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Food for Living: Run Your Race with Your Mates

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By Henry Ukazu

Greetings Destiny Friends,

A race, in a literary sense, is a contest between two or more persons competing for a prize. A race can be a sprint, relay, marathon, middle-distance, long-distance, and hurdles. When it comes to running a race, every single step is important because a wrong move can affect the entire outcome. Can you imagine where an athlete has a faulty start or enters the lane of another athlete. That athlete will be disqualified. Can you also imagine a case where an athlete misses the baton; it will definitely affect their chances of winning the race.

Beyond the race on the tracks, there’s also a larger race on the field of life. This race is not interested in whether one is an athlete or not. It is open to everyone living. Consequently, everyone must run his race with his mates and contemporaries, and here’s why.

In the journey of life, everyone is entitled to running their individual races. Nobody will run another’s race for them; the best anyone can do for another is assist in providing an enabling environment for the race. For instance, our parents, mentors, siblings, relatives, benefactors, churches, government, among others have all contributed in one way or another to shape our journey. They did it so that we won’t be found wanting when we step out to the tracks to compete with mates.

Let’s face it, our parents, siblings, relatives may have supported us with resources in training us in schools. Our mentors, benefactors, government, churches, etc. may have provided an enabling environment and by putting the necessary structures for us excel.  The government can formulate policies that will enable progressive minds to thrive. All these acts are structured to give us an edge in life.

One may be wondering why this illustration important; well, the simple reason is because we must run our race at the right time, otherwise, we’ll be left behind. My beloved mother Lolo Agnes Ukazu, will always say, when your mates are running, run with them. That statement might sound ordinary, but it is very deep. One may be wondering what it means, well, it simply means, it’s always good to do the right thing at the right time. For instance, there’s a right time for one to go to school, get married, have kids, invest and give it back to society. When one misses a stage, it might be hard to get back on track. So, when one’s mate is going to school, please, if you have the time and resources, join them and go to school, marry, have children, invest, etc. because at the end of the day, everything will align together if done properly.

My late mother will always say, when one is born, the person won’t enter his/her mother’s womb again. The next task for the person is to run their race by fighting their war, and this entails running their race by taking ownership of their life. When your mates leave you behind, it might be difficult to catch up with them. May God help you if they have gone far.

It’s sad to see uniformed minds who always think their messiah or destiny helper will come from heaven. They fail to understand that “Power is never served a la carte“. One will have to struggle to earn it.  That’s simply how life works. Anything anyone desires, one will have to roll their sleeves and do the needful. If the universe is kind to you, it will send you destiny helpers, associates, benefactors, mentees, and resourceful people who can assist in birthing your vision.

The universe can also make the government formulate a policy for you. I have since come to the sublime submission that in life, we are the architect of our lives. According to my late dad, Chief Lazarus Ukazu, “any name anyone wants to answer, that person must work hard to earn the name. Again, this is running your race.

Overtime, I have discovered, when you begin a race, people from north and south will align together to assist you in birthing the vision all things being equal.  Most of the work I have been celebrated didn’t come because I was smart, even though smartness may have contributed, but the true success was a result of my accomplishment. For instance, as an author, I use my books to create curriculum for my target audience, meet resource people and organization.  I didn’t wait for my mentors or anyone to put me in the spotlight. Rather, they saw my work and appreciated the value and problems I was solving, and they extended a hand of fellowship to partner with me.

I didn’t fold my hands and wait for manna from above. No, I rolled my sleeves. I didn’t feel entitled to any favor, I didn’t complain, rather I fixed the problem, and as they say, the rest is history.

To run your race with your mates, timing is critical. You don’t want to have children at old age when you are supposed to be resting.  Imagine being in a Parents Teachers Association meeting with children who are supposed to be your kids. Again, when your mates are busy grinding by adding value to their life, please endeavor to do the same because when they get to the top, they’ll find resourceful people who have added to their life. So, imagine a case where one has developed themselves and they still fail, they still stand a better position to attract opportunities because of the bold actions and steps they have taken.

From personal experience, I have seen people who just relax with hope that if a friend succeeds and gets to the top or makes money, they will be remembered, but these uninformed minds don’t know that life doesn’t work that way. As an accomplished author and human capacity development expert, most of the heights I have attained were simple because I collaborated with resourceful minds working the same space or I had people who believed and saw value in my work.

I don’t know what your storyline is, I just want you to know that if you don’t run your race, other people will run it for you. My prayer for you is that you may not be a spectator in a race you are supposed to own.

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

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Food for Living: Love What You Do (Pt. 2)

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By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Friends,

Last week, we laid the foundation of loving what you do. We discussed loving the topic as it relates to family, career, health, relationship, personal development, purpose and spirituality.  Today, we shall be focusing on how loving what you do can be a game changer.

It’s instructive to note that in the dictionary of life; when you love what you do and what you do loves you, you are destined for not only success, but also greatness. One may be wondering how this works. Trust me, it is difficult to succeed in a major, or profession one doesn’t like.

The journey of life can be challenging, stressful and unpredictable. When one is trying to set up a business, there’s bound to be setbacks maybe due to a new policy or meeting up with the requirement, there could challenges of funds; in academics, if one choose a major one likes, despite the associating challenges that may arise, one will still manage to pull through because he that is in him is greater and stronger than he that is in the world.

Also, in relationships and marriage, if one values friendship, they won’t allow their ego to have influence over them. Rather, they will invest time and resources in the relationship. That’s why it’s always good to place values above physical features in a human body when it comes to settling down for marriage because at the end of the day, the human body features can fade away, but values and friendship will not fade away, rather, it will serve as the binding factor that keeps the relationship.

One’s career is not an exception; one can tell who likes their job and one who doesn’t like their job. In workplaces, if one is happy at work, they tend to put in extra hours to get the job done. But when they are not happy with the job, they’ll do the bare minimum just to get through.

Let’s spend a minute to understand how loving what one does can be a game changer in one’s life. Just imagine, one is inspired to write a book, there will be challenges, however, it is the inspiration and determination of the person that will determine if they will finish strong. But if they are inspired by the wrong source, they might finish weak. Here is the gist, it is your desire to succeed that will outweigh your fear of failure.

Again, imagine a scenario where one is starting a business but has no resources and structure behind him. The fact is that if the person loves what he’s doing, it will be hard for the person to give up because their force is internal. I can vividly remember when I was working on my first, second and third book, I had many reasons to quit, but I refused because I love the work I was producing.

Furthermore, when you love what you do, you’ll endeavor to learn something new in addition to spending quality time to improve the work. I say this because rational minds don’t invest time and resources in what they don’t like. There’s a saying, if you want to know a man, give money, women and power. One of them would like to subdue him, but if he’s able to overcome them, he is a man.

This principle of loving what you do cuts across all facets of life whether we are taking care of families, academics, religion purpose, health, career, finance and even spiritual life. For families a man/woman who is intentional in building their family, must love their family and loving their family intends sacrificing for the family.

For health, if one loves their health, they won’t take harmful substances, just because they love their health; they will be intentional in exercising, and in doing so, they must love exercising.  For finance, an intentional person must spend time learning about stock, budgeting and investment. These are avenues to show that they have interest in growing their income.  Even in spiritual life, when one shows interest in loving God in truth and spirit, God has a way of coming through for them because they have been tested and trusted. This is simply how life works. Even in relationships if one loves their partner, there’s a high probability they would like to invest time and resources into that relationship.

In summary, endeavor to love what you do because there’s a certain level of spiritual strength, blessings and corresponding opportunities that’s associated with success, when one loves what they do. This is basically how life works.

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- Actualizing Your Birthright to SuccessUnleash Your Destiny and The Six Pillars of Success . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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Osun Govt Drags Fadahunsi to Court over “Kill Accord Members” Threat

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The Osun State Government has approached the High Court of Osun State seeking an order compelling security agencies to investigate Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi over his alleged threats against members and supporters of the Accord Party ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

The suit, marked HOS/M.157/26, was filed on August 12, 2026, at the Osogbo Judicial Division, three days before the August 15 election.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada (SAN), filed the application seeking an Order of Mandamus against the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command. Fadahunsi, who represents Osun East Senatorial District, was listed as the person affected or interested party.

The government said its action followed a video circulating on social media in which Fadahunsi was allegedly captured addressing a political gathering in front of the Owa Obokun’s Palace in Ilesha on August 11.

According to the court documents, the senator allegedly made statements interpreted as calls for violence against members of the Accord Party.

The government said a transcript and translation of the speech showed Fadahunsi allegedly directing supporters to attack Accord members wherever they encountered them and making threats against their families.

The court filings also alleged that the senator instructed his supporters to chase Accord members out of hotels where they were found and made derogatory comments about the party’s yellow caps.

The government further alleged that Fadahunsi threatened that the election would not hold if Accord members resisted the actions of APC supporters.

The Attorney-General is asking the court to compel the police to investigate the video and determine whether the alleged statements constitute criminal offences under applicable laws.

The government is also seeking an order directing the police to preserve, authenticate and conduct a forensic examination of the complete video to establish whether it has been altered or edited.

Other reliefs sought include compelling the police to take preventive measures to protect Accord candidates, members and voters from intimidation or harassment before, during and after the election.

The government also wants the police to ensure that registered voters and Accord supporters are not prevented from accessing hotels or other locations during the electoral period.

It further asked the court to order the respondents to submit a report on compliance with the court’s directives within 48 hours of the orders being granted.

In the supporting affidavit, Nurudeen Kareem, Special Adviser to Governor Ademola Adeleke on Legal Matters, said Accord members had expressed “reasonable and legitimate concerns regarding their safety and security before, during, and after the forthcoming election.”

The government argued that the police have a statutory responsibility under the Police Act 2020 and the 1999 Constitution to prevent crime and maintain public order.

It maintained that waiting until violence occurs before investigating an alleged public threat would undermine the preventive role of law enforcement.

“The Applicant believes that waiting until actual violence, deaths, or injuries occur before investigating an alleged public instruction to kill political opponents would amount to a dereliction of duty,” the government said.

The Attorney-General also clarified that the suit was not asking the court to determine Fadahunsi’s criminal guilt, stressing that such a determination would require a proper criminal trial.

Rather, the government said it was seeking to compel the police to carry out their statutory responsibilities and take appropriate preventive action.

With the election scheduled for Saturday, the government said “time is of the absolute essence”, warning that failure to act on the alleged threats could expose residents to “irreparable harm, loss of life, and widespread civil unrest.”

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Don’t Turn Osun Election into War, Atiku Warns Tinubu, INEC, Security Agencies

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Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and the Tinubu administration against militarising the Osun governorship election or using state institutions for partisan gain.

Speaking at the ADC National Youth Leadership Summit in Abuja on Wednesday, Atiku said the Osun poll “is a test” of Nigeria’s ability to conduct credible elections ahead of 2027.

He said the scale of security deployment ahead of the August 15 election looked more like preparation for war than a democratic exercise.

“Elections are civil engagements, not military operations. Ballot papers are not bullets. Voters are not enemy combatants. Opposition members are not insurgents,” Atiku said.

He also questioned why the same level of security was not being deployed against terrorists, kidnappers and bandits attacking communities across the country.

Atiku cautioned INEC against “mysterious glitches, unexplained delays or manipulation” and demanded timely delivery of materials, unhindered voting, honest counting and transparent transmission of results.

“The police belong to Nigeria. The military belongs to Nigeria. INEC belongs to the Nigerian people. None of them belongs to the APC,” he said.

“The world is watching Osun. Nigerians are watching. History is taking notes. Let the people vote. Let every vote count. And let the will of the people prevail.”

Atiku also raised fresh concerns over the Chicago State University certificate submitted to INEC by President Bola Tinubu.

He alleged discrepancies in the document, noting that one version bears June 22, 1979, while another linked to CSU records bears June 27, 1979, with reported differences in signatures and the description of the degree.

He further questioned why the names and signatures of university officials who assumed office years after 1979 reportedly appear on documents dated 1979 and asked whether they were replacement certificates and who authorised them.

Citing Section 137(1)(j) of the Constitution on disqualification for presenting a forged certificate to INEC, Atiku said the exact document submitted to INEC must be authenticated.

“Who produced the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC? When was it produced? Who authorised it? Why does it differ from the other version, and does Chicago State University authenticate the exact document submitted to INEC?” he asked.

“If a young Nigerian would be required to explain such discrepancies before getting an ordinary job, why should the man seeking Nigeria’s highest job be exempt from the same standard?”

On youth participation, Atiku pledged that at least 30 per cent of legislative candidates under his political programme would be below 40 years, with a significant number below 30.

He charged young Nigerians to “Register. Organise. Lead” and turn frustration into political action.

“Anger is not an organisation. A hashtag is not an organisation,” he said.

“Your time is not tomorrow. Your time is now.”

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