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Food for Living: The Risk of Success
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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.
Headlines
Court Orders INEC to Publish Adebutu’s Name as Ogun PDP Governorship Candidate Within 24 Hours
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the name of Ladi Adebutu as the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate for the 2027 Ogun State election within 24 hours.Judge Peter Lifu gave the order on Friday in a judgement following a suit filed by Mr Adebutu and the PDP to challenge INEC’s exclusion of his name from the final list of candidates for the upcoming 6 February 2027 governorship election.
He consequently declared the exclusion “unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.”
In resolving the issues raised by parties, Mr Lifu held that the power to nominate candidates for “elections rested solely with political parties.” He ruled that “Neither INEC nor any other authority could take over that responsibility.”
The judge faulted the commission for waiting more than four months before “belatedly publishing the final list on 10 October” without informing the plaintiffs of any intention to exclude their candidate.
He questioned INEC’s decision to raise the issue after the primary had been conducted and monitored, when it could have raised any concerns in its monitoring report.
Mr Lifu warned that allowing INEC to exercise such powers would amount to a “dangerous show of power”.
He said such authority could allow the commission to disqualify candidates only days before an election, adding that INEC did not possess absolute powers.
The judge also held that the membership register tendered before the court contained Mr Adebutu’s name against serial number 1536.
He said the evidence established that Mr Adebutu was a member of the PDP and that it was the political party, not INEC, that had the authority to determine its membership.
The judge questioned why INEC considered it its responsibility to determine who belonged to a political party, holding that the commission exceeded its powers by omitting Mr Adebutu’s name.
The dispute
The dispute followed the exclusion of Mr Adebutu and his running mate from the final list of candidates published by INEC for the 6 February 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
INEC published the final list on 10 October, featuring 13 governorship candidates but excluding the PDP from the race.
INEC said its decision followed the PDP’s alleged failure to comply with the membership register requirements under the Electoral Act 2026.
Section 77(5)–(7) of the Act requires political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC within the stipulated period. The provisions also empower the commission to scrutinise the registers.
In September, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the provisions in a case involving the Zenith Labour Party and INEC. The ruling affirmed the requirement for political parties to submit their membership registers before conducting valid primaries.
Following the exclusion, the PDP and Mr Adebutu approached the Federal High Court in Abuja in October, asking it to compel INEC to recognise him as the party’s governorship candidate.
The plaintiffs challenged the commission’s decision, arguing that it violated their right to fair hearing and breached provisions of the Electoral Act. They asked the court to set aside the decision and direct INEC to publish Mr Adebutu’s name as the party’s governorship candidate within 24 hours of its order.
INEC opposed the suit, maintaining that Mr Adebutu’s name was missing from the PDP membership register submitted to the commission. It therefore urged the court to dismiss the suit for being incompetent.
Source: Premium Times
Former Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Pochettino would have an enormous task on his hands to revive a club that has never recovered from the departure of Alex Ferguson 13 years ago.
The Red Devils, once the dominant force in English football, have been overtaken by Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
United’s next game is against fierce rivals Liverpool at Anfield on November 22.
President Bola Tinubu has rewarded each player of the Flamingos with a savings certificate worth N100 million, after the team became the first African nation to win the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, announced the awards at a reception at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Abuja, where she represented the President.
The head coach is to receive N100 million in cash, while each member of the technical crew gets N50 million.
She praised the team for winning six consecutive matches, and for the humility, discipline and respect they showed after the final.
Senator Tinubu said the victory would inspire young girls and show that their ambitions can be realised on the world stage.
She also commended the coaches, technical and medical staff, administrators, parents and fans for their contributions.
The U-17 team won their first FIFA World Cup title after defeating Japan 2-1 in the final on November 7, with goals from Awawu Bashiru and Oluebube Umejiaku securing the historic victory.
The Flamingos lost their opener 2-1 to Poland, but dominated in the remaining matches, defeating defending champions North Korea, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
Their first-ever appearance in the final was sealed with a 3-1 victory over Brazil, before taking home the trophy after beating Japan.
The players have received commendations from government officials and football fans around the world.
President Tinubu congratulated the Flamingos for becoming the first African team to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Tinubu, in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said he received the news upon his return from campaign engagements in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States.
He also described Nigeria’s maiden triumph as a proud moment for the country and a landmark achievement for African women’s football.
The Senate also pledged a N100 million reward for the Flamingos.
The pledge followed a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Abdul Ningi, who congratulated the players on their outstanding performance and commended the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for its role in the team’s achievement.
The latest feat by a Nigerian sports team came less than two years after the senior women’s football team, Super Falcons, won their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in Morocco.
In 2025, the D’Tigress won a historic 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket title.
