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Food for Living: The Innovative Power of Peace of Mind
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Peace is a universal word, and a concept that is globally accepted to promote progress. It is obvious that there can never be progress in an unstable environment. In the same vein, no country can thrive economically if there’s instability, just as no reasonable investor would invest in a country where there is insecurity. This is also applicable organizations, businesses, communities, families and many more where no tangible form of progress can be experienced if there is no peace.
It is important to note that everything in life happens in the mind. The mind is the battlefield for every action, and that explains why people are always advised to think and speak positively. For the sake of emphasis, most wars are first won in the mind; success is achieved won in the mind; and riches and wealth are first acquired in the mind. When the mind is at peace, wonders happen, but when the mind is troubled, nothing works out, be it in the family circle, at work places, school, enterprise or governance. To tell you how powerful the mind is, you can never receive any vision if your mind is not relaxed.
The greatest advantage peace brings to anyone or society is the power of innovation. This is because when there is stability in the land, every right-thinking person will be thinking about ideas on how society can thrive. If an organization already has a plan, it can innovate on how it can get better. In the same light, if there is harmony in the home, peace will thrive. Women have been attributed to peacemakers. It is said that when the woman is happy, the home is happy, but according to prolific writer, late Chinua Achebe, when the bed is shaking, there’s peace at home. But do women bring peace? Well, that’s a story for another day.
The importance of peace cannot be overemphasized. Peace brings clarity and when there’s clarity, the vision is clearer. There is little or no doubt about the next steps because peace clears confusion. All the great men and innovators, who have developed ingenious products tapped into the power of meditation before they were able to conceive great ideas.
The interesting thing about the innovative power of peace of mind is that it is magical. This is because ideas rule the world. Most times, people assume that just thinking alone can bring about ideas, yes, to some extent, but then, it is important to note there’s a difference between thinking and reasoning. While all reasoning is thinking, not all thinking is reasoning. You can have useless thoughts that add no value to humanity, but when you are reasoning, you are applying deeper and critical thoughts on how you can solve a problem or add value to society. Again, this is because ideas rule the world. Once your mind is fixated on an idea, it has a way of exploring many options to make the idea work.
You cannot underestimate the innovative power of the mind, especially when it is at peace. Peace of mind doesn’t just come to you, you must crave it by sleeping, eating healthy, exercising, meditating, and saturating your mind with positive thoughts.
In every sphere of life, we are faced with one form of challenge or another. These challenges come in different shapes and sizes. As a student, you may be wondering what major, or career path to take upon graduation. As a young person intending to get married, you may be wondering who to marry among your numerous friends. As a President, Governor, Minister, Commissioner, etc., you may be wondering about the best route or decision to take. As a parent, you may be wondering how to train your children, manage your family, etc. All these, and many more are some of the daily challenges we must go through to decide what’s best for us and the people looking up to us.
Despite the many thoughts that will be racing through your mind, one thing is certain, before you can take a good decision, you must surely have peace of mind. Without peace of mind, it will be hard to take the right decision. As a professional creative writer, I do know for a fact, that before I can write, my mind must be clear, focused, and sane, otherwise, I may be confused when writing. Writing, for all intent and purpose, entails having coherent thoughts for the right ideas to flow to enable readership base to have a proper understanding of the point/message intended.
I will conclude by sharing some examples on the importance and advantage of peace of mind, and how it can lead to innovative ideas. Peace of mind makes one creative; it brings about focus through concentrating; it gives inner strength; it ensures tolerance; it frees one from stress and anxiety. It ensures that one focuses his mind on what they can do and change, as opposed to worrying about what they cannot change or do; it gives happiness and fulfillment. One is not bothered about what people are saying or thinking about him when there is peace of mind. It serenity needed for sound judgment.
In conclusion, to tap into the innovative power of peace of mind, try emptying the mind every day before going to sleep. It helps to bring sanity to the body system and ensures the mind is at par with the soul, and then there is a solid foundation to incubate and birth ingenious ideas.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a 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.
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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.
