THE CROSS

In shadows deep, on Calvary’s crest,

A symbol stands, where souls find rest.

The Cross of Christ, with love engraved,

Where humankind was gently saved.

Upon this wood, in pain He lay,

A sacrifice, to light our way.

Thorns on His brow, a crown of grief,

Yet through His loss, we find relief.

Nails pierced His hands, His feet so pure,

For sins of ours, He did endure.

In agony, His love shone bright,

Turning darkest night to light.

Each drop of blood, a price so dear,

Redeemed our hearts, dispelled our fear.

In His embrace, we find our worth,

Through His great love, rebirth.

The Cross, a bridge from death to life,

Ending all our worldly strife.

In Christ’s embrace, we’re wholly free,

Forever bound in His mercy.

 

NO LIMITS

No walls can bind the faithful heart,

In Christ, no dream can fall apart.

Beyond the sky, beyond the seas,

We walk with God, with boundless ease.

No mountain high, no valley low,

Can halt the soul that seeks to grow.

Through storm and sun, through night and day,

With faith in Christ, we find our way.

Our spirit’s free, our vision clear,

In Jesus’ love, no place for fear.

With every step, with every flight,

We trust in Him, our guiding light.

In every challenge, strength we find,

In God’s embrace, no ties can bind.

We rise, we fall, we rise again,

With Christ our Lord, our path is plain.

For in our hearts, the truth is known,

In God’s great love, we’re never alone.

We are the dream, we are the flame,

In endless skies, we praise His name.

Navigating Leadership; 4 challenges that leaders face

 

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Leadership can be challenging due to various factors like navigating diverse personalities, making tough decisions, managing conflicts, fostering team cohesion, and adapting to changing circumstances. These challenges require strong communication, empathy, resilience, and strategic thinking to effectively lead and inspire others towards a common goal. However, the responsibility and accountability that come with leadership roles can add pressure and complexity to the job resulting in loneliness, being misunderstood, being criticized, and creating a feeling of abandonment in leaders. These are the four challenges I’ll be discussing in this article and how they can be dealt with.

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1. 1. Loneliness is a silent struggle that many leaders face, despite being surrounded by teams and colleagues, leaders often carry the weight of decision-making and responsibility on their shoulders. This sense of isolation can arise from the need to maintain a certain level of professionalism and distance, making it difficult for leaders to confide in others or seek support when facing personal or professional challenges. Additionally, the pressure to always project strength and confidence can exacerbate feelings of loneliness, as leaders may fear showing vulnerability or admitting uncertainty. It's essential for leaders to actively seek out support networks, mentors, or peers who can provide guidance, perspective, and emotional support to help mitigate feelings of loneliness and prevent burnout.

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2. 2. Being misunderstood can hinder effective leadership, when their intentions, decisions, or communication style are misinterpreted, it can lead to confusion, mistrust, and disengagement among team members. This misalignment can arise from various factors, including differences in communication styles, cultural backgrounds, and individual perspectives. Additionally, the complexity of leadership roles often means that leaders must balance competing priorities and consider various stakeholders' needs, which can sometimes result in misinterpretation or miscommunication.

To address this challenge, effective leaders prioritize transparent and open communication, actively listen to their team members' concerns, and seek feedback to ensure that their messages are understood clearly. They also strive to build trust and rapport with their teams, fostering an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and opinions openly. By proactively addressing misunderstandings and clarifying their intentions, leaders can strengthen relationships, build cohesion within their teams, and ultimately enhance their effectiveness as leaders.

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3. 3. Criticism is an inevitable part of leadership. Constructive criticism can provide valuable feedback for growth and improvement, but dealing with negative or unwarranted criticism can be emotionally taxing and potentially detrimental to morale and productivity.

Effective leaders must develop resilience and a growth mindset to navigate criticism effectively. They need to differentiate between constructive feedback that can help them improve and unfounded criticism that may stem from personal biases or misunderstandings. Additionally, leaders should strive to maintain professionalism and respond to criticism with grace and humility, demonstrating a willingness to learn and grow from the experience.

Moreover, fostering a culture of open communication and feedback within their teams can help leaders address concerns or misunderstandings before they escalate into criticism. By creating an environment where team members feel empowered to voice their opinions and concerns constructively, leaders can mitigate the impact of criticism and strengthen relationships within their teams.

4. Feeling of abandonment can arise when leaders perceive a lack of support or loyalty from their team members or superiors. This can stem from various factors such as team members not fulfilling their responsibilities, colleagues not offering assistance when needed, or superiors not providing the necessary guidance or resource.

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Leaders who experience feelings of abandonment may struggle with trust issues, as they may question the commitment and dedication of those around them. This can lead to heightened stress, feelings of isolation, and a sense of being overwhelmed by the responsibilities of leadership.

To address this challenge, leaders should actively cultivate a supportive and collaborative environment within their teams. Building strong relationships based on trust and mutual respect can help alleviate feelings of abandonment and create a sense of solidarity among team members. Additionally, leaders should communicate openly with their superiors about their needs and concerns, seeking guidance and support when necessary. By fostering a culture of support and accountability, leaders can navigate the challenges of leadership more effectively and build stronger, more resilient teams.

Leadership just like everything else is not without its challenges, but by acknowledging and addressing them head-on with courage and boldness, leaders can overcome obstacles and make a real impact within their organization and society.

 

BE ON TRACK

 

Written by Yara-Ija Happiness Israel

E

very individual  was born to follow a path or trajectory of rectitude by the creator which is either realized or marred through  parental nurturing, environment , home ,communities and country . There is no perfect home, environment or community in life but staying focused on your dreams, aspirations and ambitions can bring out that inert potential that will project you to greatness.

Why are you thinking of being a copy of who you are not and a pseudo self instead of the original form that has been made from the beginning. You will discover that much more time and effect will be invested in this endeavor that might turn out to be counterproductive.

It is not disputable that there are positive role models in life, but the fact still remains that staying on track and imbibing good attributes from role models keeps you on course.  

The place or person you are wishing to be has paid his or her dues to be there.

Your wishes or desires of a wealthy home, flourishing environment , best communities or city  and well developed country like china, USA, Germany, France, UK and so on are all good aspirations which should be backed up with hard work, focus on goals and divine providence.

However, everyone wants to be in a flourishing and well developed  environment because, it is believed that physically, mentally, socially and psychologically, environment plays an important role in the development of person in the society. Yes! For some people that is their belief, for others, well its not.

Whether the environment is developed or undeveloped, it's not relevant. Just make the best of it. History has it that some very great men and women grew up from very lowly backgrounds and obscure places.

The natural principle of the right track of life.

Thus, one of the greatest frustrations in life is to see potentials die, in the society or street of wealthy people or nation.

Many people with great potentials never realize what they have in them because they did not understand the right track of life. Everything that was created natural and made by synthetic knowledge was ALL made by the principle of being on tract and staying to see it through. There is no celebration for unproductive people but for achievers,  

 I appeal to young boys, ladies, men, women, mothers, fathers   and all to abide by the principle of staying of tract for the  fulfillment of their purpose in life. Every driver that drives on the road have track of movement with respect to conventional symbols on the road, to enable him or her   to move  on the right track of movement and to his or her destination . You as a person are you on the right track of life or are you just living life to chance or wishing to be other people?

There are so many people moving on the wrong track of life. Please brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, mummies and daddies you need to be on right track of life.

Not everyone is on the right track of life. Please believe in yourself and follow Gods leading and you will be better off.

If we were to indicate with the following symbols which one will be yours?

Green signal shows you're on the right track of life, but if your life signal shows Red signal, that means you are the wrong track of life.

The question here? What is your life signal?

v 
Is your life showing GREEN SIGNAL?    

v 
Is your life showing RED SIGNAL?      

 

 

 

 

ABORTION NOT A TROUBLE FREE SOLUTION

Written by Faith Benjamin

In 2007 global study reported that in 2003 there were an estimated 42 million induced abortions worldwide. Women who have abortion come from every race and nationality, from a variety of religious background and from every level of income, education and age between puberty and menopause.

Today women seek abortions for a variety of reasons, ranging from financial problems or to failed, perhaps abusive relationships that results in their not wanting any further tie with the man or the pregnancy may simply not fit into the plans of the woman or couple.

Regardless of the situation, usually the decision to terminate a pregnancy deliberately is not an easy one. It is often intensely painful but the question comes, is abortion a trouble free solution?

Research study shows that 331 Russian and 217 American women who did abortion revealed that about half of both groups felt bad after the abortion. Since guilt is such a pervasive problem even among those who do not consider themselves religious why do so many young women still have abortions?

The answer is many young women often come under intense pressure to have an abortion. Pressure from parents, a mate, or well meaning friends may encourage abortion as a lesser of two evils which can lead to hasty, ill informed decision.

An expert on the mental-health risk of abortion said “Women’s cognitive abilities return to normal after an abortion often ushering in feelings of pronounced guilt, sadness and regret.

This regard often centers on the question: Did the abortion terminate a life that already existed?

A report by the South Dakota task force to study abortion concluded that many pregnant women considering an abortion “were mislead into thinking that nothing but ‘tissue’ was being removed and relate that they would not have had an abortion if they were told the truth. Many women are angered by grief at the loss of a child they were told never existed” the psychological harm of knowing she killed her child is often devastating. Making the women live in guilt and pain. This shows that abortion is not a trouble free solution. Many people ask questions like does an abortion merely remove some tissue from a pregnant woman’s body? Is an unborn child actually a living person while in the womb? 

These questions are food for thought to answer, these questions will be dealt with in my next article; Human Life.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) ABOUT KEN IDEHEN INNOVATION INSTITUTE

From my previous post titled "9 Reasons why you should attend Ken Idehen Innovation Institute" I have received a lot of emails about the school. I took out time to go through the emails, here are answers to the questions that were asked; 

1. Is your school registered?

Ans: Yes! We are duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and registration with our regulatory body NBTE is currently ongoing and soon we will have that.

 2. What assurances do I have that my certificate will be accepted anywhere it is presented?

Ans: We have affiliation with one of the polytechnics in Port Harcourt that has full accreditation under whose umbrella our students can go for NYSC and their certificate is recognized any where it is presented

 3. What makes your school stand out among others within the region?

Ans: All our courses are practical; our students don't only learn the theory, we focus more on teaching them the practical aspects of their various courses. Also, we have partnership with other organizations for both practical and Industrial Training (IT) purposes

 4. So I can go for IT after my program?

Ans: Yes! We have partner organizations that take our students for IT

 5. What kind of certificate will I graduate with after my program?

Ans: You will graduate with NID (OND), HNID (HND), NVC, PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA, etc.

 6. What courses do you offer?

Ans: Our courses include: Software Engineering, Mass Communication, Business Administration, Shipping and Export Management, Marine Engineering, Accounting, Building Technology, Hotel and Tourism Management, Fashion and Design, Agriculture, etc 

 7. Can I offer short courses?

Ans: Yes, we have short courses of 3 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and even one year. You can take short courses on Catering and hospitality services, Hardware installations, maintenance and repairs, CCTV installations, maintenance and repairs, wood work and carpentry, film production and video editing, photography and photo editing, make up and gele tying, etc

 8. What are the criteria for admission into KIII?

Ans: the criteria for admission includes; O level result, birth certificate,  Acceptable means of ID (National ID, Driver's license, Voter's card, etc.), LGA ID, two reference letters, 4 passport sized photographs

 9. But it’s expensive, I won’t be able to afford it

Ans: We are one of the cheapest private institution in the country with our 80% scholarship program. Even the underserved in the society can have a university education.

 

9 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND KEN IDEHEN INNOVATION INSTITUTE (KIII)

Ken Idehen Innovation Institute (KIII) is a private owned innovation institute in Port Harcourt. It is soon to become one of the leading innovation institutions in Nigeria because of its keen interest in innovative and practical education. An institution which is currently undergoing the process of accreditation by the NBTE which is the governing body regulating technical institutions. 

Established in 2019 with the vision of solving the educational need of the society through its core values which hinges on excellence, innovation and value creation for the Nigerian people. The institution has been in session for about two years and is set to conduct her maiden edition of Matriculation/convocation ceremony on the 30th of April, 2022. 

The school which is located at 23 Harmony Road 2, Off Odani Elelenwo, Port Harcourt has very beautiful and comfortable classrooms with qualified lecturers is equipped with state of the art equipment for practical classes. 

Below are nine major reasons why you should attend KIII for your OND, HND, PD and NVC;

 

1. It’s the cheapest in the region offering 80% scholarship. The school offers 80% scholarship to underserved youths and low income earners in the society. 
2. 

   It is innovative with all their courses being practical in nature. The courses offered in the school are designed to teach its students the practical aspects of the courses that they offer 
   
3. NYSC is a guarantee for her students. Due to its affiliation with one of the leading polytechnics in the region, her students can participate in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme 
4. They provide their students with IT placements. As part of its value creation strategy, the school has partnerships with organizations for Industrial Training (IT) placements for its students 
5. Their learning environment is quiet, peaceful and conducive. The school is located within a peaceful and serene environment with conducive and state of the art learning equipment to make learning fun and easy for both the students and lecturers 
6. 
   They have good hostel accommodation for those coming from distant places. The school provides hostel accommodation for students coming from distant places in a safe, secure and comfortable environment 
   
7. They offer short vocational courses. KIII does not only offer OND and HND courses, they also offer short courses which last for three weeks, three months, and six months. 
   
   
8. 
   You don't need any jamb result to be admitted into the school. With your O' level result, you can gain admission to offer of our courses. For some of our vocational courses, O’ level result is not also requirement. 
9. All its exams are online Computer Based Examinations. All KIII exams are computer based examinations

To get enrolled into Ken Idehen Innovation Institute, see flyer below for more details