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Redesigning & Unleashing Who You Are
By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“Who you are is related to where you came from. Many look, only a few see!” – Dr. Myles Munroe (of Blessed Memory)
Who Holds Ownership (Lordship) over your being determines what drives or controls you, and what you control would reveal who or what controls you; it would as well define and determine the categories of people you would be capable of influencing. Purpose is all about influence! Leadership is all about influence! Living is all about influence! Influence determines the levels of impacts a being or a thing has or would have for a course, and for a cause. You need to remember that sculptors look at work in a very interesting way. I am also an artist of sorts, so I have a bit of an understanding of how artists work. One thing I have learned is that you never argue with an artist until he is finished.
Don’t discuss anything with a painter or a sculptor until his work is completed. An artist can be very rude if you disturb him before he has accomplished what he intends to do, because he sees differently than those who are not artists. An artist can walk by the stone in your front yard and see a figure in it. He may stop by your house and beg you for a stone you have walked past many times without noticing. You may even have been planning to get rid of it because it’s nuisance. But the artist walks into your yard and sees something beautiful in that stone beyond what you can imagine.
Months later, when the artist invites you to his workshop he asks, “Do you see that? Do you know where that came from?” “Italy, England or France?” you asked. “No” says the artist. “it came from your yard.” “That’s from the stone I collected from your yard.” “Do you mean…?” “Yes.” One thousand Pounds, please.” You were sitting on £1,000. But you couldn’t see the potentials in the dirty rock. You never saw a “hero” in a “zero”. Therefore, the stone that was rejected by you has ended up becoming the chief-corner-stone.
YOU ARE NOT TRASH!
Many people are being passed by, under-rated, overlooked or ignored because others don’t see what is in them. But God has revealed to me what’s in me, and I strongly believe that it is in you too. I am charged to stop and inform you: “can you really tell what’s in you?” Do you know what carry is potential? Do you know that you are not just someone born in a slum? There’s a wealth of potential in you. There is a king in your kid. There is a hero in your zero. There’s a wealth of potential in you. There is a strength in your weakness.
Sculptors sees so differently. They use “insight” to create a “foresight”. A worthy exemplar in this context is Michelangelo. They say he used to walk around a block of marble for days – just walking around it, talking to himself. First, he would see things in the rock; then he would go and take them out by creating it from those pieces.
Insight like that of a sculptor is also seen in the Holy Bible. When the world dumps, rejects you and calls you trash, and you land on the dunghill (where the garbage heap of the world is found), God walks along and picks you up. He looks deep within you and see a person of great worth, whom He would use to glorify Himself by impacting the world around him or her.
Don’t ever permit anybody to throw you away nor call you trash. When God looks at you, He sees thing that everyone else ignores. God uses the foolish things of this world to teach the wise lessons. You are worthy so much that Jesus went to cavalry to salvage and reclaim you. The Spirit of God connected to your spirit is the only true judge of your worth. Don’t accept the opinion of others because they are blind enough such that they do see what God sees.
When God looks at you, He sees things that everyone else ignore. GOD LOOKED AND SAW… God looked at “dust” and saw Adam. God looked at Adam and saw a world. He looked at Abraham and saw many nations. In Moses the murderer, God saw a deliverer. Can you just imagine looking at a stammering young man and seeing one of the greatest leader in history? God looked at David, the Shepherd boy and saw a king. When the Israelites wanted a king, God had to send Samuel to the home of Jesse. When Jesse heard why Samuel was there, he dressed up all his sons – the handsome one, the tall one, the curly-haired one, the strong one, the muscular one. All the sons of Jesse twirled out before Samuel, from the greatest to the least. With his vase of anointing oil, Samuel watched Jesse’s show as he presented his sons, even as he read out their profiles one after the other. After the very fine speech, Samuel said, “No”. The next son came out dressed like Paulson Pat and God said, “NO”. A third son gave a fine speech about philosophy, and God said “No”. Finally, after Jesse had paraded all of his sons before him, Samuel said, “I am sorry. None of these is God’s choice for king.” Do you have any other sons, may be somewhere else? Then Jesse replied, “Yes…well no. I just remembered. I do have a little boy, my youngest son. He’s just a little runt who’s out taking care of the sheep. He’s not dressed up like my other sons, nor have his hands manicured and his body scented with perfumes from the East. This guy is really smelly, because he’s been out with the sheep for quite some time.” “Bring him,” Samuel replied. “Let me look at him”. So, Jesse sent for his youngest son. When Samuel saw Jesse’s youngest son walk into the house, a little boy, he began to unscrew the lid of his vase. “I think I found the guy I’m looking for,” Samuel said. (Please note that God chose the son who was working. He was busy. God chooses busy people.) Most of us are like Jesse. We look, but we don’t see. Were you the “black sheep” in your family? (you know God likes sheep). Has your family told you that you are a nobody? Have you been written off and put out and told so many times that you will amount to nothing that you have begun to believe it? Do you really feel like the black sheep?
You are probably the one God is waiting for in the house. God sees things deep within you that others can’t see. They look at you and see nobody; God looks at you and sees a worthwhile somebody. You may spend your whole life competing with others – trying to prove that you are somebody. You may spend your whole life competing with others – trying to prove that you are somebody – and you still feel like nobody. Be free from that today! Emancipate yourself from such mental slavery! You don’t have to live with that any longer. You don’t have to try to be somebody, because you are somebody with glorious worth. You need to remember that you came out of God. You were created in His Image and Likeness. So, it is an error on your part, to look down on who you are. When you look down on WHO you are, you are indirectly or unconsciously looking down on WHOM YOU ARE! Let your focus be on your CREATOR, not those that look down on you. Look up to the INVENTOR, not His INVENTIONS!
YOU CARRY GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. First, He decided what He wanted to make something out of and then spoke to that source. When God wanted plants He spoke to the dirt. When God wanted fishes, He spoke to the waters. When God wanted animals, He spoke to the ground. Whatever God spoke to became the source from which the created thing came. Plants thus came from the dirt, fish from water and animals from the ground. Furthermore, plants return to the dirt, fish return to the sea and animals return to the ground when they die.
All things have the same components and essence as their source. What God created is, in essence, like the substance from which it came. Not only are all things composed of that from which they came, they must also remain attached to their source in order to live. All things must be maintained and sustained by where they came from. The minute a plant decides it doesn’t like the earth anymore, it dies. The minute the fish decide they are tired of water, they die. The minute animals decide, “we don’t want to eat dirt anymore,” they begin to die. Thus, whatever God created came from that to which he spoke. All things were created by God’s word to a source. The source of the creation also becomes, the essence of that creation. All things are composed of whatever they came from, and hence contain the potential of that source. That means plants only have the potential of the soil. Animals only have the potentials of dirt.
But when God was about to created human beings, He spoke to Himself: “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, in Our Likeness…” So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image of God He created him, male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27)”
God created you by speaking to Himself. You came out of God and thus bear His Image and Likeness. Therefore, carry yourself with the consciousness that you are of GOD. You carry His DNA. Whatever operates in God works in you, for you and also through you to the glory of God Almighty, in the Highest! And whoever looks down on you should be ready to face the wrath of your Creator, because God poured Himself in you to manifest on Earth through you. You carry the wholeness of God! You are not of yourself, but of God Almighty! Therefore, who you are is related to where you came from. MANY LOOK, only a FEW see!
Thank you for reading.
Dr. Tolulope A. Adegoke is an accredited ISO 20700 Effective Leadership Management Trainer. E-mail: adegoketolulope1022@gmail.com
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has sent a veiled message to Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, saying support for President Bola Tinubu alone will not guarantee any election ticket.
Wike made the statement on Sunday during a public outing in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
His remarks were widely seen as directed at Governor Fubara, amid lingering political crisis in the State.
The former Governor of Rivers State said political loyalty must be tested during difficult times, not after power has been secured.
He mocked those he described as late supporters of President Tinubu, insisting that sudden alignment would not earn political rewards.
He said: “So the issue is not whether you are supporting Tinubu. That one, we have taken too long, long… Yes, oh. So Tinubu’s issue is not an issue again. Yes. Do you understand me? Yes. Tinubu’s issue is that nobody should be coming here to tell a day. We are for Tinubu; I am against you. Who is for Tinubu University? (laughs) That cannot give you any ticket oh! (laughs again) Direct, direct. It will not. Direction. Direction.”
Wike stressed that his political camp stood with Tinubu when the decision was unpopular. He said that support given under pressure carries more weight than alignment after victory.
He also recalled how the Rivers State House of Assembly openly backed Tinubu early, long before the election outcome was certain.
According to him, some of those now making public declarations were absent during the critical period.
“The same people now who came to declare, put them to God… But they should declare they are saying it for a candidate. Yes. Don’t you see characters? (laughs) So I send the sword far ahead of them.”
Wike further spoke on governance and continuity. He defended projects and agreements initiated during his tenure as governor. He said it is often difficult for successors to acknowledge past efforts, even though government is a continuous process.
His comments come weeks after Governor Fubara formally aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party of President Tinubu.
The move followed months of political crisis in Rivers State, which led to federal intervention and a declaration of emergency rule.
Political watchers believe Wike’s remarks constitute a direct response to Fubara’s recent positioning as a key Tinubu ally in Rivers politics. Critics argue that Fubara’s support surfaced only after the political storm had settled.
Wike, who remains a dominant force in Rivers State politics despite serving in Abuja, appears to have drawn a clear line ahead of the 2027 elections.
He suggested that political tickets would be decided by proven loyalty, not convenience.
Videos from the event in Rumuche, Emohua, spread rapidly on social media. Many users described the speech as a coded warning to the governor.
As of press time, neither the Rivers State Government nor Wike’s media team had issued an official clarification.
The comments, however, suggest that the political rift between both camps is still active, despite earlier peace moves brokered at the national level.
The opposition African Democratic Congress and the Labour Party on Sunday criticized President Bola Tinubu for departing Nigeria for Europe on holiday at a time the country is grappling with rising insecurity, including foreign military interventions in the North.
The Presidency announced on Sunday that Tinubu left Lagos for Europe for his end-of-year holiday ahead of an official visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he is scheduled to attend the 2026 edition of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit.
President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained that the trip was by invitation from His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to participate in the summit, which gathers global leaders from government, business, and civil society to advance sustainable development strategies.
“His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, has invited President Tinubu to participate in the 2026 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit, which will take place in the emirate early in January,” the statement read.
Reacting to Tinubu’s departure, the ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bola Abdullahi, faulted the timing as inappropriate given the security challenges facing the country.
The ADC noted the deadly terrorist bomb blast in Zamfara and the ongoing foreign military involvement, calling the President’s move insensitive.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s lack of care is alarming. In the wake of another deadly bomb blast in Zamfara, and following an unprecedented foreign military attack on Nigerian soil, the nation is waiting for reassurance from its leader. Instead, we learn the President has gone on holiday. What a President!” Abdullahi said.
Similarly, LP’s acting National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, described the trip as “insensitive and devoid of empathy” for Nigerians facing violent attacks and humanitarian crises.
Speaking through her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa, she stressed that the President should have remained in the country to coordinate security responses.
“This is the most inauspicious time for the President to leave the country. Even the Christmas holiday in Lagos seems ill-timed, given that a bomb exploded in Zamfara today, killing nine people,” Usman said.
She further alleged that Nigeria was under external attack and accused the government of downplaying the severity of the situation.
“Nigeria is under attack by a foreign nation. No matter how the government tries to frame this, it is a violation of our sovereignty. This is the time for the commander-in-chief to coordinate the response, not embark on a holiday,” Usman said.
She added that the President had not convened critical security meetings since the U.S.-led bombardment of terrorist camps in Kwara and Sokoto States and condemned the perceived lack of engagement with military leadership.
The President’s trip comes amid heightened security concerns. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump authorised AFRICOM to conduct airstrikes on terrorist camps in Sokoto State, hours before Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the operation. A deadly bomb blast in Zamfara on Friday claimed several lives.
The 17th edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will run from January 11 to 15 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre under the theme “The Nexus of Next: All Systems Go.”
The event aims to connect innovation, finance, and people to advance sustainable development.
Onanuga confirmed that Tinubu would return to Nigeria after the summit.
Hosted by Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy company, the summit will feature the invitation-only ADSW Summit, the World Future Energy Summit, the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony, and specialised sessions on hydrogen, climate finance, water security, and utilities in the Global South. Organisers expect more than 50,000 participants from over 170 countries, featuring over 700 global brands and exhibitions of emerging clean technologies.
The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, noted that ADSW 2026 builds on two decades of the UAE’s leadership in renewable energy.
Tinubu previously attended the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2025, where he held meetings with Gulf investors and officials on trade, energy cooperation, and climate finance.
Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu has undertaken at least 46 foreign trips, spending an estimated 192 days abroad as of October 2025. In 2025 alone, he travelled internationally no fewer than 15 times to countries including Ghana, the UAE, Tanzania, France, Italy, Saint Lucia, Japan, and Brazil for summits, bilateral engagements, and holidays.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Ever wondered how one sleeps and wakes up? Ever wondered where the spirit goes while we sleep? The answer is hidden in mysteries because life, and by extension, existence, is full of mysteries.
On a personal note, I do believe that whenever we sleep, we are basically practicing how to die because no one knows the whereabouts of the spirit and souls. All we know is that we wake at the break of dawn, or when there’s a stirring, either naturally or artificial. That is a mystery!
Have you also ever imagined how a man will have sexual intercourse with a lady and a child is born? Have you also ever wondered about the mystery surrounding death? Have you also imagined how human beings fall in love with the opposite sex despite various variables. Again, each time I fly in the air, I begin to wonder about the invention surrounding the aeroplane. So many questions begging for answers. The mysteries surrounding life is inexhaustible.
For the benefit of hindsight, life is indeed a mystery. Sometimes, we think we understand it, and other times, it humbles us with its complexities. Life can be likened to a woman; the more you try to understand them, the more confused you become.
I had to give this introductory analysis to buttress the significance surrounding the mysteries of life. Why do I say this? Nothing is permanent in life, and as such anyone can be great and successful tomorrow. In my native Igbo (Nigerian) language, we have a saying that “nobody knows the stomach that will birth a king tomorrow”, and “tomorrow is pregnant”. These are evidence of the mysterious nature of life.
In my journey through life, I have met angels and devils in human form, who have played different roles in shaping my thoughts and outlook towards life. While I thought certain people will bring smiles to my life, they turned around to make me question their intentions and mindset. But the people I had some reservations with turned out to be some of the best things that have happened to me. For instance, I have a dear friend turned brother, whom I hold in high esteem. His name is Sodeeq Sulyman. He is the Chief Operating Officer of my company.
As a matter of fact, today is his birthday. He met me on X and reached out to me to be his mentor. I was literally humbled because that was the first time someone was making a firm request of me. I gladly accepted the request, and today our friendship, brotherhood and relationship has truly blossomed. This young man is literally one of the best things that has happened to my life. If I was told he will change the outlook of my life, business and life generally, I wouldn’t have believed it.
But as my late mother would always say, when you meet people just take the good part and leave the bad part. In all sincerity, I strongly believe our meeting was predestined, and mysterious if the circumstance of our meeting is x-rayed.
Here is the message, never look down on anyone except you are helping them to do something or pick something. Another message is don’t give up on anyone because you don’t know what tomorrow will unfold. Even the Bible book of life states in Proverbs 118:22, “the stone which the people rejected has become the cornerstone”. So, it’s instructive for one to be kind, courteous and humble in relationship with human beings because nobody knows what life will unfold tomorrow.
Imagine, if I had not treated this young man very well or even accepted him, I would probably have met other minds, who would have given me an experience of a lifetime I wouldn’t forget in a hurry.
The mystery of life can be seen in wealth creation. A man of means today can become a beggar tomorrow if the wealth is not properly managed, and the child of a certified pauper can become a man of means tomorrow. There have been stories of wealthy men whose children mismanaged their parents’ and became hungry, while slaves of wealthy men became stupendously wealthy. What does that tell you? Nothing is guaranteed in life. I often wonder how people take life very seriously thinking everything is about them. They don’t even know they can sleep and not wake up the next morning, nor are they aware of the fact that pride and ego are the two greatest enemies that can fast track the downfall of a man, while humility can jump-start their elevation.
As human beings sometimes, we wonder where our next meal will come from. Where would our next business, money, spouse, opportunity come from are some of the questions that bug our minds? One might have a business that has little or no hope of succeeding, but with determination and favour from God, the business will turn around for good.
On a personal note, I have been in a scenario where I lost hope of succeeding or moving to the next round, but I was surprised when the universe came through in ways and manners I couldn’t comprehend. I believe we all have one story or another to share as it relates to the mysteries of life. I can vividly recall when my late dad was very sick in the hospital. As a matter of fact, he was adjudged to be the sickest patient in the hospital. The doctor who was treating him said, he lost his mother to the exact sickness my late dad was facing. But with prayer, my late dad was able to survive to the amazement of everyone. He was later adjudged to be a miracle patient because he was given a slim opportunity to survive.
I don’t know what your storyline might be nor do I know what you are experiencing in your academic, business, health, career, or family life. One message I have for you is that nothing lasts forever. If you give it time, one day you’ll laugh and thank God for the experience and lessons life has offered you because life is a mystery one may not understand. It unfolds as it chooses.
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 Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
