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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
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have arrested a former chairman of defunct Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni, over alleged money laundering, misappropriation and diversion of funds amounting to N36.54bn and $30m.
Ayeni, a businessman, was arrested in Abuja on Thursday, and is currently being held at the commission’s facility.
The arrest followed an EFCC probe into alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds said to have been obtained from Polaris Bank through multiple entities linked to him.
“Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested a former board chairman of defunct Skye Bank Plc and businessman, Tunde Ayeni, in connection with alleged money laundering, misappropriation and diversion of funds to the tune of N36,540,058,400.00 and $30m.
“Ayeni was arrested sequel to the investigation of the EFCC into alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds to the tune of N36,540,058,400.00 and $30m obtained from Polaris Bank Plc by different entities linked to him.
“The funds were loans obtained allegedly for specific investment projects but subsequently transferred to other entities’ accounts. Investigations showed that, though the loans were obtained for purposes such as finance of marine security activities, electricity distribution contract, estate development, they were diverted to the NITEL/MTEL asset acquisition through NATCOM account,” one of the sources said.
Another source said the commission is currently probing 12 companies allegedly linked to Ayeni, which it said were used to obtain the loans from Polaris Bank.
“Twelve different companies linked to Ayeni are being investigated by the EFCC. They are entities he allegedly used to obtain loans from Polaris Bank for his shady activities. The loans are depositors’ funds fraudulently obtained and frittered into diverse wasteful purposes. Ayeni will be arraigned in due course upon conclusion of investigations,” the source said.
When contacted, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale confirmed the arrest but declined to give further details.
The Punch
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
To be fruitful is to be productive, profitable, and successful in all areas of your life. When one is fruitful, he will attract many opportunities and values. When we are fruitful, we won’t be barren because we will be producing fruits and results with our work. Even the book of life said no woman will be barren in your land. That’s being fruitful.
Fruitfulness permeates every area of our life. When you are fruitful, your life, marriage, business, academic, ethics, relationship/network will flourish. Our business must be fruitful to survive, otherwise it will be out of business. We shall discuss several areas where one can be fruitful.
Parents
The joy of every father is for the child to be greater than him. Any father that wants to be greater than his son is not a good father in my understanding. Parents, mentors, government, teachers, leaders of faith, etc. all want us to be fruitful.
Let’s take a case study of parents. They sacrifice their time, resources and health just to give us a decent life. They do it because they want us to be successful in life.
Personally, I watched my late father and mother deprive themselves of the luxury of life just to give me and my siblings a decent life. My late parents never had the opportunity of having a decent education, it won’t be out of place for one to say they are unlettered, but they knew the value of education.
My late dad will always say, he’s not concerned about building houses, or living a luxury lifestyle, to him, those are secondary needs of life. His primary concern is for his children to have a good education. My late dad will always say assuming he’s educated, he would have excelled higher in life.
My late mother is not an exemption. I vividly remember one day my late mother said to me, her colleagues are buying jewelry, shoes, clothes, making their hair, etc. to fit into trends, but she’s not concerned about that, her major concern is for her children to have a decent education and look good.
Most people don’t understand the inspiration behind why I do what I do today. My late parents were and remained my biggest supporter. Apart from going to heaven, my greatest goal is to make my late parents and children proud. The moral of this analysis is my late parents sacrificed even their life for me and siblings just because they want us to be successful and fruitful.
Mentors
Mentors are not left out of this equation; mentors can be regarded as gatekeepers because they have paid the price of success. It is the fruitfulness of mentors that attracts values and mentees to them. When a mentor accepts a mentee into his fold, he’s simply telling the mentee, “I want you to be successful, I don’t want you to fail. However, it is important to state that before a mentor can accept to mentor a mentee, the mentor would have seen some potential in the mentees.
It’s instructive to mention that there are five types of mentors namely:
- Position Mentor: People follow you because they have a right to follow you which can be because of the position you occupy.
- Permission Mentor: People follow you because you allow them. For example, in relationships when you decide to allow people to build relationships with you.
- Production Mentor: People follow you because of what you have done for the organization or association. This is result oriented.
- People Development Mentor: People follow you because of what you have done for them.
- Pinnacle Mentor: People follow you because of who you are or what you represent. The question now is where do you belong?
For the umpteenth time, I am a product of mentorship. My mentors have really shaped my life.
Teachers
Teachers are not left out. Teachers are generally regarded as professional educators who play a critical role in fostering student achievement, personal growth, and social development. They are seen as the “lifeblood” of the education system, often serving as mentors, role models, and agents of social change.
There are many components of teachers namely:
- Professional Experts: Teachers are trained specialists in pedagogy (the art/science of teaching) and subject matter, holding degrees and certifications that qualify them to guide learners.
- Facilitators and Mentors: Beyond delivering content, they act as guides who help students acquire critical thinking skills and knowledge, shifting from “information dispensers” to active facilitators.
- Lifelong Learners: Effective teachers are viewed as individuals who continuously learn and adapt their practices to new technologies, curricula, and student needs.
- Moral and Cultural Guides: Teachers are often expected to act as stewards of community values, maintaining student safety, and cultivating civic responsibility.
- “Backbone of Society”: They are considered crucial to a nation’s social and economic development by preparing the future workforce. Above all, they assist in making us fruitful human beings.
Leaders of faith
The leaders of faith are regarded as the molders of the human faith because they help to build our faith. When the scripture says in Genesis 1:8, be fruitful and multiply, the scripture is also referring to them because they are regarded as shepherds. As Christians, we expected to be fruitful because our heavenly father is fruitful. Being fruitful here entails bearing fruits with our life and this entails using our life to attract people into the kingdom of God as evidence of our heavenly father who expects us to be Christlike.
Government
Let’s talk about the government. When a government is fruitful, it will reflect on the lives of her citizens, but when the government is performing below expectations, the citizens will be on the receiving end. The principal responsibility of the government is protection of life and security for her citizens. Every other thing is secondary. The government is also responsible for creating job opportunities for the citizens. However, it should be noted the government cannot create for all her citizens, and as such they provide an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.
Employers/Supervisors/Leaders
These sets of people are regarded as people of influence. You need them at your corner, if you intend to move higher in life. Your employers and supervisors are regarded as your leaders. You can never outsmart them; the best one can try is to be in their good books and tolerate their excesses. When an employee is fruitful and exceeding expectations at work, they tend to be rewarded by their supervisors or employers because of the value they create and the problem they solve
In conclusion, whatever you do in life, please try and be fruitful.
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
Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court has adjourned the bail hearing of former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to the first week of June, 2026.
El-Rufai is being arraigned on multiple charges bordering on alleged financial crime and abuse of office by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“Similarly, another charge, number KDH/KAD/ICPC/01/26, against Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i and one Amadu Sule (LEDA) has also been filed before a Kaduna State High Court in the Kaduna Judicial Division,” the ICPC said last month.
“The charges in the State High Court case range from abuse of office, fraud, and intent to commit fraud to conferring undue advantage, among others. Both charges were filed by the ICPC on the 18th of March, 2026.”
Speaking after the court session, counsel to the former governor, Ukpon Akpan, kicked against the lingering adjournment of the bail hearing by one presiding judge as politically motivated.
The high-profile case has drawn significant public attention, with heightened security presence observed around the court premises.
The former governor had arrived at the court at about 9 am in a convoy accompanied by ICPC officials and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
During the proceedings, supporters of the former governor gathered outside the courtroom, while security agencies maintained order and restricted movement within the vicinity.
Inside the courtroom, journalists, as usual, were not allowed, as proceedings are expected to focus on arguments presented by both the defence and prosecution regarding the bail request.
At the last sitting, the defence team had maintained that their client poses no flight risk and is willing to comply with all conditions set by the court.
Meanwhile, the prosecution has urged the court to carefully consider the gravity of the charges.
The 66-year-old former governor of Kaduna has been in ICPC custody since February 19 following his release by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
El-Rufai, a former minister of the FCT, was, however, released on March 27 based on compassionate grounds following his mother’s death
