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Food for Living: Stand Out
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It’s a fact of life that everyone desires to be the best in whatever they do. Nobody wants to take the second position. Also, everyone loves the best person in any field whether it relates to health, law, artisanship, or pastoral calling. Let’s take for example; if you are sick, won’t you go to the best doctor that has the capacity to cure you? Will you say because he’s black, white, has an accent, or doesn’t look like you, for that reason, he/she won’t treat you? I guess your answer is as good as mine if you truly want to live. The reason you will require the best doctor is that you know he/she has been pronounced the best in that field. What does that tell you? It simply means he or she is unique. If you’ll agree with me, the beauty of life is originality. Or if you have a legal case that can land you in prison, won’t you go for the best lawyer if you can afford him/her? The same principle is applicable if you are interested in a skilled worker, you will go for the best without sentiment.
If you truly want to make an impact in life, you must stand out from the crowd. Standing out from the crowd is not easy, especially when you have many people struggling for your attention. But the truth is that, if you truly want to see your dreams come true, you must dare to succeed by thinking like a rational entrepreneur. According to Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself everyone is taken”.
When you decide to stand out, you’ll have many voices telling you no, hold on, you can’t make it, what are you thinking, etc. But if you really know yourself, you wouldn’t care much about what other people say because their voices and opinion don’t define you. Yes, you will hear them, but at the end of the day, you’ll be rational in making the final decision when you compare their advice and you know and feel inside of you. Trust me, if the whole world is telling you, you can something, and you know you can’t do it, you’ll fail, but if the whole world is telling you, you can’t do it and you know you can do it, you’ll succeed because he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world.
The blessings of standing out are priceless. What most people don’t know is that you can stand out without making noise, and you can command respect as opposed to seeking attention when you create a niche for yourself. When you decide to stand out, you’ll make news, not noise; you’ll attract respect as opposed to attention; you’ll appreciate love as opposed to romance; you’ll be strategic as opposed to being erratic; you’ll persuade people to believe in your ideology as opposed to arguing with them; you’ll not dominate people, rather you’ll empower them with self-confidence; you won’t follow the bandwagon because they may not be right, and most especially, you’ll seek loyalty, not royalty.
In order to stand out, you must be courageous because people may not believe you, they might even call you names or laugh at you, that’s okay. Just know that according to Mokokoma Mokhonoana, “plants are more courageous than almost all human being, an orange tree would rather die than produce lemons, whereas instead of dying the average person would rather be someone they are not.” Most people are lazy to fight for the cause they believe in.
Global achievers who have distinguished themselves stood out for what they believe. They were once victims of greater circumstances, but they never gave up. They stood their ground for their convictions. A typical example of such a great leader is the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela fought against the apartheid laws in South Africa and he was even imprisoned for twenty-seven years. One major reason why he won the election was that the electorates believed in the cause he was fighting for.
Standing out makes your life easier, it helps original people to identify with you, but when you try to fake your personality, your true helpers will have a hard time locating you. When you stand out, your true color shines. According to Israelmore Ayivor, “If you want to miss your crown, follow the crowd. If you want to wear the crown, go alone and be yourself.”
It should be noted if you don’t stand for something, you will die for nothing. Can you imagine, if you are to leave the world today, what will you be remembered for? In this contemporary age of technology, it is very easy to decipher what a person stands for by just using a simple google search. You can also use social media to find out someone’s interest.
When you stand out, you’ll be regarded as a specialist in your field. When you stand out, you’ll endeavor to be consistent in your thoughts, words, actions. But you when you decide to play to the gallery, it won’t take time for your true colour to manifest when the vicissitudes of life hit you.
If you are passionate about a cause, you can use social media to build a platform, you can have a website, you will find it easy to collaborate and build a partnership with like minds, you’ll be authentic in your message and what you represent. This is because no one thinks exactly like you. Do you know if you decide to dance on social media, teach, entertain people, or even preach on social media, you’ll attract the right audience provided you are international and deliberate? This is one reason some people attract attention on social media; they are living their best authentic lives.
Today, I ask you, what are you willing to stand out for?
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a mindset coach and 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
The Oyo State High Court has granted the Peoples Democratic Party approval to proceed with its elective national convention scheduled for November 15–16, 2025, in Ibadan, the state capital.
The court also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to attend and monitor the exercise, Channels TV reports.
Delivering the ruling, Justice A. L. Akintola issued an interim order permitting the party to continue its convention plans without obstruction.
The decision came after an ex-parte motion filed by Folahan Adelabi against the PDP, its Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum; Governor Umaru Fintiri, who heads the National Convention Organising Committee; and the INEC.
In his ruling on Monday, Justice Akintola held that the claimant presented a compelling case that warranted immediate judicial intervention.
“The motion ex-parte has merit and succeeds as prayed,” the judge ruled, granting temporary reliefs that safeguard the party’s schedule and direct all parties to allow the convention to proceed as planned.
The judge subsequently adjourned the hearing of the substantive motion for an interlocutory injunction till November 10, 2025.
The interim order, issued on November 3, 2025, was sealed by the Oyo State High Court and endorsed by its Principal Registrar, S. O. Hammed.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has released the passport of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan following outrage over what she described as an unlawful and politically motivated seizure of her travel documents at a Nigerian airport.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, was reportedly stopped by immigration officers on Tuesday morning, who withheld her passport without any official explanation.
The lawmaker, visibly frustrated, went live on social media to protest the action, accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of ordering the seizure.
“I have committed no offence and there is no order from the court to withhold my passport and deny me travelling. The last time this happened, the officer in charge told us that the Senate President, Godswin Akpabio instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he said each time I travel out of the country, I spoil the country’s image by granting interviews out in international media.
“Please, can you tell them to release my passport and this embarrassment should stop? You have no right to withhold my passport.
“You have no right to deny me exit and entrance into my country. I have not committed any offence and this must stop. No, this must stop.
“As a matter of fact, I think I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me. No, don’t tell me sorry. Can I please have my passport? You can’t keep doing this to me all the time,” she said.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was recently celebrated her second year in office, described the incident as a continuous pattern of harassment.
She noted that her passport had previously been seized under similar circumstances, only to be released after intervention from someone influential.
The female Senator said, “I’ve been standing here for the past 20 minutes. Why are you doing this? What have I committed? The last time it had to take someone influential to call you to release my passport. That was what allowed me travel.
“Now again, you’re withholding my passport while I’m making calls. Is Godswin Akpabio so important? Why is he overruling boundaries? Godswin Akpabio, the Senate President, has instructed the Comptroller General of Customs to deny me exit, to withhold my passport. This is wrong.
“Yes, I know I have two federal government cases against me, of which the president of Nigeria instructed the AGF to cancel the cases, to withdraw the cases.
“This president, Bola Tinubu, actually spoke with Godwin Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically witch-hunting cases. So there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the international airport.
“There is no reason why. You have no right to do that, madam. You have no right. You are taking laws into your hands. There is no court order. I have not missed any of my court appearances.
“I have attended all my court sessions. I am not a flight risk. I am not a risk to my country. So why are you treating me like a criminal? Can I have my passport, please? Thank you very much. Sometimes I think you just have to be a rebel to get things right. Then you keep asking Nigerians to be good citizens.
Minutes after her public protest gained traction online, the NIS reportedly bowed to pressure and released her passport.
“If I had not gone public, would you have given me my passport,” she added.
News
Would You Rather I Travel with My Enemies’ Children, Wike Defends Traveling with Sons to Official Assignment
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has reacted to viral photos showing his sons accompanying him on local and foreign trips, saying he has the right to carry them along.
He argued that his sons, as master’s degree holders, need the exposure.
“What law says that my sons shouldn’t travel? Let the FCT say where they paid ₦1.
“What official matter? Did they sign any document? It doesn’t need to be a personal trip.
“What’s wrong? So, I can travel with anybody from the FCT. I can travel with anybody in Nigeria. I have that right.
“Oh, come on, they have to know how Nigeria is. They have to learn about government,” Wike said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.
Asked whether he was teaching them to become politicians, he said, “No, that’s not correct. My first son is a lawyer. He said, ‘No, I’m not going to practice. I want to be a farmer.’
“I said, ‘What do you mean by this? He said, ‘No, this is what I want to do.’ I said, ‘Okay’. What do you do?
“They’ve gone for training in Spain. They’ve gone for training in Lisbon.
“My second son finished from King’s College — a master’s degree in Economics. He said he wants to be in real estate.”
The former Rivers State governor also said he is happy that his sons behave responsibly and give him comfort.
“I’m so happy that I have children who have given me comfort, who have not given me problems.
“Assuming they were somewhere smoking. You would have said, ‘Oh, look at these children now. Who are they? I will not travel with my enemy’s children,” he added.
Wike has been spotted with his sons at official events, including the commissioning of projects in the FCT.
Last week, he was criticised by some Nigerians for taking them to a summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
