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Food for Living: The Power of Persistence
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The difference between success and failure is persistence – Dr. Yomi Garnett
There’s no doubt that there are many components of success. Some of them are courage, sacrifice, hard work, element of luck, role of mentors, destiny helpers, consistency, persistence, networking and grace of God.
But persistence happens to be one critical factor that determines whether one will go far in life or otherwise. All however, are dependent on ability to exhaust all options.
The power of persistence in everyday activity cannot be overemphasized. In reality, it’s usually difficult for one to pursue a task when the odds are against the person, and that’s where persistence becomes pronounced.
Persisting comes in various ways. As a student, it takes persistence for a student to continue reading a particular course or material even if the they find it difficult to comprehend. As a business owner, it takes persistence to continue trading when a loss is recorded. And as a husband or wife, it takes a combination of patience and persistence for to forge ahead in spite of challenges.
What really is persistence? It is ordinarily the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even when the odds are against him. Persistence shows how dedicated and passionate a person can be in the cause of pursuing a project.
Being persistent is a crucial factor in achieving success both in personal living, career, academics and in every walk of life. Being persistent is a key to unlocking the doors of opportunity and progress as well as helps to maintain focus on what really matters.
In the journey of life, it is persistence that shows the distinguishing trait between great leaders and achievers. If we look through every industry and culture across the globe, there’s one consistent trend among successful individuals, and that trend is the ability to persevere. Some of the greatest leaders of the world, who have achieved greatness through persistence include Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Colonel Sanders, Mark Victor Hansen and Steve Jobs. These persons persisted beyond the norm, and reached their goal.
A case study of Abraham Lincoln is very symbolic because he lost several elections, had challenges in marriage, failed in business, but he persisted and became the Presidential of the United States of America.
It’s instructive to note that persistence is about believing in oneself and finding a way to reach the result when the odds are against you. A further analysis of Abraham Lincoln shows that he failed in business at the age of 21, was defeated in a legislative race at age 22, failed again at business at age 24, overcame the death of his lover at age 26, had a nervous breakdown at age 27, lost a congressional race at 34 and 36, lost a senatorial race at 45, failed to become vice president at 47, lost a senatorial race at 49, and then finally was elected president of the United States of America at age 52.
There’s also the famous story of Thomas Edison trying 9,999 times to perfect the light bulb – and he couldn’t do it. Someone asked him, “Are you going to have 10,000 failures?” And he responded, “I didn’t fail; I just discovered another way not to invent the electric light bulb.”
Time and time again, individuals are stopped along their journey because of a certain failure. Note that just because you failed once doesn’t mean you or your project are defined by the failures. It simply means, as Thomas Edison believed, you found one more way it can’t work. It also implies that you are one step closer to achieving the result.
The major step in overcoming the adversity that comes with persistence is clarifying your why. By identifying the purpose behind your goal, your “why” will push you through challenging times.
It is your persistence that can show passerby how passionate you are about a cause.
Let me share a personal story with you; as an author and prolific creative writer, I have always loved the idea of having a large audience reading my weekly contents. I decided to take the bull by the horns by visiting one of the biggest media houses in Nigeria (Sun Newspaper) to seek an opportunity to showcase my work. After engaging with one of the managerial editors, he advised me to send my weekly articles to him for review. The moral of this story is the importance of being persistent. No one embarks on a journey just to waste time and money on projects one is not passionate about.
Being persistent in life can help you to stand out among your peers, it will help you to secure promotions or job opportunities. It will also help you to grow personally and professionally.
To receive the blessings of persistence, one must set specific and measurable goals; one must have a positive mindset and outlook towards life; one must have a good support system in times of adversaries; one must learn from setbacks, challenges and experiences of life; one must be proactive by being flexible if initial plans don’t work as planned, and finally but not the least, one must endeavor to celebrate small wins.
Below are some reasons persistence is important.
Overcoming Obstacles: Persistence allows you to push through difficulties and obstacles, and also navigate round roadblocks.
Learning from Failures: Persistence helps you learn from your mistakes. When you encounter failures, you don’t see them as permanent defeats. Instead, you view them as experience and opportunities for growth and improvement. Persistence will make one gain valuable insights and refine one’s strategies.
Developing Resilience: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity. Persistent individuals build resilience because they don’t let setbacks crush their spirit.
Inspiring Others: Do you know your persistence can motivate other people? When people see your relentless pursuit of a goal, they may feel inspired to overcome their own challenges. Your example becomes a beacon of hope and determination to others.
Overcome Fear and Self -doubt
One of the biggest challenges one will face when developing persistence is overcoming fear and doubt. Fear can take different forms, such as the fear of poverty, fear of flying, fear of failure, etc.
For persistence to work, it requires dedication, determination, and a willingness to keeping going even when things don’t go as planned. With the right attitude, anyone can learn how to use persistence as a way of leading with failure and overcoming obstacles in their life.
Being persistent is necessary for any progressive being who wants to achieve success in life or their career because it will help the person to stay motivated, overcome obstacles, gain experience, and ultimately reach their goals and vision in life.
In leadership, persistence is determined by adversity, commitment to vision, resilience against criticism, in spirituality, persistence is determined when one’s faith and uncertainty is tested, or exercising patience when waiting for divine timing, as an entrepreneur, persistence is determined by one’s ability to be resilient during setbacks.
In conclusion, it is important to state that persistence is a critical trait for anyone who wants to achieve their goals and turn challenges into opportunities, staying motivated, and having a good support system to overcome any challenges because it requires dedication and commitment.
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 and Unleash Your Destiny. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
The West African Examinations Council has revoked the licences of 574 secondary schools in Nigeria.
WAEC announced that the affected schools were found to have committed examination malpractices.
The examination body also stated that the schools will not be allowed to conduct examinations even as the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, commences from Thursday, April 24, 2025.
This was disclosed by the Head of WAEC’s National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, during a press briefing on Thursday at the headquarters of the examination body in Lagos.
Dangut said WAEC had forwarded the list of the affected schools to the Nigerian government.
“This year, we have shared with them a total of 574 schools that have had their recognition withdrawn, and that is also going to be the same for all examining bodies.
“So, these are those that have got their license revoked as far as the examination centre is concerned. So we will not conduct examinations there. We don’t know them as far as conducting examinations,” Dangut said.
For the forthcoming 2025 WASSCE, Dangut stated that 1,973,253 candidates registered for the examination from 23,554 schools.
He added that 979,228 males and 994,025 females would take part in the examination.
The Punch
Jigawa State governor, Umar Namadi, has cautioned against calls for self-defence from mauruding bandits and killer herders, warning that such a move could plunge the country into anarchy.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Governor Namadi responded to recent comments by retired General Theophilus Danjuma, who urged Nigerians to defend themselves against bandits and armed attackers, particularly in Benue and Plateau states.
General Danjuma, a former Minister of Defence, had argued that reliance on the government for protection was no longer tenable given the spate of violence and killings in the country.
“It is now very clear that the government alone cannot protect us. We must stand up and defend ourselves, our families, and our lands before these criminals overrun the entire country,” Danjuma said during a public event in Takum, Taraba State, on Saturday.
But Governor Namadi rejected that approach, describing it as a dangerous path.
“He (T.Y. Danjuma) is a very senior security person, and his words deserve respect and analysis,” Namadi said. “But I think if you say citizens should be allowed to defend themselves, you’re causing anarchy. I don’t think we’ve reached that level yet.”
He argued that rather than encourage armed self-defence, the government at all levels must continue to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.
“The government is doing its best in terms of security arrangements. If you allow the people to defend themselves, that means you are encouraging a crisis between farmers and herders,” the governor warned.
Namadi cited his administration’s approach to resolving the long-standing farmer-herder clashes in Jigawa State as a better alternative. According to him, when he assumed office, he prioritised non-violent conflict resolution strategies.
“When we came in, we decided to employ a lot of strategies and tactics, including dialogue,” he said. “We engaged traditional rulers, as well as representatives of both farmers and herders. We sat down, reached a consensus, and established standing committees to reconcile all parties.”
He added that these efforts helped halt a decades-long conflict:
“The people now understand that the 25 years spent fighting and killing each other were not worth it. Today, they are able to work, interact, and live together in peace.”
Governor Namadi further noted that Jigawa is currently not among the states facing severe threats such as insurgency or mass killings by bandits. Instead, the primary challenge had been farmer-herder clashes, which his administration has successfully curtailed.
“We thank God that Jigawa State is not affected by insurgency or insecurity for no. The major issue we are dealing with is the herders-farmers clash, and we are addressing it decisively,” he said.
Despite the worsening security in other parts of the country, Governor Namadi insisted that self-defence is not a viable solution and could deepen the crisis:
“So, I think the government is doing its best, both at the federal and state levels. The issue of asking people to defend themselves — I think we have not reached that level yet.
Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, has revealed that the North will, in the next six months, take a stand on who to support for the presidency in 2027.
He boasted that no politician can win the presidency in 2027 without the support of the region.
In a video interview he granted in Hausa language, Baba-Ahmed, who appeared alongside a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Usman Yusuf, lamented the state of the nation and urged northerners to resist divisive and deceptive politicians ahead of the next general elections.
He said: “In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands. If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way. One thing is clear: nobody can become president of Nigeria without northern support.
“We want a government that understands our problems and can address them. After Buhari’s eight years, we became wiser. Now, we are in another government, and we are still crying. Is crying all we know how to do?” Baba-Ahmed asked.
According to the former presidential aide, the North has suffered greatly during the Boko Haram insurgency, which affected all groups, Muslims, Christians, Fulani, Baju, and others, highlighting the need for unity.
“Before Buhari became president, Boko Haram was bombing mosques, churches, Abuja, and Lagos. That was a time Northerners had to unite. Today, no politician can just show up and expect Northerners to fall in line. Who are you?” he questioned.
He therefore warned against further marginalization of the North, noting that continued disregard for the region would have consequences.
“If they plan to rig the election, they should be careful. It won’t be good for Nigeria. The North is watching, elders, masses, and interest groups will soon say “enough is enough ‘. The injustice and sidelining must stop.
Baba-Ahmed urged the northern region to look beyond identity politics, stressing that competence and integrity should guide voter decisions.
“We are tired of being deceived into voting based on religion or ethnicity. That era is over. We just want a right leader, we just want someone who will solve our problems,” he said.
