The world is full of successful folks. It is often said that success has many brothers but failure has none. These individuals have what you should emulate.
1. Nicolai Calabria
Nicolai Calabrai practices perseverance, his perseverance not only changed his life but also the life of countless others.
In a sport where your feet are your most important tool, you would think two legs would be pretty darn important. Nico Calabria will make you think again. The 17-year-old one-legged soccer player just made headlines by scoring an amazing goal in his high school game, but blowing people’s minds on and off the field is far from new to this incredible kid.
2. Magret Ekpo
Magret Ekpo practices the act of meeting moral obligation. What do you think the world would be like if there were no people like Magret Ekpo? Magret Ekpo(1914-2006) was a Nigerian women's rights activist and social mobilizer who was a pioneering female politician in the country's First Republic and a leading member of a class of traditional Nigerian women activists, many of whom rallied women beyond notions of ethnic solidarity.[1] She played major roles as a grass root and nationalist politician in the Eastern Nigerian city of Aba, in the era of an hierarchical and male-dominated movement towards independence, with her rise not the least helped by the socialization of women's role into that of helpmates or appendages to the careers of males. Are there positive things you feel compelled to do? What are they? How could doing these things improve the world around you?
3. PASCAL DOZIE
Pascal Dozie practices doing what he can do to make things better. Mr. Pascal G. Dozie is the Co-Founder, Partner, and Non-Executive Partner at African Capital Alliance. He is the Founder of Kunoch Limited. He was the Founder of Diamond Bank PLC. Mr. Dozie served as the Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc. He served as the President at the Nigeria Stock Exchange. He served as the President of OON. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board at Kaizen Venture Partners. Mr. Dozie serves as the Chairman of MTN Nigeria Communications What do you consider to be your strong points? Describe a way in which you could use these great strengths or talent to make things better in your home, school and community.
4. Nelson Mandela
Practiced standing up for his belief. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
Born: July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa
Died: December 5, 2013, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa
Siblings: Lieby Piliso, Nothusile Bhulehluth, More
Awards: Nobel Peace Prize, Bharat Ratna, Gandhi Peace Prize,
Influenced by: Mahatma Gandhi, Walter Sisulu, Albert Lutuli
It is simply unacceptable to bully others and treat them as though their feelings don't matter. If you saw someone being bullied would you have the courage to stand up for him or her? How could you diffuse the situation without making it worse?
5. Harriett Tubman
Harriett Tubman practiced being reliable. Harriet Tubman was an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War. She was born in Maryland in 1820, and successfully escaped in 1849. Yet she returned many times to rescue both family members and non-relatives from the plantation system. She led hundreds to freedom in the North as the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for that purpose. Who are the people in your life you really trust and rely on? How have these people proven to be trust worthy and reliable in your eye
6. Dr. Christopher Kolade
He practices living by principle.
Career
He is a veteran broadcaster and sometime Director–General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He was Chief Executive and Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc and formerly the Nigerian High Commissioner to The United Kingdom. He was a colonial era Education Officer in Nigeria. Currently, he teaches Corporate Governance and Human Resources Management at Lagos Business School (LBS), and Leadership & Conflict Management at School of Media & Communication (SMC). LBS and SMC are both schools of Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. Formerly a member of the University’s Governing Council, Dr. Kolade as of 2012 was the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Pan-Atlantic University.Service
Dr. Kolade has served in many national and international bodies, having been President of- The Nigerian Institute of Management (1985–88),
- The Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (1988–93),
- The International Institute for Communications (1973 – 75)
- The World Association for Christian Communication (1975–82).
He was later appointed Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Board by President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria at 3 January 2012.
Kolade has promoted business integrity in Nigeria through his chairmanship of organisations such as Integrity Organisation Ltd. GTE and The Convention on Business Integrity Ltd. GTE
The best a man can ever live for is to leave the world better than he met it. What are your principle and beliefs about the world around you and how the world can be better? Do your actions reflect these principles?
7. Sidney Potier
He practices being honorable.
It has been 50 years since Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for best actor.
He won for his role in Lilies of the Field (he had also been nominated for best actor for The Defiant Ones five years earlier), and though it was a tremendous breakthrough in terms of diversity, it's also worth noting that when Ann Bancroft gave him a kiss on the cheek when presenting him with the Oscar, some people were offended.
That was the world in 1964, the world in which Poitier and everyone else of color lived. Whatever accomplishments they enjoyed did not erase the reality of racism that surrounded them.
Imagine you are with a group of friends and the begin to taunt a fellow student. How should you handle the situation as an honorable person? Have you ever been in a situation like that? What did you do?
8. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
She practices honouring principles of democracy.
Younger Years
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born on October 29, 1938, in Monrovia, Liberia. A graduate of the College of West Africa at Monrovia, she went on to receive her bachelor's degree in accounting from the Madison Business College in Madison, Wisconsin, a degree in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University.Early Political Career
After returning to Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf served as assistant minister of Finance in President William Tolbert's administration. In 1980, Tolbert was overthrown and killed by army sergeant Samuel Doe, who represented the Krahn ethnic group. Johnson Sirleaf went into exile in Nairobi, Kenya, as well as in the United States, where she worked as an executive in the international banking community.In 1985, Johnson Sirleaf returned to Liberia and ran for a seat in the Senate, but when she spoke out against Doe's military regime, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She served a partial sentence before moving to Washington, D.C. When she returned to her native country for a third time in 1997, it was as an economist, working for the World Bank and Citibank in Africa.
President of Liberia
After supporting Charles Taylor's bloody rebellion against President Samuel Doe in 1990, Johnson Sirleaf ran unsuccessfully against Taylor in the 1997 presidential election. Taylor subsequently charged Johnson Sirleaf with treason. In 2005, after campaigning for the removal of President Taylor, Johnson Sirleaf took over as leader of the Unity Party. That year, promising economic development and an end to corruption and civil war, she was elected to the Liberian presidency. When she was inaugurated in 2006, Johnson Sirleaf, or the "Iron Lady," as she was also known, became the world's first elected black female president and Africa's first elected female head of state.All citizens in a democracy share power by holding the right to vote. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said each generation in every country should define it's nations purpose and character. How can you do this? It is by enacting your right to vote.
9. Airbert Einstein
He practiced pursuing the common good.
- Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science
- Spouse: Elsa Einstein (m. 1919–1936), Mileva Marić (m. 1903–1919)
- Education: University of Zurich (1905).
10. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
He practices reporting wrong doings.
| Muhammadu Sanusi II CON |
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|---|---|
| Sanusi at the 2013 World Economic Forum | |
| Emir of Kano | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2014 |
|
| Preceded by | Ado Bayero |
| Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria | |
| In office 3 June 2009 – 2 June 2014 (suspended 24 February 2014) |
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| Preceded by | Charles Chukwuma Soludo |
| Succeeded by | Godwin Emefiele |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi 31 July 1961 Kano, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Spouse(s) | Sadiya, Maryam, and Rakiya |
| Relations | Muhammadu Sanusi (grandfather) |
| Residence | Kano, Nigeria |
| Alma mater | King's College Lagos Ahmadu Bello University International University of Africa |
| Profession | Banker |
| Religion | Sunni-Islam (Tijaniyya Sufi) |
| Awards | Central Bank Governor of the Year (2011) |
Speaking out against what we know is wrong is not always easy especially when people disagree with us. Sanusi has reported wrong doings to improve the Nigerian economy.
11. Thomas Edison
He practiced making things better.
| Born | February 11, 1847 Milan, Ohio, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | October 18, 1931 (aged 84) West Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | self educated with visits to the Cooper Union[1] |
| Occupation | Inventor, businessman |
| Religion | Deist (previously Congregationalist)[2] |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Stilwell (m. 1871–84) Mina Miller (m. 1886–1931) |
| Children | Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965) Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935) William Leslie Edison (1878–1937) Madeleine Edison (1888–1979) Charles Edison (1890–1969) Theodore Miller Edison (1898–1992) |
| Parent(s) | Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896) Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871) |
| Relatives | Lewis Miller (father-in-law) |
| Signature | |
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Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park", he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison was a prolific inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. More significant than the number of Edison's patents was the widespread impact of his inventions: electric light and power utilities, sound recording, and motion pictures all established major new industries world-wide. Edison's inventions contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures.
His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison developed a system of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York.
Consider the modern conveniences you enjoy in your life- television, computers, radios, cars, light e.t.c. What would your life be like without these inventions? How has Edison's advances in technology helped improved living conditions today? The answer is It has helped immensely.
12. Nkosi Johnson
He practices doing his share.
South Africa’s famous child Aids activist, Nkosi Johnson, was born with HIV and died at the age of 12 in 2001. At the time of his death, he was the longest-surviving child born with HIV in the country.
He was posthumously awarded the first KidsRights Foundation’s international Children’s Peace Prize in Rome in November 2001 for his efforts in support of the rights of children with HIV/Aids, and his legacy continues to live on through Nkosi’s Haven, which houses and supports HIV-positive mothers and children.
Nkosi rose to international prominence in July 2000 when he delivered his self-written address, televised worldwide, to 10 000 delegates at the 13th International Aids Conference in Durban.
“Hi, my name is Nkosi Johnson,” he began. “I am 11 years old and I have full-blown Aids. I was born HIV-positive.”
More than a statistic
Nkosi was born Xolani Nkosi on 4 February 1989 in a township east of Johannesburg. His mother, Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi, was HIV-positive and passed the virus on to her unborn child. He became a statistic: one of more than 70 000 children born HIV-positive in South Africa every year.Xolani was a fighter. He survived beyond his second birthday, unusual in HIV- infected babies. As the disease began to take its toll on Daphne, she and Nkosi were admitted to an Aids care centre in Johannesburg.
It was there that Gail Johnson, a volunteer worker, first saw the baby boy and his ailing mother.
“It was a very personal and mutual understanding,” Johnson said. “I had had a graphic encounter with an Aids death close to my family, and I wanted to do something more than just talk about it. And there was Nkosi. All I had to do was to reach out to him.”
Daphne readily agreed for Gail to become Nkosi’s foster mother.
“I know she loved me very much and would visit me when she could,” Nkosi said of his mother in his July 2000 speech.
“And then the care centre had to close down because they didn’t have any funds. So my foster mother, Gail Johnson, who was a director of the care centre and had taken me home for weekends, said at a board meeting she would take me home. She took me home with her and I have been living with her for eight years now.”
Daphne Nkosi died of an Aids-related illness in 1997.
“She went on holiday to Newcastle – she died in her sleep,” Nkosi said.
“And mommy Gail got a phone call and I answered and my aunty said, please can I speak to Gail? Mommy Gail told me almost immediately my mommy had died and I burst into tears.”
Fighting for school
Also in 1997, Gail Johnson attempted to enrol Nkosi – then eight years old – at a school in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville. When the boy’s HIV status was discovered, there was immediate opposition from teachers and parents.“Mommy Gail went to the school, Melpark Primary, and she had to fill in a form for my admission and it said does your child suffer from anything, so she said yes: Aids,” Nkosi said.
“My mommy Gail and I have always been open about me having Aids. Then she phoned the school, who said we will call you and then they had a meeting about me.
“Of the parents and the teachers at the meeting, 50% said yes and 50% said no.”
Gail went public with a complaint and won her case. Nkosi went to school.
“The Aids workshops were done at the school for parents and teachers to teach them not to be scared of a child with Aids,” Nkosi said. “I am very proud to say that there is now a policy for all HIV-infected children to be allowed to go into schools and not be discriminated against.”
Nkosi soon became a national figure in the campaign to de-stigmatise Aids, with provincial education departments across South Africa moving to draw up new policies.
Speaking to the world
His big moment came in July 2000, when he addressed delegates at the 13th International Aids Conference in Durban.A tiny figure in a shiny dark suit and sneakers, 11-year-old Nkosi Johnson held an audience of 10 000 delegates in occasionally tearful silence as he told his story.
“Care for us and accept us – we are all human beings,” he said at the conclusion of his speech. “We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else. Don’t be afraid of us – we are all the same.”
In October 2000 he took the same message to an Aids conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
“It is sad to see so many sick people,” he said. “I wish everybody in the world could be well.”
‘Half the size of nothing and still fighting’
But Nkosi was not well when he returned from the US. He had a quiet Christmas, and then collapsed. Diagnosed with brain damage, he had several seizures and became semi-comatose. Yet he hung on.“Look at him,” Gail told a local newspaper. “Half the size of bloody nothing and still fighting.”
Nkosi died at 5.40am on Friday 1 June 2001.
“We chatted about death … He had strong feelings about letting me down,” Gail said. “I told him I would miss him and no one could take his place.”
He was given a hero’s burial in Johannesburg in a funeral attended by thousands of mourners.
“It’s a great pity that this young man has departed,” former President Nelson Mandela told reporters. “He was exemplary in showing how one should handle a disaster of this nature.
“He was very bold about it and he touched many hearts.”
Taking the fight further
The story of Nkosi Johnson galvanised Aids-awareness campaigners.After the boy’s death, South African Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya acknowledged Nkosi’s contribution.
“We South Africans – and all others on this continent and in the world – have to learn to acknowledge and treat with humanity those who are living with Aids,” Skweyiya wrote in the Sunday Times.
“There can be no better monument to Nkosi, the child who has made us confront our frail humanity and our own deepest fears, than this.”
For all the misery Nkosi had to suffer, he was one of the lucky ones, according to Johnson. “He was accepted, he was loved.”
Part of his legacy lives on through Nkosi’s Haven, which has expanded to include projects in which people living with Aids are given care and employment in communal environments.
“At Nkosi’s Haven, all of our mothers and children, currently totalling approximately 160, live in total freedom at one of our two locations in Johannesburg,” the organisation’s website reads.
“Through all of the work we do, we ensure that our residents learn how to live with Aids, not die from it.
”He’s given Aids a face and allowed people who are still afraid of being associated with Aids to grieve openly,” Johnson said. “Most importantly perhaps, his fight and his bravery have given hope to many, many people.”
Completing chores at home is a great chance to do your share, after all you live there too. Pick a few duties and do them regularly. If you already have assigned chores, do them to the best of your ability and keep up the good work.
13. Kano Nwankwo
He practices being charitable.
Having undergone a surgical operation which he survived he decided to establish the Kano heart foundation.
The Kanu Heart Foundation was established to help underprivileged African children and young adults, living with different heart ailments in Nigeria and other African countries respectively, obtain the cardiac surgical operations needed.
Ever since the establishment of this foundation many souls have been resuscitated.
14. Dr. Okonjo Iweala
She practices giving support to make someone's life better.
Non-profit work
In 2007, Okonjo-Iweala's NGO, NOI Global Consulting, partnered with the Gallup Organization to introduce an opinion poll, the NOI poll, into the Nigerian polity.She is a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Okonjo-Iweala also serves on the Advisory Board of Global Financial Integrity[21] and on the board of directors of the World Resources Institute.In 2011 Ngozi Okonjo Iweala was called back to Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan to head the economic team as Nigeria's Finance minister. It was from this position that she contested the presidency of the World Bank. She received support for her ultimately unsuccessful campaign from a number of former World Bank employees and from publications including The Economist, The Financial Times and Newsweek, which said: "If competition follows normal process, Kim stands no chance [against Ngozi Okonjo Iweala]."
Nigeria's BusinessDay newspaper also published an article ("World Bank Presidency – a question of politics or ability?")by guest writer, Olu Omoyele, in which he states that Okonjo-Iweala's "credentials for the job are...outstanding" and added that "she has a well developed network of academic, political and economic relationships across the world which should aid her in dealing with the challenges an institution like the World Bank."
Dr. Okonjo Iweala reiterated "what i set to do is to find a profession where i could give back. What can you do now and the future to "give back" in some way or make another persons life better.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (born 13 June 1954) is a globally renowned Nigerian economist best known for her two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria and for her work at the World Bank, including several years as one of its Managing Directors (October 2007 – July 2011). She briefly held the position of Foreign Minister of Nigeria in 2006.
In 2007, Okonjo-Iweala was considered as a possible replacement for former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.[1][2] Subsequently, in 2012, she became one of three candidates in the race to replace World Bank President Robert Zoellick at the end of his term of office in June 2012.On 16 April 2012 it was announced that she had been unsuccessful in her bid for the World Bank presidency, having lost to the US nominee, Jim Yong Kim.
This outcome had been widely anticipated.However, this was the first contested election for World Bank president after the demise in 2010 of the Gentlemen's agreement that the US would appoint the World Bank president and Europe would appoint the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club, a group of bilateral creditors, to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debt (US$12 billion) in return for an $18 billion debt write-off. Prior to the partial debt payment and write-off, Nigeria spent roughly US$1 billion every year on debt servicing, without making a dent in the principal owed. However, following years of mismanagement under her watch, the combined domestic and external debt of the Federal Government is in excess of $40 billion by the end of 2014. Add to this the fact that abandoned capital projects littered all over the country amount to over $50 billion. No word yet on other huge contingent liabilities. If oil prices continue to fall, it was said that Nigeria will soon have a heavy debt burden even with low debt to GDP ratio.
Okonjo-Iweala also introduced the practice of publishing each state's monthly financial allocation from the federal government in the newspapers. This action went a long way in increasing transparency in governance. She was instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor's. Nigeria is considered to have defaulted on its sovereign debt in 1983 (debt rescheduling is considered a type of default by rating agencies).
Some controversy surrounded Okonjo-Iweala's appointment as Finance Minister, and that of Foreign Affairs minister, Olu Adeniji, United Nations over the payment of their salary in dollars. Okonjo Iweala and Olu Adeniji were paid US$240,000, compared with their own $6,000 base salary. The controversy was spearheaded by reform-minded media reports, although Okonjo-Iweala felt that her critics were unjustified because of the temporary nature of the payment, which came out of the donor-supported Diaspora Fund negotiated by the Nigerian government. On Friday, 20 July 2007, the Court of Appeal ruled that the salary payment was not done within the ambit of Nigeria's laws, and directed her and Adeniji to pay back the excess to the account of the state.
Both Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government of Nigeria have appealed the case to the Supreme Court, and judgement is pending. The appeal is on the basis that the appeal court made its judgment due to erroneous information provided to it that the Nigerian government was making the salary payments, when in fact it was not.
She resigned as Nigeria's Foreign Minister on 3 August 2006 following her sudden removal as head of Nigeria's Economic Team by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. She left that administration at the end of August 2006.
On 4 October 2007, World Bank President Robert Zoellick appointed her to the post of managing director, effective 1 December 2007.
In 2011, Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed as Minister of Finance with the expanded portfolio of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy by President Goodluck Jonathan. She took a lot of heat, more-so than any other government official for the unpopular fuel subsidy removal policy by the Nigerian government which led to Occupy Nigeria protests in January 2012.
During her confirmation as a Minister, she stressed the need to reduce the country's recurrent expenditure which is presently 74% of the National Budget and embark on capital projects which could improve the 14% unemployment rate in the country. In her role as the Coordinating Minister For the Economy and Minister of Finance, she has extensive influence/exercise to shape the direction of the Jonathan economic team and the transformation agenda.
This indubitably makes Okonjo-Iweala responsible for the success or failure of Mr. Jonathan's economic policies. Unfortunately, it is widely believed that things are not going well with Nigeria's economy. The country's foreign reserves instead of increasing is actually grossly below what Jonathan's administration inherited despite an average oil price of between $105 – $120 during this period. President Olusegun Obasanjo met about $5 billion in foreign reserves, and the average monthly oil price for the 72 months he was in office was $38, he left $43 billion in foreign reserves after paying $12 billion to write off Nigeria's external debt.
In an article a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and a world class economist, said that by his calculation, if the economy had been properly managed, the nation's foreign reserves, which now stand at about $30 billion, should have been between $102 and $118 billion and the exchange rate around N112 before the fall in oil prices towards the end of 2014. He said even with the fall in oil price, objectively, the reserves should be around $90 billion and exchange rate, not higher than N125 per US dollar.
Honors and awards
- Silverbird WoMan of the Year. 2012
- Time Europe Hero 2004[15]
- This Day Nigeria Minister of the Year 2004[15]
- Euromoney Magazine Global Finance Minister of the year 2005[15]
- Financial Times/The Banker African Finance Minister 2005[15]
- Nigerian of the Year 2006.[25]
- Honorary Doctorate from Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
- Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland.
- Honorary Doctorate from Colby College, Maine, USA.
- Honorary Doctorate from Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
- Honorary Doctorate from Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA.
- Who's Who in Anioma, 2011[citation needed]
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