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Food for Living: Skill As a Success Ingredient
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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
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US Lawmaker Weeps over Brutal Killing of Christians in Plateau
A United States representative, Anna Paulina Luna, has raised the alarm over what she described as the incessant attacks and killings of Christians across different communities in Plateau State by Fulani ethnic militia terrorists and Islamist extremists.
The US lawmaker, who made the allegations in a statement shared on her verified X account on Friday, accused both the state and the federal governments of not doing enough to protect Christians in the state from the regular attacks they suffer when the terrorists descend on the communities.
In a post titled, “What is happening in Nigeria right now?”, the US lawmaker lamented that thousands of Christians in Plateau were facing a mortal threat while security forces had struggled to contain the situation.
“Hundreds of Fulani ethnic militia terrorists descended on Christian communities across Plateau State.
“Thousands of civilians are under mortal threat while the Nigerian Army and security forces struggle to hold the line,” Luna wrote.
According to her, the attacks were preceded by a series of violent incidents targeting Christians and other civilians in the affected communities.
Giving some specifics, Paulina said a pastor and his church secretary were shot dead while they were on their way to church in the days leading up to the latest attacks, while five Christians were attacked in another incident while travelling in a vehicle.
“A pastor and his church secretary were shot dead on their way to church. Five Christians were ambushed in their car.
“A civilian guard was killed outside his own home. A man and his son were beaten and left in critical condition,” the lawmaker said.
The US representative also alleged that security agencies had never taken warnings and security alerts issued before the attacks seriously, questioning why they had not been followed.
News
Food for Living: Pursue Passion More Than Profit (Pt. 2)
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Last week, we began discussing a grey and near-controversial topic, “pursue passion more than profit”. The topic cannot be exhaustive. Depending on who one is speaking to, different answers and understanding will be received because different things work for different people, and as they say, ‘different strokes for different people’.
It I worthy of note that a family man who is passionate about teaching or working in the non-profit space will be tempted to engage in business to feed his family. But someone with a stable financial background can afford to follow his passion and work as a teacher or in the non-profit space where the pay is not lucrative.
From a practical perspective, I currently work for the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. This is an agency that pays a good salary to the uniformed officers after they work for 51/2 years. In addition to the money they receive, there are countless hours of overtime, which doubles their income depending on how many hours they work. Some call it blood money because they can hardly get the same money in other institutions.
Why am I sharing this information? According to most of the officers; they basically work in the agency because of the money. Most of the officers are of the opinion that they can hardly make such money working in other private or public enterprises. The majority of these officers are not passionate about the job; they are just there to take care of their pressing bills. Some of them even have a timeline: they can work and then resign to start up their business or work in their areas of interest. This goes to tell you that they are trading their passion for profit, which is kind of work if looked at from a particular point of view, but then they are trading their joy and peace.
Let me share another example. In Nigeria, a popular artist, David Adeleke, aka Davido, is one man who followed his passion. This young man came from a wealthy background. He literally left generational wealth to sing. Many thought he was crazy. Davido’s father, billionaire businessman Adedeji Adeleke, initially opposed his music career, but he eventually became fully supportive. Davido’s father went as far as having police shut down shows or arresting people involved when Davido left school in the US to pursue music in Nigeria. Due to his passion for singing, Davido had to fund his early career secretly and rebel against his family’s wishes before breaking through.
Once Davido achieved massive success and proved he could be successful in the industry, his father accepted his path and gave him his blessing. Davido once stated that despite making his own fortune, his billionaire father still surprises him with huge financial gifts, such as wiring him $300,000 after a major performance at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
I doubt that Davido would have become this famous if he didn’t follow his passion. Davido can be described as a man whose passion is stronger than power.
I had to share these two perspectives to give clarity on the relativity of passion and profit.
Let’s analyze the concept of passion and profit. If I may ask you, what is passion? What is profit? And what does passion and profit mean to you? According to Cambridge University, passion was defined as a very strong feeling, emotion, or deep enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. For example, someone can have a strong emotion or a powerful state of feeling like intense love, excitement, anger, or hatred for something or somebody.
Passion can also be a deep interest or hobby which gives someone a strong liking or enthusiasm for an activity, such as cooking, music, or sports. In romantic cases, it can be a romantic or sexual desire: An intense physical or emotional attraction toward someone. In the spiritual context, it can be understood as the Sufferings of Jesus: Historically and in a religious context, it refers to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ between the Last Supper and the crucifixion (the Passion of Christ).
Profit, on the other hand, is the financial gain that remains when total revenue from an activity or business exceeds the total expenses and costs incurred, according to Investopedia. There are different types of profit:
- Gross Profit: Revenue minus the direct cost of producing goods or services (COGS).
- Operating Profit: Gross profit minus day-to-day operating expenses, excluding interest and taxes.
- Net Profit: The final “bottom line” earnings left after all expenses, taxes, and interest are deducted.
Having given an overview of what passion and profit entail, let’s take a minute to understand the thin line between passion and profit. Just like authority is respected more than power, passion has more influence and is generally respected more than profit. No doubt, it’s good to make a profit in business, but in this context, I am referring to the human resource space or human capacity development
On the surface, people may respect someone for the money one has, but they will value a person who is more passionate about a cause than one who has money but does not believe in the message they are preaching. There’s a saying: human beings are more than money. Just like, it’s better to have a good name than to have money.
People generally follow a leader or someone who they can relate to rather than someone who gives them money but is careless about their feelings. One message I heard countless times from one of my revered mentors regarding my career was to pursue passion over profits. According to him, passion is stronger than power. He likened passion to a scenario where a woman loves a man who has less money compared to a man who has money but does not have the values and vision she represents. According to these sets of ladies, money is good, but love conquers everything because if tomorrow the money travels, the marriage is bound to hit a rock, compared to a scene where a lady loves a man for who he is and what he represents. Even when the money is out, the friendship will still thrive.
According to the opposing schools of thought, while passion is good, it is they also believe that hard work beats talent, especially when talent is not put to good use. So, even if one is passionate about a cause or has a talent that is yet to be developed, if one does not intentionally develop it, it will lie fallow. So, invariably, even if one is passionate about a cause, if they don’t have the strength to work on their passion, it’s advisable for them to focus on making money.
Here is my opinion: even though I subscribe to the position of focusing on or working for passion rather than for money, one must apply wisdom in navigating this tough terrain. One can decide to work for money and gather enough money to fund their passion because, at the end of the day, we all want to be happy, because happiness and fulfilment mean everything
In summary, while it is good to do what works for one and what is readily available, it’s imperatively important for one to strive for excellence and perfection, which can be found in passion.
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 Success, Unleash Your Destiny and The Six Pillars of Success . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
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Police Detain Inspector over Ethnic Slur Against Igbo, Peter Obi
The Lagos State Police Command has commenced disciplinary action against an inspector following a viral video in which he was seen making disparaging ethnic remarks while travelling in a public vehicle.
The officer, identified as Inspector Osumah Frank, made what the Command described as “careless, inappropriate and uncultured remarks,” according to a statement issued on Friday, September 25, 2026, and signed by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Adebisi.
In the video, Frank, who was in police uniform, was heard making remarks about Igbo people and discussing the political ambitions of a former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi. He also made comments involving President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The inspector was further heard suggesting that police officers could collect money to frustrate a political candidate’s chances of succeeding.
Reacting to the video, the Command said the officer’s remarks were made in his personal capacity and did not represent the position or views of either the Lagos State Police Command or the Nigeria Police Force.
“The Command has commenced appropriate disciplinary action against the officer in line with established regulations of the Nigeria Police Force,” the statement said.
“It also wishes to make it clear that the statements made by the officer were made in his personal capacity and do not represent the position, views or official disposition of the Lagos State Police Command or the Nigeria Police Force,” it added.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) Tijani Fatai, said police personnel are required to maintain professionalism and respect for members of the public at all times.
“All personnel are expected to maintain professionalism, civility, discipline and respect for members of the public at all times,” the statement quoted Fatai as saying.
He said wearing the police uniform came with a responsibility to uphold the dignity and integrity of the Force, adding that the Command would not condone any conduct capable of bringing the police into disrepute or undermining public confidence in the Force.
The Command reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, accountability and “policing with humility and integrity.”
The video, which circulated widely on social media from around September 23, had drawn criticism over the officer’s remarks, particularly those concerning Igbo people and his comments about police officers collecting money to frustrate a political candidate.
The police did not state the specific disciplinary measures being taken against Frank.






