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Food for Living: The Secret Behind Solving Other People’s Problems
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Destiny Friends,
As human beings, we all have problems, but what differentiates our problems is how we manage them. In the same vein, each of us have a secret frustration which no one knows.
According to some schools of thought, we have three forms of lifestyle; public life, which we exhibit when we are in public arenas, private life which only our family members and close friends know, and secret life which only us know.
We all harbour a form of guilt which we believe we ought to have handled or managed differently. In the same way, government agencies, private and non-for-profit organizations have problems they all battle with. Solving these problems can be a herculean task.
Every problem has a solution. Any problem that doesn’t have a solution is because the right person with the solution hasn’t arrived. I liken every problem or challenge to a door. If you have the wrong key, you won’t be able to open a door. It’s just like solving a mathematical problem, without the right formula, you’ll have a hard time arriving at an answer.
You may be wondering what the secret to solving a problem is. The answer is not far-fetched; it lies within you. This article is structured to assist any progressive mind to be selfless in addition to living for humanity.
In the global world, we are taught to know that in order to have money, you must solve a problem. Yes, it is true to a reasonable extent, but in reality, solving a problem can be relative. People like it when we solve their problems, we also feel good when we solve other people’s problems.
As human beings, we all have problems. These problems make us insatiable and blind to the needs of others. The question we normally ask ourselves is, how do we solve other people’s problems while having our problem living inside of us? That’s the crux of this article.
Problems exist around us; within our families, personal life and even in religious organisations. As human beings, sometimes we find it difficult living for humanity; we fail to understand that the joy of life is not how happy you are, but how happy others can be because of you. If you are creative enough to look around and solve the needs of your immediate environment, you may be surprised to know the recognition that will be accorded to you due to your selfless act. I charge you today to look around your environment and attend to that little problem you can conveniently solve without blinking an eye.
We all have friends who face different challenges. Sometimes we look at the other side of life just because we feel we have our concerns, but the reality of life is that we are doing ourselves a disservice by not assisting in solving the problems, especially when we have the capacity to do so.
The question now becomes, how do you solve a problem? You can do this by leaving yourself out and focusing on assisting other people. Don’t withhold opportunities to help people if you’re in a position to help. As a leader, use your opportunity to empower people and see how you’ll be remembered when you leave office. You will be surprised to see the universe will work in your favour. Isn’t it true that the joy of life is not how happy you are, but how happy others can be because of you.
The real secret of solving a problem lies in getting what you want faster. This always happens when you help other people to get what they need. It’s just like when you use your time, resources, talents, gifts and knowledge to mentor a kid, you’ll be surprised to know that the same kid you mentored yesterday may turn around to mentor your kid tomorrow and the cycle continues. Isn’t it true that when you spray fragrance on someone, you leave some fragrance on your palms? The laws of success vary. Sometimes your true success lies in helping other people to reach their peak. It’s always good to celebrate other people’s success because you never know, their success may be tied to your success.
If we are honest to ourselves, it can be difficult to help others while we are in pain, but then, when we do the little we can, the universe has a way of compensating us. You can solve a problem in several ways including sowing a seed. Then watch how the seed will metamorphose into something greater, tomorrow. Again, you can support someone by your words of encouragement, gifts, time and knowledge.
As you help others, you may not see or feel it, but you are helping yourself. What most people don’t know is that you’ll get what you want faster when you help other people to get what they need. Try helping someone despite being in need or in pain yourself, and see how the universe will pay you back. For example, if you are believing God for the fruit of the womb, pray for other women in similar need. If you’re in need of financial success, try giving others even when you don’t have enough to pay your bills.
Sometimes the reason you can’t have your problem solved is because you need to solve other people’s problems. Today, I charge you to make a commitment to solving a problem by sowing a seed in someone’s life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. 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
Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has reacted to her acquittal by a London court after bribery charges brought against her were dismissed.
The Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday acquitted the former minister of all charges, including five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Reacting to the judgment, Alison-Madueke expressed relief and said she and her family had endured years of emotional distress over the case.
Speaking to News Central, she said she has remained in the United Kingdom since the legal proceedings began 11 years ago.
She said: “I’m just thankful to God, it’s been arduous, almost 11 years. It’s been traumatic not just for me but for my family, friends, my 93-year-old mother in Port Harcourt and for my son.
“It has been a hard journey, but I tell you this, God will always do as He will. God will be God and God is not a man that He should lie; when He promises you something, He will see it through.
“For almost 11 years I have been here. I did my job to the best of my ability.”
The lawmaker representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), at the Senate, Ireti Kingibe, says she did not see any report that led to the suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Kingibe made this disclosure on Wednesday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.
She said she was at a retreat with Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, when she heard about the report.
“I never saw the report that led to Natasha’s suspension. I was at a retreat. I had earlier stated that I was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee.
“We attended the Committee on Petitions and Public Complaints, signed the attendance register, and I later left for the tax reform retreat, which I considered more important at the time.
“It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I figured that the other people who were not part of that committee would take care of it.
“I even complained to other Senators, specifically to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. I complained to him very bitterly that I had not seen that report. I didn’t see it then. I have not seen it till now,” she said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stay the execution of the judgment that ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The Commission also threw its weight behind a notice of appeal lodged by the political parties.
Addressing a three-member panel of the appellate court on Tuesday, the electoral body said it was shocked by the decision of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja to deliver the judgment despite an order that stopped him from doing so.
INEC, through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Haliru Mohammed, decried that it was not notified that the judgment would be delivered, saying it only heard about the court’s decision through media reports.
“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for delivery on June 5.
“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media.
“We therefore do not oppose the application of the appellant to stay the execution of the judgment.”
Likewise, counsel to the ADC, Mr. Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, told the appellate court that Justice Lifu notified the party of the delivery of the judgment via WhatsApp.
Insisting that the decision of the high court was an invitation to anarchy, counsel to the ADC urged the appellate court to invoke its powers and sanction Justice Lifu for disrespecting the judicial hierarchy.
“Sincerely, my Lords, a lot has happened to the judiciary and this profession. What the trial judge did was dare this Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court.
“The action of the trial judge calls for swift and extraordinary measures from this court. We have come to the stage where this court should press the reset button.
“We are calling on this court to exercise disciplinary jurisdiction under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“We urge this court to take disciplinary steps by immediately suspending that judgment. This court has the power to protect its own integrity. We pray this court suspends the judgment immediately without further delay,” ADC’s lawyer submitted.
The other parties also drew the attention of the appellate court panel to the fact that on June 20, INEC would conduct by-elections across six states of the federation.
They contended that if the judgment were not stayed, it would create problems across the country, maintaining that the Court of Appeal has inherent powers to act in a supervisory capacity and not allow its orders to be disregarded by lower courts.
The appellate court is still hearing submissions from the other parties in the matter.
It will be recalled that aside from the ADC, the other parties the high court directed INEC to deregister are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
According to the court, the five political parties failed to meet the constitutional requirements to warrant their continued existence and participation in future elections.
It barred INEC from further according recognition to the parties, accepting nominations of candidates from the affected parties, or giving effect to their activities for the purpose of participating in the 2027 general elections.
Moreover, Justice Lifu ordered the defendants to stop parading themselves as registered political parties in the country.
He held that there was merit in a suit filed against them by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL).
The group, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, prayed the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove political parties that fail to meet the electoral performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s regulations.
It was the position of the plaintiff that the five political parties listed as defendants had persistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.
The former legislators stressed that the requirements include winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state, or local government level.
They told the court that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in both the 2023 general elections and by-elections conducted by INEC, thereby failing to win seats across key tiers of government.
