Before I start to immerse myself in 2025 matters, let me briefly look back at a few individuals who excelled in different areas of endeavour in 2024…and bestow my own special awards on them.

HERO OF THE YEAR

Dele Farotimi, the fearless and uncompromising activist lawyer. He regularly launched verbal and written attacks on powerful people who deserved to be called out and wound up being jailed. He stands out from the crowd in a country that is full of cautious folks who are afraid of their own shadows and unwilling to fight for democracy.

GENTLEMAN OF THE YEAR

Peter Obi, the most popular politician in Nigeria. He won every major city in Southern Nigeria during the 2023 election but lost at the Supreme Court when he challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission for declaring Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner.

But he didn’t express much bitterness or throw a massive tantrum. He didn’t urge his legions of fans to hit the streets and protest.

Instead of making a whole heap of trouble (which is what I would have done in his shoes), he has calmly criss-crossed the country, donating money to various charities and needy communities.

Aggro is not his style. He reminds me of my late father.

WITTICISM OF THE YEAR

My friend, Tunde, has this to say about Peter Obi’s civilized modus operandi: “You can’t use fish hook to hunt for grass-cutter. Nigerian politics is a game of rugby. Table tennis players may not thrive and may even have to live with debilitating injuries and scars.

POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR

Nyesom Wike, the Minister for the Federal Capital Territory and former Governor of my home state, Rivers. Even if you hate Wike with a passion, you’ve got to admit that he is a skilled operator.

His methods would not work in a less flawed system, but they have worked extremely well in the Nigerian political arena.

Sure, things do not always go Wike’s way. He totally misjudged the character of Sim Fubara, the gubernatorial successor he assumed would meekly do his bidding, come what may. And he has hitherto failed to derail Fubara, who enjoys considerable support in our state.

Nevertheless, Wike is still riding high overall.

He continues to exert considerable control over the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, despite having allegedly sabotaged its electoral chances in 2023. He also has a firm grip on the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State…and is a major APC kingpin nationally. 

President Tinubu recently said that he doffed his cap to Wike. No other Minister has attracted such genuinely admiring flattery from the Oga At The Top…who is, himself, a master tactician.

SYCHOPHANTS OF THE YEAR

Pro-Wike PDP members. When Wike celebrated his birthday last month, he received official congratulations from some PDP officials.

In a goodwill message signed by spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP described Wike as an outspoken and selfless leader, “who embodies the PDP’s fighting spirit and firm resistance against injustice, abuse of process, violation of rules, divisiveness, suppression and anti-democratic tendencies in our country.”

According to the Ologunagba statement: “Over the years, as a local government chairman, Minister of the Federal Republic and now two-term elected governor of Rivers state, Governor Wike has distinguished himself as a relentless frontrunner in the quest for the unity, stability and development of our country.” 

Honestly, I respect Wike far more than I respect his adoring victims who are clearly suffering from Stockholm Syndrome!!!

Wike is doing what he is doing because he can…and because what he is doing is in his own best interests. What is the PDP’s excuse for allowing him to get away with it and even hailing him for getting away with it? It’s like watching a man toying with a mouse!!!

A Reader’s Letter

A reader called Uche sent me a thought-provoking email. Excerpts: 

“I and some like-minded colleagues want to start a people-centric movement focused on grassroots mobilisation and not for any candidate or political party.

“People need not be ready yet. We are not in a hurry either. It is a very long marathon and not a sprint. Our focus is not 2027.  Our focus is to re-engineer the mindset of Nigerians socially. Whether Obi wins or not in 2027, this is a project that must be done to restore the awareness of the ordinary Nigerian to the fact that power belongs to them, and if they will unite and stand up to any government or administration at any level they will win.

 “Just have a flashback to the 60s and 70s. Do you think the crop of Nigerian youths and adults that existed then would tolerate the kind of governance we’ve suffered in the last 10 years? I personally don’t think so. Something would have had to give. But with the current kind of Nigerians, there is nothing they cannot endure, sadly.

“I’m done putting my hope in the political class.  I’m not sure they can find a solution to this nexus of a conundrum called Nigeria in the next 20 years. They may find a solution in 2027. It is possible. But it is far from certain. If they don’t, 2031 offers another window, and 2035 offers yet another window. 

“But I have casually glossed over 10 years of hoping that some group of mostly criminal-minded people with a sprinkle of the outnumbered Ob-esque politicians will find a way to outsmart bloodthirsty hardened criminals who have secured the bag, the key, and the padlock. So, the earlier we began to look for other possible solutions, the better for us. At least, in 10 years, if the opposition politicians fail, we would be looking at people at all levels of society, from the Wards to the Federal, who are willing to take on the rascally government officials.”