News
Food for Living: Skill As a Success Ingredient
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friend,
In our contemporary society, one cannot undermine the importance of skills. Every employer is always concerned about what each prospective employee will bring to the table apart from their academic qualification. In some cases, employers are not concerned about educational qualifications, they are just concerned about experience and what the potential employee can do.
To succeed in life, one must not only personally and professionally develop himself, he must go the extra mile to acquire a skill. I strongly believe the best form of education is self-education. Anyone can teach you, but the knowledge and information you impact in yourself is what will make the difference in your life.
Skills come in various forms and manners. Depending on the area you are interested in, you will need to know the kind of skills you need to succeed in the industry. For instance, if you are shy, you need to develop your interpersonal relationship skill. If you are in business, you will need to develop your leadership and strategy skills.
One of the most important skills in life is taking care of yourself in body and mind. Yes, taking care of yourself is a skill most people underrate. It is the foundation for all other skills and areas of personal development. Sometimes, we focus on developing other aspects of our lives instead of focusing first on mental well-being. If you do not take care of yourself, you will find it much difficult to harness the power of your mind to develop, learn and achieve more.
You may be wondering what the most important skill one needs to succeed is Below are some skills we need to succeed in life.
Technical Skills
This Skill involves machinery and handy works. These skills are specific to an industry.
Professional
Depending on your industry, they may need you to have general knowledge of public speaking, writing, and leadership skills.
Personal Skills
The most important skills you need in life are personal skills. I call them emergency skills. Skills like driving, swimming, cooking, speaking, hygiene, accountability, etc. These skills can be learned. You need them because you never can tell when the need may arise. Let’s say, for instance, you have a medical emergency, and a patient needs to be transported to the hospital with a car, your ability to drive might save the day. Also, supposing there’s a car accident that led the car to summersault into the river, your ability to drive might save the day. Finally, suppose you are married, and your wife was sick, or you had a little misunderstanding with your wife and she decides not to cook, what will be your fate? Your ability to cook again might save the day. Do you see that there are certain skills you need to succeed in life?
Interpersonal skills
These are the life skills we use every day to communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups. Your interpersonal relation skills can help to build your communication and romantic relationship. Your ability to use these skills can make a difference in your life.
Leadership kills
Dr. Dele Momodu, a journalist, defined leadership as the ability to manage people and resources. To succeed in business, you need a strategy. Whether you are in the public or private sector, you must have great leadership skills because you will definitely meet difficult people in addition to getting opposition. Your ability to manage their emotion might be the game changer.
The ability to lead effectively is based on a number of key skills. These skills are highly sought by employers as they involve dealing with people in such a way as to motivate, enthuse and build respect.
In addition, here are a few characteristics and skills you need to adopt if you are interested in growing.
Learnability
Most people are so rigid that they find it hard to adapt to meet new innovations. According to Alvin Toffler “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back in the face of obstacles and failures. Each and every one of must experience our own fair share of failures and setbacks in one way or the other. When you are resilient, you don’t focus on the ups and downs. Resilience is a top skill that is in top demand. Many people find it hard to fight back. Whether you have a business, work in an established institution or dealing with a life situation, you must have the resilience to push through life when life hits you hard.
Teamwork/Collaboration
Your ability to work with a diverse set of people will have a huge role to play in your success. According to an African proverb, if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go with a team. In any space of life, you need to work with people to succeed. In your family, you need to be united to succeed. In politics, you need to work with the opposing side to pass a bill. In a work environment, you need to work with your colleagues to meet deadlines. Even as a human being, your body parts depend on others to succeed.
Communication Skills
You cannot underscore the importance of writing and speaking. These are the most priced skills in the world. If you can use it very well, you will be valuable in life. If you have a good idea, but don’t know how to convey the right message, you might lose some golden opportunity of attracting a scholarship or grant. Your ability to write and speak in a clear, concise, and succinct manner can be the game changer for a progressive being. According to Les Brown, when you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is an uncommon skill. It’s the ability to recognize and identify your feelings and the feelings of others. As you interact with colleagues, emotional intelligence helps keep you in tune with their emotions, allowing you to notice if someone is hurt, frustrated, or angry. Proactively addressing these emotions can help reduce conflict and wasted time in the workplace. By knowing your own emotions, you can speak honestly about them and manage them maturely rather than being overcome by them are.
Creativity
This is otherwise known as the ability to think out of the box. Your ability to have a holistic picture will place you on a higher pedestal. Creativity is a crucial skill we all need because, in our fast-changing times, employers value employees who can look beyond the present and imagine future possibilities for their company. Creative workers are the ones who ask why. The question, they are curious, and by so doing, they develop new ideas and solutions.
Your creative skills help in problem-solving. Being a good problem solver is essential because employers value people who can work through challenges on their own or as an effective members of a team by defining the issues, brainstorming alternatives, sharing thoughts, and then making sound decisions
Negotiation
This is one of the best skills anyone can get. Your ability to negotiate in life will give you an edge over your competitors. In life, it’s generally said, you don’t get what you desire, you get what you deserve. The sad part of negotiation skills is that, sometimes, we sell ourselves short due to desperation. Employers use powerful negotiation skills to get the best from prospective employees.
In summary, make effort to develop yourself by learning new skills and don’t get tired of learning because the more you know, the more you are paid. So, learn first in order to earn.
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
News
Court Hands EFCC Three Days Ultimatum to Conclude 10-Year-Old Corruption Charges Against Dasuki
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted three consecutive days to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conclude the ten-year-old corruption charges it instituted against a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
Dasuki’s counsel initiated legal arguments when he challenged the status of the subpoena because it was issued to the DSS as an entity not recognised by the law of the country.
The EFCC lawyer, however, countered the objection, insisting that DSS was a creation of statute and that there had been no confusion in the identity of the organisation.
“The document was duly served on Department of State Security (DSS). The Department has no confusion as to its identity.
“The witness did not exhibit any confusion as to his invitation by the Court. The objection as to form does not defeat the end of Justice. We humbly pray the Court not to sustain the objection in the interest of substantial justice.”
In the end, Justice Lifu admitted the subpoena as an exhibit and reserved his ruling to be delivered along with the main charge.
“I have carefully and painstakingly listened to learned counsel on the admissibility of the document sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
“I have also perused the document in relation to the name on the said subpoena. Admissibility of documentary evidence is governed by the law of evidence, and it is determined by relevancy.
“Being a criminal case which is about 10 years old in the docket of this court, coupled with the fact that ACJA 2015 envisages speedy dispensation of criminal justice, this document shall be admitted and a ruling shall be incorporated into the final judgement of this court,” said Justice Lifu.
The judge drew the attention of the parties to the fact that the case had dragged and suffered delay for ten years, having been filed in 2015.
At the proceedings, the first prosecution witness and exhibit keeper with the DSS, Monsur Mohammed, was permitted to give evidence on the strength of the subpoena.
He subsequently presented several items found in Dasuki’s properties at 13 John Khadije Street, Asokoro, Abuja; 46 Nelson Mandela Street, Asokoro Abuja; Sabon Birnin Road, Sokoto; and Sultan Abubakar Road, also in Sokoto.
Four different search warrants executed in July 2015 at the four properties led to the recovery of the undisclosed items.
In the end, the DSS exhibit keeper admitted that nothing incriminating was found on the properties.
After the evidence, Justice Lifu held that in the circumstances of the case and by consent of all counsel, “this suit is hereby adjourned to 7, 8 and 9 July 2025 at the instance of the Court for further hearing.
He added: “The learned prosecutor is expected to close his case on these adjourned dates.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
There is no doubt everyone experiences different levels of pain and disappointment when things or life don’t go as planned. Many thoughts naturally run through minds. Depending on the issue on the ground, one might wonder what he did wrong, or what he could have done differently. More questions such as ‘was my request too much, did I act too fast or slow, was my approach bad, was my work untidy, did I under prepare will continually flash tbrough the mind? No doubt, the mind will be busy wondering what caused the failure.
Ordinarily, they are supposed to make us feel frustrated, especially when it is an opportunity we have been praying to have. Imagine having an idol, celebrity or an influential leader who can change your life giving you an opportunity, but for reasons beyond your comprehension or articulation, you couldn’t seize the moment to create a lasting impression; an lost opportunity.
Trust me, I can relate to the feeling having experienced similar fate on several occasions. There are relationships that I have lost either because I was naïve or couldn’t nurture it well. However, one may try to look at it, life may not always go as planned; one may be planning out his life and God or the universe will be planning something else. Sometimes, what we thought might be good for ourselves, might not really be good for us.
Let me share a practical story; during my formative years in the United States of America, I worked as a security officer for a decent amount of time, while still applying to many other companies. Though I couldn’t secure a decent paying job, I didn’t lose hope either, I kept my hope alive. It is important to state that I was frustrated and felt depressed. I wondered when my life will change for the better. It got to a stage I felt only a miracle can change the course of my life because people who have less capacity, competency and capability than me were getting opportunities and I began to wonder if I was cursed. Many thoughts were running through my mind. But what gave strength were the words of my Registrar while at New York Law School. According to him, if you lose all options, don’t lose hope.
One thing I did was to maximise my present status as a security officer and used the opportunity to network during the day. I attended events of interest in the morning, afternoon and nights. Sometimes. I will go to work from the event.
In all honesty, I didn’t know the people I met during my formative years while working as a security officer will be instrumental to who I am today, and what I will be doing in the near future. Why do I say this? I know for a fact, assuming I had a decent paying job after my law school program, I doubt if I would have had time to write my first book and as well, attend events and network with the high and mighty in the society.
When I look back, I will say this is a disguised blessing because all these people came in handy to support my work when I published my book.
Furthermore, there was a time I missed a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award event, an award that could have changed the course of my life. While I was troubled by the incident, a mentor of mine said to me, “don’t grieve for what didn’t happen because what didn’t happen could prevent disaster from happening”. This is so true because sometimes we might not know the people we meet, who can do harm to us in the nearest future which we might not know, so the creator of the universe can cause a scene or situation that will prevent the relationship from going forward.
It can also be a case where one is looking for a job, and the job might be that which will consume the fellow in the nearest future. So, when one gets denied the opportunity of working, instead of crying over spilled milk, consider seeing it as disguised blessing, which can be a bigger company that might offer you more benefits. It can also be a case of maybe, your destiny helper might be in the company that offers you less pay as opposed to a bigger company that one is aspiring to get, but was denied.
In the journey of life, sometimes one must refuse to capitalize on one’s gain, this is because anyone can do that, but what’s more important is to profit from the loss, because that requires a certain degree of intelligence.
Disguised blessings can come in different forms, for instance while some people are begging because one of their legs is amputated, another person has won Gold at Paralympics because both legs are amputated and thereby receiving global recognition.
Life is about perspective; how you see it is how it will reflect on you. Life itself is a mirror; it depends on the lens you are using to view it. If you believe that life happens to you, you will be the beggar in that situation. But if you know that you happen to life, you will be bigger instead of being a beggar. So, wake up every day and don’t gauge how you feel that day. Instead, tell yourself how you want to feel on any given day. Be the driver of your life, not a passenger.
In conclusion, when you have done what you are supposed to, and life still doesn’t turn out as expected, instead of feeling frustrated, try looking at it from the angle of disguised blessings by learning the inherent lessons the said situation is bringing to your table of 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
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to within 24hrs release socialite and business woman, Aisha Achimugu.
Justice Inyang Ekwo in a short ruling also added that parties in the suit especially the EFCC are to report to the court to give report on compliance to the order of court on May 2, 2025.
Recall that Justice Ekwo had on Monday, ordered Achimugu to submit herself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with an on going investigation bordering on Money laundering and other offences.
Justice Ekwo, also held that following her appearance at the EFCC office, the antigraft agency is to return with her and make an appearance before the court on Wednesday April 30, for report.
Meanwhile, the EFCC arrested Achimugu at about 5am on Tuesday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The EFCC is investigating Achimugu on a case involving conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, money laundering, corruption, and possession of properties reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
While she was previously arrested and questioned by the EFCC, she was released on administrative bail by the commission.
However, EFCC alleged that she jumped bail and declared Achimugu wanted.
The EFCC in a press statement urged the public to provide information about Achimugu’s whereabouts, “The public is hereby notified that AISHA SULAIMAN ACHIMUGU is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an alleged case of criminal conspiracy and money laundering,” the statement read.
The EFCC in its affidavit to show cause, averred that on February 12, 2024, when Achimugu was previously arrested, in their office with her lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, she wrote a statement.
The commission said in the statement, that she explained some of the huge funds which passed through her corporate bank accounts.
It said that Achimugu admitted the sum of N8, 710, 000, 000.00. (eight billion, seven hundred and ten million naira) was paid by her partners as an investment fund into the purchase and payment of a signature bonus for the acquisition of oil bloc on Nov. 8, 2022.
It said further investigation however revealed that Achimugu, through her company, Ocean Gate Engineering Oli and Gas Limited, acquired two oil blocs, namely Shallow Water -PPL 3007 and Deep Offshore-PPL 302-DO for the total sum of $25, 300, 000 (twenty-five million, three hundred thousand dollars) through majorly cash payments made to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators who in turn made payments to Federal Government via corporate accounts.
The commission alleged that the ultimate sources of the said sum of $25,300,000 used in the acquisition of the oil blocs were not linked to her lawful earnings or income or any business partner.
