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Food for Living: Understanding Yourself

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By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Followers,

The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.” – Erik Erikson

One of the best things to happen to any individual is the ability to know himself.

If you are asked, who you are. What will be your response? To truly understand yourself, one must be able to know his strength, weakness, passion, interest, vision, and most importantly, what he represents or stands for.

Just like life is a continuous learning process, understanding oneself is a life journey. We never get to fully understand ourselves and our capability. That is why when we achieve an uncommon feat, we are literally humbled. Again, when we are faced with a dare-devil situation like being broke, provoked, bullied, etc., one will be surprised to notice how he may react. It is therefore, difficult to say ‘I know myself’ because actions and reactions may sometimes differ.

As a Human Capacity Coach, my focus is to help every rational being discover their innate ability because it is only when they understand their innate ability, that they will be able to unleash their potential. It is important to state that we are all different and endowed with certain alienable gifts, talents and skills. Your duty is to uncover all the hidden potentials you have. Nobody knows you more than you know yourself. If you feel you have potential, dreams, goals, and inexplicable passion to birth a goal, but don’t know how to actualize, I will strongly advise you to find a coach to help you actualize it.

One of the worst feelings anyone can ever have is to live in regret. The greatest challenge most people have is that though they are truly inspired listening to great speakers, mentors, leaders, pastors, etc. they lack the implementation strategy, which is why we all need a coach.

Understanding oneself comes in different dimensions. A man/woman will not say he/she has fully and truly understood themselves until they marry. Sometimes, you may not know your potential until you have an encounter with a life-transforming coach, mentor, or with God who literally open your eyes to see a new version of yourself. To understand how understanding oneself really works, imagine being in a room with total darkness and the light is turned on, your countenance, feeling, focus, vision, understanding will be totally different because you’ll derive an uncommon strength from the light. That’s how you know the level of potential and capabilities in you when you understand yourself.

Understanding oneself, in the simplest of terms, is illuminating your lie positively.

The question now becomes how does one understands himself. I will be sharing some tips to guide you.

Know your purpose

Your mission on planet earth is for a purpose. You have an assignment and divine mandate to fulfill your purpose. You can’t be existing instead of living. It’s sad to note that the graveyard is the richest place on planet earth because that’s where many talents are buried. There are many dynamics to finding your purpose. To discover your purpose, you can reach out to your creator, listen to yourself, and know what you are not comfortable with in the world.

Take personality test

Some people find this resourceful. There are several tests available. I don’t know if it truly works. But you can consider giving it a try. For instance, the “Myers-Briggs Personality type theory says that all people have one of sixteen different basic personalities. These personalities can predict how you interact with people, the kinds of interpersonal problems and strengths that you have, and what kind of environment you live and work in best”.

Be vulnerable

Vulnerability is truly underrated in our society. Only strong people and leaders are willing to share their weaknesses, experience, and failures. You are not truly free until you have lived your life without caring what other people are saying. On your journey of life, you don’t have to be hard on yourself. Give yourself the permission to explore new things by taking risks and you’ll understand who you are and what you are capable of doing.

Many people expect too much from themselves and when they don’t achieve their set targets and goals in life, they feel they are failures. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s your life and nobody’s life. So, live it to the fullest. Tomorrow your mistakes will serve as an experience and learning curve. You’ll even laugh at them when you reflect. So, relax and enjoy the moments by traveling, getting an education, and having fewer expectations from people. Life is too short to live in regrets.

Be yourself

Don’t try to be like others. You must come to the realization that not everyone is going to like you. According to Oscar Wilde, be yourself, others are taken. Don’t try to fit in. Be the original version of yourself. This might be hard, but when you are your authentic self, your original friends will come close to you because they resonate with your work, but you when are fake, your original friends who are supposed to add value to your work will depart, and only fake people will resonate with you. Trust me, being fake is expensive while being true to yourself is cheap because you don’t have to spend or please anyone.

Do what makes you happy

One of the best ways to know oneself is by engaging in acts that make one happy. If I may ask you, what are your hobbies, what is the one thing you can do for free even if you are not paid for it?

How do you react?

It is widely stated that circumstances don’t say who you are, they reveal who you are. It’s not always right to assert how we’ll react when we are faced with different situations, because our reactions might be different when the occasion or situation rears its ugly head. One of the ways to know a man is to give him power, money, and riches. If he is able to overcome the pressures and temptations by managing them without them managing him, he’s truly a man.

In conclusion, regardless of what you may have experienced in life, don’t be hard on yourself; forgive yourself and if you feel you need someone to assist you in working through life, understanding oneself and how to unleash your potential by overcoming the challenges, setbacks, and failures of life, I’m here to assist 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

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US Lawmaker Weeps over Brutal Killing of Christians in Plateau

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A United States representative, Anna Paulina Luna, has raised the alarm over what she described as the incessant attacks and killings of Christians across different communities in Plateau State by Fulani ethnic militia terrorists and Islamist extremists.

The US lawmaker, who made the allegations in a statement shared on her verified X account on Friday, accused both the state and the federal governments of not doing enough to protect Christians in the state from the regular attacks they suffer when the terrorists descend on the communities.

In a post titled, “What is happening in Nigeria right now?”, the US lawmaker lamented that thousands of Christians in Plateau were facing a mortal threat while security forces had struggled to contain the situation.

“Hundreds of Fulani ethnic militia terrorists descended on Christian communities across Plateau State.

“Thousands of civilians are under mortal threat while the Nigerian Army and security forces struggle to hold the line,” Luna wrote.

According to her, the attacks were preceded by a series of violent incidents targeting Christians and other civilians in the affected communities.

Giving some specifics, Paulina said a pastor and his church secretary were shot dead while they were on their way to church in the days leading up to the latest attacks, while five Christians were attacked in another incident while travelling in a vehicle.

“A pastor and his church secretary were shot dead on their way to church. Five Christians were ambushed in their car.

“A civilian guard was killed outside his own home. A man and his son were beaten and left in critical condition,” the lawmaker said.

The US representative also alleged that security agencies had never taken warnings and security alerts issued before the attacks seriously, questioning why they had not been followed.

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Food for Living: Pursue Passion More Than Profit (Pt. 2)

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By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Friends,

Last week, we began discussing a grey and near-controversial topic, “pursue passion more than profit”. The topic cannot be exhaustive. Depending on who one is speaking to, different answers and understanding will be received because different things work for different people, and as they say, ‘different strokes for different people’.

It I worthy of note that a family man who is passionate about teaching or working in the non-profit space will be tempted to engage in business to feed his family. But someone with a stable financial background can afford to follow his passion and work as a teacher or in the non-profit space where the pay is not lucrative.

From a practical perspective, I currently work for the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. This is an agency that pays a good salary to the uniformed officers after they work for 51/2 years. In addition to the money they receive, there are countless hours of overtime, which doubles their income depending on how many hours they work. Some call it blood money because they can hardly get the same money in other institutions.

Why am I sharing this information? According to most of the officers; they basically work in the agency because of the money. Most of the officers are of the opinion that they can hardly make such money working in other private or public enterprises. The majority of these officers are not passionate about the job; they are just there to take care of their pressing bills. Some of them even have a timeline: they can work and then resign to start up their business or work in their areas of interest. This goes to tell you that they are trading their passion for profit, which is kind of work if looked at from a particular point of view, but then they are trading their joy and peace.

Let me share another example. In Nigeria, a popular artist, David Adeleke, aka Davido, is one man who followed his passion. This young man came from a wealthy background. He literally left generational wealth to sing. Many thought he was crazy. Davido’s father, billionaire businessman Adedeji Adeleke, initially opposed his music career, but he eventually became fully supportive. Davido’s father went as far as having police shut down shows or arresting people involved when Davido left school in the US to pursue music in Nigeria. Due to his passion for singing, Davido had to fund his early career secretly and rebel against his family’s wishes before breaking through.

Once Davido achieved massive success and proved he could be successful in the industry, his father accepted his path and gave him his blessing. Davido once stated that despite making his own fortune, his billionaire father still surprises him with huge financial gifts, such as wiring him $300,000 after a major performance at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

I doubt that Davido would have become this famous if he didn’t follow his passion. Davido can be described as a man whose passion is stronger than power.

I had to share these two perspectives to give clarity on the relativity of passion and profit.

Let’s analyze the concept of passion and profit. If I may ask you, what is passion? What is profit? And what does passion and profit mean to you? According to Cambridge University, passion was defined as a very strong feeling, emotion, or deep enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. For example, someone can have a strong emotion or a powerful state of feeling like intense love, excitement, anger, or hatred for something or somebody.

Passion can also be a deep interest or hobby which gives someone a strong liking or enthusiasm for an activity, such as cooking, music, or sports. In romantic cases, it can be a romantic or sexual desire: An intense physical or emotional attraction toward someone. In the spiritual context, it can be understood as the Sufferings of Jesus: Historically and in a religious context, it refers to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ between the Last Supper and the crucifixion (the Passion of Christ).

Profit, on the other hand, is the financial gain that remains when total revenue from an activity or business exceeds the total expenses and costs incurred, according to Investopedia. There are different types of profit:

  • Gross Profit: Revenue minus the direct cost of producing goods or services (COGS).
  • Operating Profit: Gross profit minus day-to-day operating expenses, excluding interest and taxes.
  • Net Profit: The final “bottom line” earnings left after all expenses, taxes, and interest are deducted.

Having given an overview of what passion and profit entail, let’s take a minute to understand the thin line between passion and profit. Just like authority is respected more than power, passion has more influence and is generally respected more than profit.  No doubt, it’s good to make a profit in business, but in this context, I am referring to the human resource space or human capacity development

On the surface, people may respect someone for the money one has, but they will value a person who is more passionate about a cause than one who has money but does not believe in the message they are preaching. There’s a saying: human beings are more than money. Just like, it’s better to have a good name than to have money.

People generally follow a leader or someone who they can relate to rather than someone who gives them money but is careless about their feelings. One message I heard countless times from one of my revered mentors regarding my career was to pursue passion over profits. According to him, passion is stronger than power. He likened passion to a scenario where a woman loves a man who has less money compared to a man who has money but does not have the values and vision she represents. According to these sets of ladies, money is good, but love conquers everything because if tomorrow the money travels, the marriage is bound to hit a rock, compared to a scene where a lady loves a man for who he is and what he represents. Even when the money is out, the friendship will still thrive.

According to the opposing schools of thought, while passion is good, it is they also believe that hard work beats talent, especially when talent is not put to good use.  So, even if one is passionate about a cause or has a talent that is yet to be developed, if one does not intentionally develop it, it will lie fallow. So, invariably, even if one is passionate about a cause, if they don’t have the strength to work on their passion, it’s advisable for them to focus on making money.

Here is my opinion: even though I subscribe to the position of focusing on or working for passion rather than for money, one must apply wisdom in navigating this tough terrain. One can decide to work for money and gather enough money to fund their passion because, at the end of the day, we all want to be happy, because happiness and fulfilment mean everything

In summary, while it is good to do what works for one and what is readily available, it’s imperatively important for one to strive for excellence and perfection, which can be found in passion.

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- Actualizing Your Birthright to Success, Unleash Your Destiny and The Six Pillars of Success . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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Police Detain Inspector over Ethnic Slur Against Igbo, Peter Obi

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The Lagos State Police Command has commenced disciplinary action against an inspector following a viral video in which he was seen making disparaging ethnic remarks while travelling in a public vehicle.

The officer, identified as Inspector Osumah Frank, made what the Command described as “careless, inappropriate and uncultured remarks,” according to a statement issued on Friday, September 25, 2026, and signed by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Adebisi.

In the video, Frank, who was in police uniform, was heard making remarks about Igbo people and discussing the political ambitions of a former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi. He also made comments involving President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

The inspector was further heard suggesting that police officers could collect money to frustrate a political candidate’s chances of succeeding.

Reacting to the video, the Command said the officer’s remarks were made in his personal capacity and did not represent the position or views of either the Lagos State Police Command or the Nigeria Police Force.

“The Command has commenced appropriate disciplinary action against the officer in line with established regulations of the Nigeria Police Force,” the statement said.

“It also wishes to make it clear that the statements made by the officer were made in his personal capacity and do not represent the position, views or official disposition of the Lagos State Police Command or the Nigeria Police Force,” it added.

The Commissioner of Police (CP) Tijani Fatai, said police personnel are required to maintain professionalism and respect for members of the public at all times.

“All personnel are expected to maintain professionalism, civility, discipline and respect for members of the public at all times,” the statement quoted Fatai as saying.

He said wearing the police uniform came with a responsibility to uphold the dignity and integrity of the Force, adding that the Command would not condone any conduct capable of bringing the police into disrepute or undermining public confidence in the Force.

The Command reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, accountability and “policing with humility and integrity.”

The video, which circulated widely on social media from around September 23, had drawn criticism over the officer’s remarks, particularly those concerning Igbo people and his comments about police officers collecting money to frustrate a political candidate.

The police did not state the specific disciplinary measures being taken against Frank.

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