Metro
Food for Living: Seasons of Blessings
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
There is nothing that brings joy to the heart more than success. Success is the result of smart and hard work. It is the best response you can give your detractors. Everyone of us has experienced a fair share of failures, disappointments, and corresponding success in life’s journey. However, one thing is certain, no good deeds come easy. You must put in the work; mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, and other corresponding ingredients of success necessary to make any endeavour a success.
As a student, your season of blessings will arrive when you have done all that is conditionally expected of you to receive any degree or certificate from any academic institution. As an entrepreneur, you must have put the systems and structures in place in your business in addition to doing the work by being consistent in your craft before you can receive the blessing that comes with hard work. As a married couple, you must have portrayed a lot of patience by being tolerant with your spouse’s excesses in the process of understanding him/her before you can enjoy a decade, silver, or golden jubilee of marriage. The list is literally endless.
As an individual, it is generally expected of one to be sad when you invest your time in your business, academic, marriage, etc., and at the end of the day, you either fail or don’t get the commensurate reward. As a rational progressive being, there are alternatives to thinking through the situation. How about you see them as an experience? When you do so, you will realize that you didn’t lose anything rather you learned patience, a better way of doing things, and more importantly, you can console yourself with the notion that your season of blessings has not arrived.
What most people fail to understand is that everything in life has a season; a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to read and a time to play, a time to mourn, and a time to celebrate. What’s important is that everything in life has a season.
Whenever you do your best and you don’t get the desired result, you don’t have to be hard on yourself, rather appreciate the fact that you have done your best and maybe your best is suitable or good enough for the decision-makers at the time in question. A lot of variable factors may be at stake. It might even be that the people who are supposed to appreciate your work are yet to see your work. It’s just like when a marketer is trying to sell a product to the wrong target audience, no matter how good the product is, the product will not be appreciated. As a matter of fact, the person won’t see the value in your product. But when you market a product for the right person, the product might appear irresistible regardless of the price and when the product is appreciated, your season of blessing will manifest.
It’s quite unfortunate to note that sometimes when our desires or expectations are not met, we tend to attribute it to other factors like negative forces, friends, government, bosses, etc. In as much as there may be other factors which can, or may contribute to the failure of a project, the point of interest here is that when we fail, we always find a way to give an excuse, but if we have succeeded, the excuse won’t rear its ugly head. No wonder it is said that failure is an orphan while success has many friends.
To understand the concept of seasons of blessings, let’s take the case study of an uninformed newly married couple, whose marriage has been experiencing financial challenges, and the crisis is threatening to break the marriage if proper care is not applied. What the couple might not know is that every marriage has its own peculiar challenges and they come in different forms. Some challenges come in their first, five, ten, or even twenty years of marriage, while some blessings come in their first, five, ten, or even twenty years of marriage. So, it’s imperatively important for one to think out of the box when these challenges rear their ugly heads.
The same principle is applicable in business and life generally. Each of us must go through challenges in one way or another, and one way to overcome the challenges is to have faith in the future by being optimistic that your season of blessings is on course. I liken the season of blessing to someone who has done the work but waiting for the product to be harvested.
In conclusion, no matter what you are experiencing in life, be mindful of the fact that everything has its season. Be patient and keep working on your craft. Be advised that whatever has not arrived yet, is not meant to arrive or maybe you haven’t developed the capacity to receive it. Always be grateful for what you didn’t receive yet because what you didn’t receive might have prevented you from danger. To put this illustration in perspective, you may be praying for wealth or opportunity and when you receive the wealth, during the process of enjoying the wealth, it might lead to your demise. For instance, you might decide to travel either by road or flight and an accident or crash might happen, but assuming you were a in commercial vehicle, that ugly situation may not have occurred. Again, you may be praying for an opportunity to serve in government, and when you get the opportunity to serve, you may be a target for evil people who may not like the policies you stand for, and if proper care is not applied you might lose your life or close family member.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker. 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
In a move to enhance the mental resilience and professional effectiveness of personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, through Rashtriya Raksha University, the pioneering National Security and Police University in India, has concluded discussions to commence strategic partnership that will lead to result oriented capacity building for Officers and Men of the Corps.
Through the first-of-its-kind collaboration, according to a statement made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP), 1000 FRSC personnel will undergo intensive training in stress management and emotional wellbeing in August, 2025. An initiative that underscores Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed’s determination to safeguarding not only the lives of road users, but also the health and wellbeing of the Management and Staff of the Corps.
The capacity development program aims to increase awareness of occupational stress/personal stress and its impact on physical and mental health of FRSC personnel; equip staff with practical tools for stress management, promote psychological resilience, emotional regulation, as well as foster peer support and a culture of mental health awareness.
Speaking on the partnership, the Corps Marshal stated thus:
“Our personnel operate under immense pressure every day to keep Nigerian roads safe. By investing in their mental and emotional health, we are strengthening our capacity to serve the nation with professionalism, empathy, and excellence.”
“The training program will leverage the world-renowned expertise of Indian professionals in stress reduction, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence, combining modern scientific approaches with time-tested wellness practices. Participants will gain practical tools to manage stress, improve decision-making in critical situations, and promote a culture of mental health awareness within the Corps,” he added.
The programme facilitators will comprise mental health professionals including clinical psychologist,
research officers and administrative officer from the University.
It is expected that at the end of the training, both Management and Staff will exhibit an increased self-awareness of personal stress triggers, improved skills in emotion regulation and peer support, Strengthened sense of community and psychological safety
and improved capabilities to address crisis situation efficiently.
This landmark collaboration reflects the shared vision of Nigeria and India to build resilient institutions that prioritize the wellbeing of public service officers, ensuring safer roads and healthier communities across Africa’s most populous nation.
The training is set to commence later this year and will run in phases, in 4 specific locations including the FRSC Academy Udi, Enugu State, FRSC Marshal Inspectorate Training School, Owo-Alero with both physical and virtual learning sessions to maximize participation and impact.
Recall that the partnership between the University and FRSC commenced sometimes in March with the training of some of the Corps personnel in Gujarat State of India.
As continuation of that partnership, 10 personnel are already finalizing arrangements for Masters Programme sometimes in August this year to study different courses among which include; information technology, cyber security, data management and traffic enforcement.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has commenced the process of transferring the regulatory oversight of electricity market in Abia State to the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Agency (ASERA) via Order – NERC/2025/058 in line with Electricity Act 2023, as amended, with effect from June 25, 2025.
The NERC said that Abia State has fully complied to the provisions of section 230 (2) of the Electricity Act 2023 and had dully notified the Commission and requested the transfer of the regulatory oversight of the State electricity market to Abia State.
By this transfer order, the successor DisCo in the State, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) is expected to incorporate a subsidiary to assume the responsibilities of Intra State Supply and distribution of Electricity in Abia State.
Confirming the development, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, said the transfer of regulatory oversight of intrastate electricity markets from NERC to ASERA is in line with the promise of Governor Alex Otti to provide reliable electricity access to unserved and underserved industries and communities in Abia State.
He further stated that it will bring several benefits to the people of Abia state such as localised State-tailored tariff structures, which will set end-user tariffs that reflect local economic conditions, encouraging fairer pricing and better cost recovery.
Also, the commissioner said that ASERA can rapidly adjust rules and incentives to suit local goals such as supporting mini-grids or renewable energy projects.
He further said that Abia State Electricity Regulatory Agency located in Umuahia will be able to provide a faster local and closer oversight which reduces delays in licensing, complaints handling, and issue resolutions to bolster local service quality among other functions.
According to him, the deadline for the transfer of the regulatory obligations is December 24, 2025.
Following a video in circulation condemning the Police community over neglect regarding welfare and retirement benefits of retired police officers by a retired retired Superintendent of Police, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, has ordered a thorough investigation into the allegations.
The IGP, according to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, has tasked the NPF Pensions Limited to urgently examine the claims, identify any possible lapses, and ensure that appropriate action is taken to address the concerns raised.
The Nigeria Police Force is not insensitive to the plight of its pensioners, many of whom dedicated their lives to the service and safety of our nation. The IGP views the welfare of both serving and retired officers as a priority and recognizes that timely and adequate pension administration is crucial to sustaining morale and institutional integrity. While efforts have consistently been made to improve the pension system, the IGP acknowledges the importance of constructive feedback in prompting necessary reforms.
The IGP therefore reassures all officers, both serving and retired, and their families of the Force’s commitment to improved welfare, and to building a system that honours their sacrifices. He urges stakeholders to remain calm and patient as the NPF Pensions carries out its investigations and engages relevant agencies to ensure lasting solutions.
