessman, “in the last two weeks, the state of the roads in Edo State has been in the news all over the world. Passengers and motorists spend days passing through Edo State because of bad roads.
“As if that is not enough, you now add the roads within Benin City to the problems. Is Ring Road also a federal Road? I ask because that is the usual excuse we hear.” Aibangbee bemoaned
The Managing Director of Edo State Road Maintenance Agency, Engr. Felix Ibhade, said there are plans to fix the Ring Road.
Ibhade added that Governor Okpebholo had said that he would not want to do palliative work on the road but a full-scale asphalting rehabilitation.
“So we are on it. Our constraint is the rain because the majority of the roads we have given amelioration, the rain washed them up. So we are waiting for the rain to subside. That is the beauty of the town, and we don’t do it and after one month it will wear out. We will work in collaboration with the Ministry of Works because it is not going to be an easy job,” Ibhade admitted.
On his part, the Managing Director, Edo State Parks and Gardens Agency, Pastor Stanley Ighodaro, assured that Governor Okpebholo has shown commitment to beautify Benin City centre and other parts of the State.
The Federal government has released funds to clear the eight-month backlog of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) owed to eligible academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
The payment covers the period from January to August 2026, in what the Federal Government described as a further demonstration of its commitment to implementing approved agreements and improving the welfare of personnel in the education sector.
Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, disclosed the development on Wednesday after inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Accreditation.
A statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, said the funds had been released for the payment of eligible academic staff across federal tertiary institutions.
According to the statement, all federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education have been notified to commence payment to qualified academic personnel.
Alausa said the disbursement was being implemented in line with the 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria–Academic Staff Union of Universities (FGN-ASUU) Agreement, underscoring the government’s position that commitments reached with stakeholders in the education sector must be implemented.
The minister described the release as evidence of the Federal government’s commitment to implementing approved agreements while prioritising the welfare of education personnel.
While announcing the release for academic staff, Alausa also disclosed that the government was making arrangements for the payment of the corresponding allowance to non-academic staff in federal tertiary institutions. He said funding for the non-academic staff allowance was expected to be made available within the coming weeks.
The minister linked the payment to President Tinubu’s broader commitment to improving the welfare of workers in the education sector.
Alausa reaffirmed the administration’s determination to improve staff welfare, infrastructure and the overall quality of education under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement provides the framework under which the current CATA payment is being implemented, according to the Education Ministry.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu, to caution politicians against divisive conduct as campaigns for the 2027 general elections intensify.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made the appeal on Tuesday when he led officials of the commission on a courtesy visit to the monarch at Iga Idunganran on Lagos Island.
The visit was part of activities marking the conclusion of INEC’s South-West Zonal Readiness Assessment and Staff Interactive Session.
Amupitan urged the Oba to deploy his influence as a traditional ruler and father to politicians across party lines to encourage issue-based campaigns and discourage personal attacks, hate speech and inflammatory rhetoric.
He said: “We urge you, as a father to all politicians regardless of their party affiliations, to counsel them to focus on issues rather than insults. Let them debate policies, not personalities”.
The INEC chairman described traditional institutions as important pillars of peace and social cohesion, stressing that their influence was critical to ensuring a peaceful electoral process.
According to him, while INEC is deploying technology to strengthen the electoral process, technological innovations alone cannot guarantee peaceful and credible elections without the cooperation of citizens and traditional institutions.
He appealed to the Oba of Lagos and the Lagos Traditional Council to support the commission in mobilising residents to participate actively in the electoral process.
Amupitan said the National Register of Voters was fast approaching 100 million, adding that managing the electoral process across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory required not only technical preparedness but also the cooperation and moral support of traditional institutions.
According to him, traditional rulers remained enduring anchors of their communities, whose influence extended beyond political parties and electoral cycles.
The INEC chairman sought the monarch’s support in encouraging eligible residents to complete their voter registration and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
