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Food for Living: The Fragility of Life
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Dear Friends
Everything in life is truly a struggle, especially as it relates to third world countries. Nobody will entrust you with opportunities if you don’t work for it. In civilized climes where dignity of work is appreciated, you must earn whatever opportunity comes your way. In our daily search for the meaning and purpose of life, we come across many challenges. Despite these numerous challenges, what makes the difference is how you manage each situation.
If you have a business, and you don’t manage it well, it will flop; if you joke with your academics, you won’t pass with good grades; if you don’t love or treat your spouse, children or family with care, you might end up raising a generation of monsters; if you don’t appreciate a good employee with the right pay and benefits for the work he or she does, you might end up loosing them.
What therefore, is fragility of life? Every reasonable person knows that life is truly fragile and must be handled like an egg to avoid cracking. However, in this context, we will be looking at fragility of life from an empowerment point of view. During the course of this article, we shall be discussing how we can manage the vicissitudes of life in order to avoid crashing.
Life is truly fragile. To really understand how fragile life is, imagine having a raw egg which is yet to boil or cook and it falls to the hard surface, what do you think will happen? Simple, it will definitely break. That’s simply how life works. We all have a life to live, from birth, our parents trained us in High schools, colleges and in some cases doctorate programmes, but its quite unfortunate, many people squander this opportunity which sometimes comes once in a while. While some people merely manage to get middle school or High school diploma, others strive to attain perfection and excellence, and some others, who may be from privileged background choose to take life for granted because they operate under the mindset they are comfortable, and as such have abundant resources at their beck and call.
In striving for mastery and excellence, most people miss golden opportunities to mark their names in gold. It should be noted that nobody will give you anything you want, you have to demand and hunger for it. Saying you deserve it without showing why you deserve it only leaves you with an entitlement mentality.
Life is money if handled with care. To enjoy money, you need to be more resourceful with your time, but sometimes, we allow it to be stolen by waste.
The question we should be asking ourselves is how can we handle life? Just like you treat your family, work, money, and personality with care, you must treat your life the same way if you truly want to enjoy life. If you fail to manage life, life will manage you.
How to manage fragility.
Planning:
According to Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. In the Book of Life, it is stated, orderliness is the first law in heaven. Being able to mange people and resources is one of the most enriching skill one can have in contemporary times. A good planner must be able to think out of the box, be progressive minded and explore opportunities that can serve humanity.
Understanding:
When you don’t understand how a product or person works, it will be hard to work with the product or person. Understanding is not rocket science, all it entails is to apply emotional intelligence and common sense. It’s instructive to note that there can be no problem where there’s problem and there can be problem when there’s no problem depending on how understanding is harnessed with common sense. Understanding makes the difference in the management of issues, be it big or small.
Love
The greatest force in the word is love. Love is a feeling you can’t touch, but can feel. If you truly love someone or treasure anything, you’ll definitely apply tender loving care by nurturing it to grow so you don’t lose it. To understand how love works in empowering yourself, you’ll give all you have in addition to working for the kind of life you want to live. You’ll also ensure you stay away from all toxic situations that can deter you from reaching your desired goal.
When you master the art of handling life, you won’t take any opportunity for granted, especially when it refers to networking and having values for what we truly appreciate. Value is what you place on anything you treasure. For instance, if you place value on trust, loyalty and honesty, money won’t be able to influence your lifestyle, but if you are materialistic, it will be easy to be influenced with money.
To understand the fragility of life, imagine having a dry tissue in your hand, it will serve multiple purpose, but when it is wet, the purpose will be limited, if not being of little or no value.
Most times people think success only comes in terms of wealth, they fail to understand that health, spirituality, academics and being professional play a huge role. This is because if you don’t manage your spiritual life as a new convert, you might head back to the street, and if you don’t manage your health, you’ll lose it.
This is the reason rational minds plan ahead by prioritizing their needs above their wants. If you don’t take charge of what concerns you, you may end up living other people’s life in addition to being controlled by them.
Most time, we have a carefree attitude on what concerns us. We joke with our time, we joke with our work, we joke with our family and friends with hope we’ll will be able to recover, but sometimes, it doesn’t work that way. To improve your life, you have to be deliberate and intentional in whatever you do.
In conclusion, I will strongly suggest you take stock of your life by writing out the little things that play a role in your life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a mindset coach and self-discovery expert. 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
A federal judge in the United States, on Thursday, put a temporary block on President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
The ruling imposes a 14-day halt on the enforcement of one of the most controversial executive orders Trump signed hours after being sworn into office for a second term.
It comes after lawsuits were filed by a total of 22 states, two cities and numerous civil rights groups.
“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” senior US District Judge John Coughenour was reported as saying during the hearing in Washington State.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” said Coughenour, who was appointed to the bench by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.
Birthright citizenship is fundamental to America’s national identity, with the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution decreeing that anyone born on US soil is a citizen.
It says, in part: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s order was premised on the idea that anyone in the US illegally, or on a visa, was not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the country, and therefore excluded from this category.
AFP
The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State capital has upheld the death sentence of Ramon Adedoyin, a prominent businessman and hotelier, for his involvement in the murder of one Timothy Adegoke, a former postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the court affirmed the earlier verdict of the Osun State High Court, which had sentenced Adedoyin to death.
“The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands. Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed in part,” the court declared in part.
The Court of Appeal, however, set aside some aspects of the lower court’s orders, including the forfeiture of the Hilton Hotel and the order for Adedoyin to pay for the education of Adegoke’s children.
Furthermore, the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction to impose penalties outside the statutory provisions
Adegoke’s death was reported in November 2021 after his corpse was found at the Hilton Honours Hotel in Ile-Ife, Osun State, where he had lodged.
The hotelier had travelled from Abuja for an examination at a distance learning centre in Moro, Osun State on November 5 of that year.
He had checked into the hotel but was reported missing after two days. However, Adegoke’s body was found days later, leading to a probe that linked his death to Adedoyin and others.
In May 2023, Adedoyin and others were sentenced to death after they were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to murder.
But dissatisfied with the judgement, Adedoyin approached the Appeal court to dismiss the sentence and conviction.
The court of appeal, on Thursday, however, upheld the conviction and death sentence of the hotelier.
The Nigeria Police have announced that their operatives have rescued Mrs Folasade Odumosu, the wife of a former Assistant Inspector General, Hakeem Odumosu, who was last Thursday, kidnapped at the entrance of her home in Arepo, Ogun State.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, noting that two of the kidnappers were killed while four others escaped without their weapons.
Adejobi said with the support of the Force Headquarters technical intelligence platforms, the Ogun State police operatives engaged Odumosu’s abductors in a gun duel and neutralized the criminals in the swampy area of Ikorodu on Wednesday.
The police spokesman added that Mrs Odumosu is currently undergoing a medical evaluation and has since been reunited with her family.
The statement read, “In a commendable display of teamwork and swift action, police operatives attached to the Ogun State Command have successfully neutralized the kidnappers of Mrs. Odumosu, wife of Retired Assistant-Inspector General, AIG Hakeem Odumosu, and rescued her unharmed.
“On January 16, 2025, at approximately 9:45 PM, four masked gunmen forcibly abducted Mrs. Odumosu from her Lexus Jeep outside her residence in Arepo, Ogun State. The abduction sparked an immediate response from the anti-kidnapping unit of the Ogun State Police Command, who commenced a thorough investigation and targeted pursuit of the kidnappers.
“With the support of the Force Headquarters technical intelligence platforms, the Ogun State police operatives engaged in extensive surveillance of the creeks surrounding Arepo, gathering crucial information to track down the assailants. Their efforts culminated in a raid on January 23, 2025, at around 06:45 AM. The intelligence-led operation took the police to a creek in the swampy area of Ikorodu, where the kidnappers were reportedly planning their next attack.
“Upon arrival, the operatives encountered the kidnappers, who opened fire. In the ensuing confrontation, two of the gunmen were neutralized, while four others fled the scene, abandoning their operational weapons.”
Adejobi said the police operatives recovered N10m initially paid to the kidnappers, four Ak-47 rifles, three locally made single barrel rifles, and ammunition of various calibres.
He added, “The victim, Mrs Odumosu was rescued within the swampy creeks during the operation, unharmed. She is currently undergoing medical evaluation as a precautionary measure and has since been reunited with her family. The police also recovered 4 Ak-47 rifles, 3 locally made single barrel rifles, ammunition of various calibres, and the sum of N10,000,000 ransom previously demanded by the kidnappers, further ensuring that justice is served.”
Adejobi said the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, commended the police operatives and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, for the rescue operation.
He asserted that the Police Force is committed to safeguarding the citizens and combat kidnapping and other violent crimes.
“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM., has commended the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Ogunlowo, and his operatives for their displayed gallantry in this successful operation.
“This operation exemplifies the dedication and resilience of our Police officers. The Nigeria Police Force remains steadfast in its mission to combat kidnapping and other violent crimes, providing safety and security to all citizens,” he added.
