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Opinion: The Power of ‘Zero’
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By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“Don’t ever say somebody is useless. You are not even insulting the person; you are insulting the God that created the person.”– Chris Imafidon
Some years back, former Prime Minister of Britain, David Cameron, had an unusual bet with Chris Imafidon, a Nigerian-born professor at Oxford University. Imafidon’s child had just passed the UK’s General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination at the age of six. GCSE is an examination mostly taken by teenagers in secondary school; so, the achievement of Imafidon’s daughter was a spectacular feat that had stunned the entire country and the world at large.
To the Prime Minister, however, the youngster’s achievement was not totally unexpected – after all, her father had been a very intelligent scholar himself. But Imafidon made it clear to the Prime Minister that his daughter’s achievement had nothing to do with gene but with proper nurturing and mentoring. Still, the PM was unconvinced; as far as he was concerned, people who did well in academics or in life generally did so because they were born to be great.
However, to prove to the PM that with the right orientation and motivation, everyone is a potential success, Imafidon asked the British leader to allow him work on the worst performing students in the worst performing schools in the UK for just nine months to see the difference. Cameron, of course, laughed it off as a practical joke and thus came the bet – 25 million dollars for whoever proved to be right.
To the Prime Minister’s astonishment, nine months later, the selected students had been transformed from seeming lazybones and never-do-wells to geniuses and go-getters!
Life-Changing Secrets
What secret had the seasoned professor discovered that gave him such confidence, to the point of sealing it with such a mammoth bet? And why has he become so good at transforming “dullards” to prodigies? Incidentally, when he attended the convocation ceremony of University of Ilorin (Nigeria) in 2014 and everyone’s attention was focused on the best performing students, Imafidon specifically asked for the so-called worst performing students so he could give them scholarships – much to the consternation of all. Again, why did he have to do so?
Below is the answer he gave in a recent interview, and I want you to pay particular attention to it because it forms a good foundation for the life-changing secrets that you will be discovering throughout this write-up (leadership manual):
“Shakespeare said some people are born great while others achieve greatness, and some others have greatness instilled in them; giving us a suggestion that when God makes people, He makes some one way and the others another way. God is not jobless to make some human beings with half brains. Don’t ever say somebody is useless. You are not even insulting the person; you are insulting the God that created the person.”
That exactly is the central message you will find in this write-up (leadership manual). Nobody was born to live and die as nobody (without fulfilling purpose). In fact, as psychologists and educationists would tell us, every child comes into the world with a blank mind (tabula rasa) that is eagerly waiting to be nurtured and developed into something exceptional. Sadly, only very few people take the time to work on themselves so as to live and die as heroes. Why is this so? Well, it is because these are the ‘few’ who choose to get empowered and encouraged to leave a mark on earth so as to leave their footprints in the sky, while the remaining majority are often the ones that are too ignorant or carefree about their latent potentials that they fail to take the necessary steps that will unleash their greatness.
A Pleasant Surprise
Contrary to what many people think, zero could be likened to be a number (0) (i.e. pregnant with hopes and dreams, also could be an attempt); it does not mean ‘nothing’. The reason is because while ‘nothing’ may have no hope or signify hopelessness, the number ‘zero’ has hope because it is a feminine number (i.e. having tendency to become greater or better, which, when empowered by applying some strategic principles, has the power to reproduce other greater numbers till infinity!
What this means is that the number zero, being feminine, has the innate capacity to mother and multiply other numbers when empowered! In other words, zero is a latently loaded entity that is capable of exceeding expectations when properly empowered.
Now, you may be wondering how this applies to you. Here it is. It is possible that there are aspects of your life in which you are being belittled by people around you. They see you as a zero, thinking you are nothing and can become nothing significant in life. The good news for you is that as long as you have the breath of life from God in you, you are not nothing. Yes, it may appear you’re a zero because you have not been able to achieve anything significant in your life; but I repeat – you’re not nothing!
Nothing means “non-existent”. But you are existing! God specially fashioned you in a unique way to exist for a purpose. This is the secret you need to discover and rouse yourself to.
Here is my exact point: A zero can only be useless as long as it remains the way it is. However, with the right efforts and connections, that zero can surpass other numbers. You can only be truly considered a failure the day you stop trying to excel; the day you stop trying to empower yourself with the right knowledge and skills and associating with the right people. I assure you that regardless of what people may have said about you or how many times you have failed or “messed up”, you can still, like the biblical Jabez who was labelled to be a zero in life, become much more “honourable” than all the people around you (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).
Cheer up, dear, friend. Whatever label of negativity that might have been attached to you, you just must refuse to accept it. Regardless of how many times you have failed, you just must not remain on the floor! Only a zero that is not empowered by ‘additions and multiplications’ will remain fixed. Don’t be rooted to the spot of obscurity, defeat, regret and shame. Rise up and get empowered!
(…to be continued…)
Thank you all for reading. I trust that you have been activated!
Watch out for the Book titled: “The Power of an Empowered Zero” (Awakening the Giant Within You) by Tolulope A. Adegoke. Foreword by Dr Yomi Garnett (CEO/Chancellor, Royal Biographical Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.SA., U.K., Abuja, Nigeria.) Edited by Ola Aboderin.
Tolulope A. Adegoke is an acclaimed “globalpreneur”, with the mandate to enrich lives and provide the professional, spiritual, academic and leadership empowerment needed to birth, maximize and sustain possibilities in peoples, corporates and nations. He is a prolific writer, frequent keynote speaker and spoken word poet, among others, having written countless articles in diverse reputable fields and honoured many public invitations.
He is also a Senior Administrator.
Tolulope Adegoke can be booked for public events via the contacts below:
E-mail: adegoketolulope1022@gmail.com
Nepal said Sunday it had begun burying some of the hundreds of bodies recovered after devastating floods, after taking DNA samples and marking them so families can later retrieve them.
The dead are traditionally cremated on funeral pyres in Hindu-majority Nepal, so the burials are viewed as long-term storage until families can retrieve them.
Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai told reporters that all those buried were carefully recorded, but also appealed for international support, saying Nepal needed “more than a thousand” freezer units to store bodies.
The announcement of the burials came as Nepal’s disaster ministry increased its toll again on Sunday to 752 bodies recovered and 2,502 people missing.
That list includes 589 foreigners unaccounted for.
Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead in Tibet and 546 people missing following Wednesday’s disaster, taking the overall toll to 768 dead and 3,048 unaccounted for.
“Following standard and accepted protocols, such as those of ICRC (Red Cross), the mortal remains of the dead, especially those not recognisable… have been temporarily buried,” Rai told reporters.
“Medical teams took DNA samples from every victim prior to the burial so that families can match-reference later, and would be allowed to exhume for necessary rituals.”
Nepal has called for freezer storage units and DNA testing kits, as it is overwhelmed with the number of bodies to store safely.
“We have requested different countries for freezers; we will need more than a thousand,” Rai added.
“Many dead bodies have been collected, and they have started decomposing. To preserve public health, we had to bury the decomposing bodies,” he added.
AFP
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Everyone loves influence. Everyone wants to be a person of influence. Everyone wants to be relevant. Everyone wants to be celebrated. Everyone likes attention, appreciation, approval, and admiration. All these are products of influence.
The question I need you to ask yourself is, are you a person of influence? Are you influencing anyone? Do you have a positive or negative influence on your children, spouse, friends, mentors/mentee, or even strangers? Take a minute to listen to yourself.
When we talk about influence, uninformed minds just think influence is only about money, power, authority, or even being a mentor. Influence is far from it. We are all influencers in one way or another. Many people have influenced us in different ways, some positive, some negative. Similarly, we have also influenced many people in good and bad ways.
But today, I’m here to share with you what influence is about and the positive ways one can be a person of influence. Influence comes in different ways: as a politician, you are influencing people; as a leader, you are influencing policy; as a youth advocate, mentor, teacher, pastor, and employee, you are influencing somebody in one way or the other.
Do you know you can influence someone with your lifestyle? Yes, the way you talk, write, lead, dress, eat, exercise, preach the word of God, do your job, serve people, train your children, etc., are all part of influence. Influence is powerful. It has a way of permeating someone without them knowing. I believe that’s why my late mother would always say, if you are hanging out with a friend, only take the good part and leave the bad part.
We currently live in the 21st century, where the internet leads. The internet is regarded as the fifth estate for a reason, because it empowers networked individuals and alternative media to hold traditional institutions, governments, and mainstream media accountable. Everyone and almost everything is on the internet; however, sometimes, the information we get on the internet is regarded as fake because it’s unverified.
In some quarters, the internet has been regarded as a bad influence on the younger generation because of the limited restrictions and the negative information it has exposed their minds to think in a particular way. Some other schools of thought have opined that the internet has done more good than harm due to the knowledge it has exposed their minds to, as opposed to the information being peddled by some other schools of thought. Regardless of the aisle one belongs to, the internet truly has its pros and cons, especially as it relates to influence.
The big question one needs to answer is what influence is. According to Nosakhare Tune Oni – A Pan-African Strategist, leadership and business coach, “influence is when people trust your judgment enough to act on it. It is when someone calls you before making an important decision. When your recommendation opens a door. When your name carries weight in a room, you’re not even in. When people are willing to put their reputation behind yours. That’s influence.
Let’s take a minute to dwell on those lines again. Has anyone played any of such roles in your life? If yes, that’s the best definition of influence in a nutshell. Influence is not about quantity, but quality. The quality of people in your life is more valuable than the quantity of people one’s life. Do you know we don’t really need battalions of friends, whether online or in person, but just one person of influence can be a game-changer. According to Les Brown, a leadership coach, we need only quality people.
Do you know we are everywhere and nowhere at the same time? Do you also know that we can be everywhere and still have very little influence? Influence is about knowing your value and the right people who appreciate the value you bring. Do you know one can be a person of value to the wrong person or audience?
Influence is about having followers who believe and follow your teaching. We can have visibility with little or no influence. One may have 100,000 followers. We may trend on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, or even WhatsApp. Your name is a household name. That is visibility.
Let me give you a practical example. If you have a large crowd of people following you online or in person. The critical question one must ask oneself is: why are they following me? Are they following me because of my ideology, my talent/gift, academic process, position, profession, vocation, skill, or jokes? If they follow you because of the ideology you represent, you are a person of influence. If they are following you because of your jokes, you may be a content creator or comedian with little or no value in influencing them to do or not do certain things. Real influence provokes action.
According to Nosakhare Tune Oni, influence is built differently from attention. Attention can be bought. Influence must be earned. You can manufacture visibility with advertising, controversy, or constant posting. But you cannot manufacture trust that easily. It comes from consistently being useful. Keeping your word. Knowing what you’re talking about. Showing up when it matters. Building relationships before you need them.
And creating value for people without constantly asking, “What’s in it for me?”
Do you know a person with 1,000 followers and deep trust within a particular industry may have more real influence than someone with 100,000 followers who nobody listens to. So, I don’t think the goal should simply be: “How many people know me?” A better question is: “How much does my presence actually change things?” Because visibility gets you noticed. Value gets you remembered. Trust gets you listened to, but influence is what happens when people trust your value enough to move.
As I prepare to conclude, please take a minute to ask yourself: are you a person of influence? Do you have influence? What positive influence have you had on people or anyone? Today, I want you to be a man/lady of influence like Martin Luther King Jnr, Mother Theresea, Evangelist Ebuka Obi, President Nelson Mandela, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Dr. Kola Adesina, Dr. Joe Abah, Dr. Dele Momodu, Barr. Henry Ukazu and Miss Ginika Dike.
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
The Director-General (D-G) of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended Governor Alex Otti for the reforms she said are strengthening Abia State’s financial sustainability and driving economic transformation.
Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke in a virtual goodwill message at the 35th anniversary lecture marking the creation of Abia State, also urged the government to develop the “Made in Aba” label into a globally recognised brand.
The anniversary lecture under the theme, “The Rise of a New Abia,” was held on Wednesday at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.
The WTO D-G said the Otti administration has increased internally generated revenue (IGR), reduced the State’s dependence on Federation Account allocations and prioritised capital expenditure.
She also noted the State’s investments in infrastructure and improved electricity supply, as well as the settlement of inherited salary and pension arrears and reduction of its debt burden.
While acknowledging that more work remains to be done, Okonjo-Iweala expressed optimism that Abia could harness its potential to create jobs, prosperity and dignity for its people.
She said improved infrastructure, supportive policies and strategic investments in high-potential sectors could position the state within national, regional and global value chains.
Okonjo-Iweala specifically urged the government to build “Made in Aba” into a globally recognised brand while strengthening Umuahia as a light manufacturing and administrative centre.
Also speaking, the keynote speaker and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, said there was visible evidence of development in Abia since Otti assumed office in 2023.
Chidoka, however, said the ultimate test of the administration would be whether it could move Abia from having a capable governor to building a capable and sustainable state.
He said Otti’s emphasis on education is consistent with convictions he had expressed long before becoming governor, particularly in his 2014 book, Saving the Future.
Chidoka commended the consistent appropriation of 20 per cent of the State’s annual budget to education and expressed optimism that Abia could eventually become a reference point for good governance.
Meanwhile, Otti apologised to the Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU), community over the delayed implementation of approved demands by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which resulted in the union’s recent strike.
The governor described the strike as avoidable and warned that “heads will roll” if such bureaucratic lapses recur.
Otti said the demands presented by ASUU-ABSU were legitimate and had been approved by him months earlier, but expressed concern that the approval had not been implemented.
“ASUU went on strike about a week or two ago in Abia State University, Uturu. Their requests came to me. I looked at those requests, and they were legitimate requests, and I approved them.
“But months later, I’m not saying weeks, months later, I was to be told that, yes, you have approved. But it had not been implemented.
“So, I want to, on this podium, apologise to Abia State University as well. That strike was avoidable. And I’ve told my people, if it happens again, heads will roll,” Otti said.
The governor congratulated Abians on the state’s 35th anniversary, stressing that governance was not about an individual but about building sustainable institutions and improving on existing foundations.
He reiterated his commitment to education, explaining that his administration’s decision to abolish school fees, including in the state’s smart schools, was driven by his long-standing belief in the transformative power of education.
In a vote of thanks, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, called for the cooperation and support of Abians in sustaining what he described as the “rise of a New Abia.”
The event attracted members of the National Assembly, members of the State Executive Council, traditional rulers, members of the clergy and other dignitaries.
