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Food for Living: The Risk of Success
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Friends,
Great minds who have truly achieved genuine success have one great trait- risk taking. They are risk takers. They know very well true success involves a lot of work and these have their ups and down which add up to their success story when they break even or break through. As rational beings, we are always cautious in life because we don’t want to make mistakes. Sometimes, we are anxious about what the future holds, and other times we tend to follow our instincts. One thing is certain however, we are all taking risks because we are not guaranteed anything even if we dot our Is and cross our Ts. The truth is nobody is guaranteed anything in life because anything can happen within a twinkle of an eye.
Every great person has one guiding philosophy, and that is, it makes no sense to think little; if you must think, think big. Ben Carson in his book, Think Big, made us to understand that our dreams are valid and can come true if we play by the rules and work smart and hard. Carson is one of the greatest surgeons in the world. After he made history in the world by successfully separating a Siamese twins, the world literally stood still for him. It should be noted that performing that surgery wasn’t really easy. He had to put in so many hours of research and risk before he was success reckoned with him.
Risk is a very important part of success in business and life generally. One needs to take reasonable risk to succeed. It will be right to say life itself is a gamble, and if life is a gamble, then we must take the risk (gamble) to succeed. It’s worthy to note that the fear of taking risk is risk itself. We all have taken risk in one way or another; at one time or another. In business, we explore some path which might be unconventional; in a relationship, we relate and live with people we don’t really know. In health, we literally take pills and believe it will heal us in addition to putting our trust in doctors with the hope they will “heal” us. Even the food we eat is risk because we don’t know who prepared it and how it was prepared. You can literally see that life indeed, is a risk.
In order to discuss the rationality of our risk, we shall be looking at the component parts of risk and how we can take advantage of risk to succeed. During the course of this article, we shall be focusing more on the advantages of risk, and how risk can facilitate our success.
We are always inspired by people who go beyond the norm, and push the boundaries of possibility. This is because they live in the realm of possibility and greatness. They are not afraid to live beyond their boundaries. To them, there is no such thing as failure; only experiments that didn’t work! Risk-takers are marked by a sense of adventure and passion. They care little for the accolades of the crowd. They are not afraid to “boldly go where no one has gone before.
You may have heard of the terminology, take the risk and join the millionaires. If I may ask, what do you stand to gain if you don’t take risk? I guess you will literally be in the same position. So why not give it shot? Do you know that the fear of taking risk is risk itself? According to Mark Zuckerberg, “the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” If you refuse to take any risk in your life, you will pass up every opportunity in front of you in favour of a stable, certain future. That stability may be comforting, but it won’t provide you with growth or advancement in any dimension”.
Henry Ford would never have invented the automobile if he had paid attention to his critics. David would never have defeated Goliath if he had allowed his own family to discourage him. Personally, I took a risk in publishing my book without knowing what will be the outcome. I had fear of typographical errors, grammatical errors, layout, content, graphics and the general production of the book. To a great extent, I was thinking what will people think about my book? The list is endless, but guess what, it came out really good and it has become the biggest achievement in my life which has given me the biggest opportunity and fame.
There is no major success without risk. Many people have goals. Only a few ever achieve them. Very few people have the gut to take the risk to truly succeed. Every major breakthrough in history – in business, science, medicine, sports, etc. – is the result of an individual who took a risk and refused to play safe. Their innovation is the result of their adventurous spirit. They invent, achieve, surpass, and succeed because they dare to live beyond the realm of normal.
Let’s see some of the advantages of taking risk in life.
· Great, otherwise unforeseen opportunities often come from risk-taking. You must truly dare to succeed.
· Taking risks shows confidence and helps you stand out.
· We learn from risks — and those lessons may lead us on an important, new experience. If you try something new and you didn’t succeed, don’t think you failed, rather see it like you had an experience.
· Success won’t fall in your lap — you have to pursue it by stepping out of your comfort zone. Moral: You don’t achieve your dreams by playing safe. Successful people thread uncommon paths many people dare to take.
· Embracing risk-taking helps you overcome a fear of failure. In life, you either succeed or fail. It’s either a yes or no answer. If you don’t take risk you might not succeed, if you take the risk you might succeed, so either way, it’s good to take the risk and experience the outcome.
The question now is, what kind of risk are you suppose to take? The major difference between great minds and ordinary people is that great minds take a calculated risk. They explore so many options available to them by testing the waters with one foot by questioning their minds: What’s the best-case scenario? What’s the worst-case scenario; What’s the most likely scenario? These are what sets great and ordinary people apart. They don’t follow the bandwagon. They create their own path. One of my inspirational mentors who took a calculated risk is Tony Elumelu. He was the driving force behind the rise of the United Bank of Africa. He has proved his passion for risking by empowering successful applicants to this foundation program (Tony Elumelu Foundation) with $5,000 non-refundable seed capital to grow their entrepreneurial business. Great risk takers may act and sound silly in the eyes of men, but deep down their heart, they have an idea of what they are working on. Their strongest strength comes from the fact they are passionate about what they are doing and therefore they go the extra mile. But what sets successful people apart from others is that after they have conducted their research, they ACT! They take the leap.
Financially, successful people are not afraid to invest in themselves. I once read an article of a great entrepreneur who took the risk to pay a huge sum of money to learn from an investor coach who is very big on marketing. Ordinary, that was a huge sum of money he paid because the organizers of the event would have disappeared or package a program which might not have more to offer just the usual sweet talk from marketers to promote their business, but guess what, after three months of studying the product, his profit rose to about 200% every quarter of the year and in three years, he began to earn millions of dollars. This is another great example of the power of investors.
My question is, are you willing to take a risk to succeed?
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with 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.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted bail to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in the sum of N100m over charges bordering on alleged breach of national security.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, while ruling on the bail application, imposed stringent conditions for the former governor’s release.
The court held that the surety must reside in either the Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja and must deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property with the court registry.
The judge further ruled that the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17 and must provide evidence of salary payments for at least three months, authenticated by a bank manager within the court’s jurisdiction.
As part of the conditions, El-Rufai was ordered to deposit all valid international passports with the court.
The court also directed the submission of a verification letter from the surety’s department, along with a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.
In addition, the judge ordered the former governor to report to the Department of State Services headquarters on the last Friday of each month by 10 am to sign the attendance register, pending the determination of the case.
The court warned that any breach of the conditions would result in the bail being automatically revoked.
Justice Abdulmalik further ordered El-Rufai to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council.
The bail ruling followed the arraignment of the former governor by the Department of State Services on an amended five-count charge bordering on alleged breach of national security.
The DSS had, on April 23, arraigned El-Rufai before the same court, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts.
At the proceedings, counsel for the DSS, Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), informed the court that the prosecution had filed a further amended five-count charge on April 13 and sought to substitute the earlier three-count charge.
Count four of the amended charges marked marked FHC/ABJ/CR/99/2026, reads “That you, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, adult, male, intentionally and without authorization, intercepted the communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, as admitted by you on 13″ February, 2026, while appearing as a guest on Arise TV Station’s Prime Time Programme in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 12(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
Counsel to the defendant, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), confirmed receipt of the amended charge and did not oppose the application.
The court subsequently struck out the earlier three-count charge and read the amended counts to El-Rufai, who again pleaded not guilty.
The defence had drawn the court’s attention to a pending bail application filed on February 17, noting that a further affidavit initially missing from the court file was later located during proceedings.
The DSS, however, told the court that it was not opposing the bail request.
The defence also filed an application seeking to quash the amended charge, which the prosecution urged the court to dismiss for lacking merit.
After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter for hearing before delivering the bail ruling on Monday.
The Congress of Northern Democrats (CND), on Thursday, accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of destabilising opposition politics and undermining Northern interests through what it described as his “perpetual presidential ambition.”
The group alleged that the former vice president had consistently placed personal ambition above opposition unity, national renewal and generational transition.
Chairman of the group, Comrade Musa Adamu, said in a statement that the CND expressed disappointment over reports that Atiku may be preparing for what would be his seventh attempt at the presidency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to the statement, Nigerians are currently battling hunger, insecurity, inflation, unemployment and worsening economic hardship, conditions which require opposition leaders to unite around a credible rescue agenda rather than engage in what it called endless political calculations.
Adamu said: “At a time when millions of Nigerians are crushed by hunger, insecurity, unemployment, inflation, and deepening economic despair, the opposition ought to be rallying around a coherent national rescue agenda.
“Instead, what Nigerians continue to witness is the recycling of old political ambitions, elite ego battles, and endless power calculations headed by Atiku which is disconnected from the suffering of ordinary citizens.
“The North, in particular, must now ask difficult but necessary questions: What exactly has Atiku Abubakar’s endless presidential project achieved for the North or Nigeria? Since 1993, he has remained perpetually in pursuit of power, moving from one platform to another.
“Dominating opposition arrangements, negotiating alliances, and positioning himself as indispensable, yet the opposition today is weaker, more fragmented, and more directionless than ever before courtesy of his greed and manipulation.
“The CND regrets that Atiku has consistently demonstrated a troubling political pattern that whenever his personal ambition is not guaranteed, the stability and cohesion of opposition platforms become secondary.
“Rather than serving as a bridge-builder capable of uniting aggrieved political blocs against a failing government, he has become a recurring source of division, distrust, and internal instability within the opposition space.
“This is precisely why many Nigerians increasingly believe that the opposition’s inability to present a united front is indirectly a plus to the ruling APC. Whether intentionally or otherwise, the outcome remains that a fractured opposition will betray Nigerians to continue to suffer unprecedented hardship.”
The CND also lamented what it described as the failure of coalition platforms such as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to fully emerge as rallying points for Nigerians seeking alternatives to economic hardship and insecurity.
He added: “It is deeply unfortunate that younger Nigerians with fresh ideas, modern political thinking, energy, and grassroots credibility continue to be denied meaningful opportunities because Atiku and his likes are unwilling to step aside. No democracy can grow when leadership circulation is constantly blocked by the same individuals for decades.
“The CND states categorically that Northern Nigeria does not need another cycle of recycled ambition. The region today faces existential crises of terrorism, banditry, collapsing agriculture, poverty, mass youth unemployment, and widespread disillusionment.
“What the North requires are courageous, visionary, and selfless leaders capable of building consensus, mentoring younger generations, and prioritising collective progress over personal political obsession.
“We therefore call on Nigerians, particularly Northern youths, civil society groups, professionals, and political stakeholders, to reject personality-driven politics and begin the urgent task of rebuilding a principled opposition founded on competence, sacrifice, integrity, ideas, and generational renewal.
“The North and Nigeria deserve leadership focused on solutions, not endless campaigns built around one man’s lifelong pursuit of power.”
By Eric Elezuo
The Nigerian political circle is fast taking shape as the 2027 presidential election draws closer. As a result, permutations regarding who contests for what position, and under what platform is gaining momentum.
From every indication, three political parties have so far shown cause as the main platforms of choice, that is if feelers from the reviving Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its newest bride, former President Goodluck Jonathan, are anything to ignore.
The parties are the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the erstwhile coalition group, African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the freshly introduced Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC). One common denomination attached to these political parties is that they all congresses.
Among the three frontline parties is the NDC, whose life was recently enhanced with the inclusion of two south and north politicians; Mr Peter Obi, who contested under the umbrella of the Labour Party in 2023, and unarguably made serious in-roads even as a newcomer, and Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, who contested under the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP). Kwankwaso’s influence was restricted to his native Kano State, but garnered a total of 1.4 million votes across boards. Today, the two politicians are joining forces in what has been termed Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement to attempt to wrestle power from President Bola Tinubu. Both are also bringing with them their vocal movements; the Obidients and the Kwankwasiyya.
But analysts, stakeholders and observers alike have various considered the alliance of the two political heavyweights, wondering if the marriage is of strange bedfellows that may discard each other in the nearest future, or if there is any iota of seriousness among them that can lead to materializing its lofty objectives.
Recall that on Sunday, May 3, the duo of Obi and Kwankwaso dumped the ADC, and joined the NDC, blaming external interference and unending litigation that may hinder aspirants in the party from actualising their aspirations in 2027.
The move comes just nine months after Obi, Kwankwaso and the defacto leader of the coalition, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar joined the ADC. However, from available indices, the coalition quickly became mired in legal battles over party leadership. Obi blamed the new obstacles set before the party were direct consequences of the Tinubu-led Federal Government.
“The same Nigerian state and its agents that created unnecessary crises and hostility within the Labour Party that forced me to leave now appear to be finding their way into the ADC,” Obi had said while being received by the NDC leadership.
It is important to out on record that various voices speaking for Tinubu and federala Government have denied that they have in the quagmire that befell ADC, or has been trying to sabotage opposition parties.
Speaking afterwards, both men called for national unity, greater opportunities for young people, and an end to the infighting that has plagued Nigeria’s opposition.
However, their decision risks upsetting allies within the coalition built around the ADC, which had been positioning itself as the main vehicle for opposition unity.
Some figures within the bloc have privately expressed a sense of betrayal, raising fresh doubts about whether Nigeria’s fragmented opposition can sustain a coordinated challenge against President Tinubu, who celebrated his 74th birthday in March.
Across sectors, platforms and political corners, the influence of the Obi-Kwankwaso combination continues to grow given the political terrain a new agenda for discussion.
However, many stakeholders, among whim the very informed, have said that the union may end as abruptly as it started, stressing that political equilibrium or exigency are mostly not determined by absolutely loyalty, but most of the times by self interest and aggradizement. This, they said may turn out to be the hallmark of Alhaji Kwankwaso.
Some have reasoned that the five years age difference between Obi and Kwankwaso, with Kwankwaso having the upper hand, the academic superior of the former Kano governor, and his lengthier days in his political sojourn may form the criteria for him to refuse whatever arrangement already on the ground, including playing the running mate fiddle to Obi.
But even at that, it is important to note that Barack Obama was 47 years old when he became president, and his Vice, Joe Biden, was 66 years old. So Kwankwaso is not going to set a world record as vice that is older than his principal? Definitely not.
Another group has hinted that Kwankwaso is only oiling his own personal path to 2031, when the coast will be ripe for the candidate of northern extraction to vie for the presidency.
“Consequently, his intention is far from working for Obi’s victory nor Atiku, for neither of the two can conveniently bow out in 2031. The only person permitted by law not to seek election in 2031 is President Tinubu, if he wins the 2027 election. So, conveniently, any ambitious person with eye on the presidency will definitely want Tinubu to win,” a source told The Boss.
Another school of thought has hinted that with the sudden interest of Goodluck Jonathan in the presidency, the path may be cleared for Kwankwaso to deputize for Jonathan instead of Obi. However, as at the time that membership registration register was closed on May 10, 2026, Jonathan was a member of the Turaki-led PDP while Kwankwaso is still in the NDC.
But Kwankwaso in his speech during the inaugural convention of the NDC insisted that the presidency should be zoned to the South, noting that the south should be allowed to complete its eight years tenure. Whether he meant that for his new party, or for the Tinubu administration, the speech explains in details:
Fellow Nigerians,
It is with immense pleasure and a deep sense of fulfilment that I address you today on this historic occasion of the National Convention of our great party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), in Abuja.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Nigeria stands at a critical crossroads. The world is undergoing a profound geopolitical shift, yet our nation has been caught unprepared, largely because of poor leadership. Instead of positioning Nigeria to seize emerging opportunities, bad governance has left us bearing the brunt of global changes.
We are witnessing a sharp decline in the quality of life. Insecurity has created widows and orphans across the land. Millions have been displaced from their homes. Investments are fleeing, critical infrastructure is neglected, the education system is collapsing, and harsh economic policies have been imposed on citizens without meaningful safety nets or relief.
Yet Nigeria’s history teaches us that in our most challenging moments, visionary alliances have provided the way forward. In 1954, a historic partnership was formed between the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), led by Aminu Kano and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), led by Nnamdi Azikiwe to achieve national unity.
Again, in 1960, against steep odds, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) formed a coalition with the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) to birth our independence.
In the Second Republic, the alliance between Shehu Shagari and Alex Ekwueme under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) helped restore civilian rule and national unity after years of military dictatorship.
It is therefore with great sense of unity and solidarity, that as a loyal party member, I support the decision to zone the presidential ticket of the NDC to the South, so that it allows the region to complete its turn in producing national leadership.
This represents a true opportunity for true national healing. We shall work in abidance with the party’s agreement to ensure fairness and federal character in all ramifications.
This party shall also ensure to change the way things are done today by prioritising leadership without ethnic jingoism and religious favouritism.
The leadership standard we shall set will therefore restore Nigeria’s dignity and will guarantee that our citizens at home and the diaspora will be treated with respect and dignity.
Lastly, we can only achieve that by continuing to mobilise to register with INEC to vote, and the NDC to belong to this noble cause. Please register, today.
Thank you.
Long Live the Nigeria Democratic Congress!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
From every indication, the dumping of Obi by Kwankwaso may remain a page in a fiction narrative, since it is absolutely impossible for more defections to occur at this time, according to the new Electoral Act 2026.
However, the page of whether he is totally in support of Obi as his principal, still remains unwritten and blank. What is obvious is the two, by present political exigency, may lead the charge as NDC attempt to dislodge Tinubu as president, and also stop Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who may lead the ADC attack, from making any headway.
By May 30 according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) table, all flag bearers would have been known and observers are throwing their hats in the ring to predict another 3-horse race, exactly as witnessed in 2023.
What would change would depend heavily on the homework every candidate has done prior to this time, and the alliances created on and off the political circle.
But would Kwankwaso Dump Obi at this time, the answer is likely in the negative. The level of cohesion he is willing to give is what however, that is still contentious about.
Time is almost at hand!
