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Food for Living: The Turning Point of Your Life
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Everyone of us has experienced a turning point at one time or another in life. The turning point can be when you marry; when you achieve academic excellence; when you meet a great man/woman; when you get a job/promotion; when you travel; when you became financial independent; when you are blessed with a new child; or even when you experience spiritual deliverance. Turning points are times that change your outlook & attitudes towards life. It can affect your relationship with people. Question: At what point will you say is the turning point in your life? For me, when I published my first book, got a decent job, and married, were times my life literally took a new shape.
We all need a turning point in our life, but that turning point will not come unless we take the necessary decisions. While going up, we all must have faced one form of challenge or another; the challenge can be due to poverty or education. Have you ever been in a position where due to poverty you weren’t able to access the basic needs of life? That is the story of many people. Poverty can make you decide, you’ll no longer want to remain poor, especially when you experienced poverty growing up. At that stage, you will decide to do whatever is legitimate to eradicate poverty from your life.
In the same vein, when you experience the pain of not being educated, you can decide to get an education to change a narrative. Having a good education is priceless because education is one of the greatest levelers.
For you to turn your life around, you must know yourself. Self-discovery is the first key to success. You must know what you are passionate about, you must know what works for you and most importantly know what change you will like to see in your life. For instance, if you want to study any professional course, you must know what is required to make the dream come true.
Turning point can result from an unpleasant situation or incident which you or the world might have experienced. For instance, when you experience injustice in the system due to rape of a loved one, death of a loved one, shooting of a loved one, or a scene that makes you feel uncomfortable, you can decide to run for election to bring change in order to fix the system.
When you decide to have a turning point in your life, you are literally taking your destiny into your hands. You will focus your energy on doing the needful, you will remove any form of distraction. It’s instructive to note that your life is your life, your joy is your joy, your sorrow is your sorrow, no one can share it with you. The moral of this statement is that you are the architect of your life and as such you don’t need to live your life for anybody.
In turning your life around, you must do whatever works for you. You can’t please anyone neither can you please the world. Human beings by nature are insatiable. According to Bill Cosby, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody”. So when you decide to live your life for anyone, just have it a the back of your mind, the world is not literally concerned about your absence except when you have left your footprints in the hearts of humanity, even at that, there will come a day when the world will experience the same love and affection from another resourceful being. For instance, imagine if you are an entertainer or social media influencer when you leave planet earth, nor matter how rich, influential or fun your content maybe, after you must have completed your time on earth, the world will not take much time to find someone else to replace you. That’s how basically life works. So, don’t think you are irreplaceable.
In conclusion, decide today what you are not comfortable with and make an internal and conscious decision to fix it. It all starts with an idea. When the idea is conceived, you must nurture it by working on it. It’s only by so doing, you will get people who will buy into it. Remember, the change you want to see in the world begins with you.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker. 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
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned social media personality and self-acclaimed relationship adviser, Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, before the Federal High Court in Lagos over an alleged N36 million fraud.
Blessing CEO was arraigned on Friday before Justice D.I. Dipeolu on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and alleged theft involving N36 million
According to the EFCC, the defendant allegedly obtained the money from one Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nonye Okoye under the pretext of securing a six-bedroom duplex in Lekki, Lagos — a claim prosecutors said she knew to be false.
During proceedings, defence counsel P.I. Nwafor informed the court that the defendant had refunded N24 million to the complainant and requested a short adjournment to allow discussions over the outstanding balance.
“We have an application to make. The defendant approached the nominal complainant and refunded N24 million out of the N36 million.
“We are asking for a short adjournment to resolve the outstanding balance. The nominal complainant agreed that if the balance is paid, they can prevail on the EFCC to drop the case,” the lawyer said.
However, prosecution counsel S.I. Suleiman opposed the request, insisting that the commission was not involved in any private settlement arrangement.
“The complainant here is the Federal Government of Nigeria, and we are here for the arraignment. We urge that the defendant take her plea, as that is the business of the day,” he argued.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Dipeolu held that settlement talks could continue independently but would not stop the arraignment process.
“The defence and the nominal complainant can have discussions even during the pendency of the charge. It does not affect the proceedings before the court. The defendant will take her plea,” the judge ruled.
One of the charges alleged that between July 14 and 17, 2024, Blessing CEO fraudulently obtained N36 million from the complainant over a purported property lease in Lekki.
Another count accused her of unlawfully converting the money to personal use, contrary to provisions of the Criminal Code Act.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following her plea, the prosecution asked the court to commence trial and remand her in a correctional facility, while the defence requested that she remain in EFCC custody pending bail arrangements.
Justice Dipeolu subsequently ordered that the defendant be remanded in EFCC custody and adjourned the matter to June 5, 2026, for commencement of trial.
Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, has narrated how his principal almost sacked him because of Lagos State House of Assembly member, Desmond Elliot.
He said he almost lost his job during the Lagos Speaker Mudashiru Obasa impeachment saga.
Recall that lawmakers of the Lagos State House of Assembly had said that Obasa was impeached to save the integrity and sanctity of the House of Assembly and Lagos State.
The lawmakers, while jointly addressing journalists at the Assembly Complex, said: “It’s just a change of baton. It is only death that is constant, so change is inevitable.”
However, with President Tinubu against the impeachment, the Speaker was restored and peace returned to the Assembly.
Addressing members of the All Progressives Congress on Thursday, Gbajabiamila said, “I almost lost my job as Chief of Staff last year because of Desmond Elliot. Mr President called me to his house in Abuja during the Lagos Speaker Obasa saga.
“He said, ‘I hear this Desmond is your boy, the one we gave you,’ and I said, ‘Yes, sir. He is one of the people causing problems in the Lagos House of Assembly.’
“Immediately, I told the president that Desmond wasn’t part of them, but the president replied and said that, from the intelligence he received, Desmond was part of them.
“After that meeting, I called Desmond and told him what the president said, and asked him to leave the group if he was part of them. Three days later, the DSS DG called me and said there was a problem.
“He said your name is being mentioned, that you’re the one behind the impeachment saga and that you’re supporting Desmond.
“I spoke to the DSS DG and told him I had spoken to Desmond and he denied being part of the group. I then asked Desmond to make a public statement denying his involvement in the impeachment saga, but till today, he hasn’t done it.”
By Eric Elezuo
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has announced the kickoff of the 2026 West African Second-term School Certificate Examination, saying it would be computer-based, and decrying the decline of male participation as against their female counterparts.
The Council made the disclosure on Monday, while addressing the media at its National Office in Yaba, Lagos, on steps so far taken to ensure a hitchfree 2026 Examination.
In his address, the Head of National Office, Mr. Jacob Josiah Dangut, remarked that the 2026 computer-based WASSEC, started on April 21, 2026 with practical test papers, stressing that the nitty gritty parts of the exercise will kick off on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, therefore the reason for the sensitization of the Nigerian public on the exams.
He noted that nearly two million candidates registered to sit for the examinations.
In his words, “A total of 1,959,636 candidates from 24,207 schools enrolled for the examination.
“Of this number, 958,564 candidates (48.92%) are male, while 1,001,072 candidates (51.08%) are female. This reflects an increase in female participation and a decline in male participation compared to last year.”
Dangut called on policy formulations to take the matter serious so as to reinvent the urge for education among the malefolks.
Meanwhile, Dangut informed the public that candidates are being tested in 37 subjects across 97 papers, supervised by about 29,000 senior secondary teachers nominated by state ministries of education.
Dangut said the rise in computer-based entries followed the successful debut of the format in 2025, with more schools and offshore institutions adopting it for its efficiency and alignment with global standards.
The 2026 exercise will run through to June 19th.
