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Food for Living: The Power of Imagination
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Success and failure start from the mind. The human mind is like a rubber, the more you stretch it, the more it expands. The human mind is the brain, if you don’t use it, it won’t work. We all have the power to change the course of our life without allowing us to be victims. This is because the greatest power God gave us at creation is freedom and choice. Just like you have the power to think positive thoughts, you also have the power to think negative thoughts. It should be noted that whatever you focus on expands.
It’s quite unfortunate that many of us don’t know how we can use our mind to attract opportunities, if properly stretched. For the human mind to work at optimal capacity, it must be capable of using the power of imagination. According to Napoleon Hill, “whatsoever the mind can conceive, believe, it can achieve it. The right question we should ask ourselves is if we are using the power of our imagination.
Imagination takes several forms. The human mind can be artistic in nature, it can be creative, and it can also be challenging. The mind will only work on how you program it. If you program your mind to think like a leader, it will be activated, if you program the mind to overcome challenges it will be activated, if you program the mind to either think positive or negative thoughts, it produces the desired fruits for you.
You may be wondering where the power of imagination comes from? The power of imagination starts from the mind. To understand how the mind works, you have to look at the brain. The neocortex and thalamus are responsible for controlling the brain’s imagination, along with many of the brain’s other functions such as consciousness and abstract thought.
One may ask, is imagination the same thing as intelligence? One can imagine something, but don’t take proactive steps to implement it, but the man who takes actionable steps can be regarded as an intelligent man because he got the inspiration and knows what to do. According to Albert Einstein, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. This is a fact because the true intelligence level of an individual is not dependent on the facts a person knows but on how he applies them creatively to solve problems in the world. Albert Einstein further stated that “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
The power of imagination cannot be overemphasized. One of the distinguishing traits between wealthy men and the poor men is their mindset. A big difference between a rich mind and poor mind lies in how they process information. While rich and wealthy minds have a positive and growth mindset, poor men have a negative and fixed mindset. While the growth mindset sees problems as opportunities to make impact by solving them, fixed minds see problems as obstacles to making impact. While rich and wealthy minds spend money to invest, poor minds spend money to impress. While rich and wealthy people spend after saving, poverty-stricken minds save from the remnant of their expenses.
This power of imagination works in different ways. Sometimes, it comes like a vision, a revelation. inspiration or even feelings. This imagination can be something you would like to change, or a cause you would like to work on. When you get this prompting, the best thing you can do is commit it to prayer and believe in it especially if it’s a revelation or vision you have been shown. It might look so big and impossible to attain. Whenever you feel this way, just know that you must activate your growth mindset.
Wealth creation starts from the mind. If you want to be successful in any craft, you must envision it in your mind. Most of the great people if not all the great people we celebrate in the world utilized the power of imagination to create a product. If you want to be rich or start a business, you need to take the bold step, if not, you’ll remain where you are.
Nobody can stop a person whose time has come. Nobody can stop you; you are the only one who can stop yourself if you doubt yourself or tell your dreams, vision, or ideas to the wrong person. The wrong person in this case can be your parents, friends, mentors or even your spiritual leader. Don’t get me wrong, these people may not be bad people, they may not understand the calling or vision you had. They may not even see you as the person capable of doing it because you don’t look it. They may be speaking from their experience which may not be your reality. Let me tell you, if God wants somebody else to get the revelation or inspiration, he will put the imagination in their mind. Just to encourage you, God does not call the qualified, he calls the unqualified and then qualifies you.
In conclusion, the power of imagination is a very powerful and creative tool a progressive mind can use to excel in life if properly activated. This is because nobody knows you more than you know yourself.
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
All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Samuel Ajose, has declared that the endorsement of Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat as the next governor by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) will not stand.
GAC, regarded as the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, endorsed Hamzat, as its consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
The decision was reached during a closed-door meeting held at Lagos House, Marina, indicating an early alignment within the ruling party ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Speaking after the session, GAC leader, Tajudeen Olusi, said members unanimously agreed on Hamzat, expressing confidence in his ability to sustain and build on the state’s developmental progress.
Olusi explained that the meeting was convened to deliberate on the party’s forthcoming primaries and assess the governorship position ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking about the GAC adoption of Hamzat as Lagos APC consensus 2027 governorship candidate on Arise News on Tuesday, Ajose said that Sanwo-Olu and others are trying to force President Tinubu into making a decision.
“I don’t think our president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is giving in to what they are doing.
“What they are just trying to do is to coerce him into taking a decision, and I don’t think that decision will stand.”
The House of Representatives has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow Five Hundred and Sixteen Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Thousand, seven ($516,333,007) US dollars in syndicated financing from Deutsche Bank AG.
The House approved it during the plenary on Tuesday in Abuja after the presentation of a report by the deputy chairman of the House Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debts Management, Abdullahi Rasheed.
The money is expected to fund the construction of sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway.
President Tinubu wrote to the lawmakers, seeking a $516.3 million loan from Deutsche Bank to support the construction of the road.
The president said the loan, to be sourced from a syndicated financing facility by Deutsche Bank, will fund sections 1, 1A, and 1B of the project, which covers about 120 kilometres.
Tinubu requested a resolution in line with Sections 16 and 21 of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act, 2011, to enable the federal government to secure the financing for Sections 1, Phase 1A, and Phase 1B of the project.
The project is a flagship initiative of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is targeted at enhancing national connectivity, improving the movement of goods across key economic corridors, and drastically shrinking travel time.
The 1,000-kilometre project will link Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, connecting Illela to Badagry.
According to him, the financing arrangement will be backed by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC).
He said the Federal government will provide counterpart funding of over N265 billion for land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
The former Lagos governor said the loan is structured for nine years and includes a three-year grace period.
It has an interest rate pegged at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange SOFR plus 5.3 per cent per annum.
Already, the Federal Executive Council has approved the financing plan.
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
