FLASHPOINT: My 2022 Review

2022 is indeed an interesting year. Like every other year, we experienced the good, bad and ugly.

In Nigeria, it was the year preceding the presidential election so lots of drama and tension were expected.

All eyes were on the leading All Progressive Congress and Peoples Democratic Party to see who they will present as their presidential candidates. I remember telling someone vividly that in a free and fair contest, Bola Tinubu will emerge as the candidate of the APC and Atiku Abubakar as the candidate of the PDP and my reasons are not far-fetched. These two men are battle-tested in the political space and they have a way of getting things done.

At the end of the day, I was proven right as both men emerged as the presidential candidates of the party. For years many Nigerians have been clamoring for a third force, a party to break the duopoly of the APC and PDP. We got the answer this year as the coming of the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi has energized the election. His crowd of supporters christened the obidients to change the narrative of the election.

However, it also came with toxicity and cyberbullying never experienced in the history of the country. It gave birth to cyber terrorism as people were bullied and terrorized for their political choices. I can’t just wait for the Presidental election to come and go so that we can move on with our lives.

No doubt, the presidential election will be our most interesting and credible yet thanks to the innovations of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The signing of the amended electoral act by President Muhammadu Buhari was indeed a game changer. I expect to see the freest, fair, and most credible elections in the history of the country.

We also have our fair share of security challenges this year. The most notable of all was the attack on the Kaduna – Abuja train by bandits. Some persons were killed and over 30 persons were kidnapped. Although all of them have been released, it’s an experience we don’t want anyone to go through again. The last batch of kidnapped victims spent close to 6 months in the hands of the kidnappers. I don’t want to imagine what those people are going through right now.

We also had some jailbreaks this year and the highlight was the Kuje Prison jailbreak where hardened Boko Haram insurgents were released. Some months after, I have not heard of people being sacked or resigning voluntarily because of their incompetence. But this is Nigeria – nobody ever resigns.

Sadly also, many Nigerians lost their lives due to the rampaging activities of bandits. There was a period every day we have gory tales of bandits killing and kidnapping people.

The South East was not left of the killing spree this year. It was the year of the unknown gunmen in the region. Criminals hiding under the guise of enforcing sit-at-home orders in the southeast on Mondays have made businessmen lose millions of naira. Hundreds of people have also been killed by these so-called unknown gunmen.

It was a year the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) embarked on two policies many see as an affront to politicians ahead of the general elections. The redesign of the naira and the cash withdrawal limit. Ironically, the two policies were wholly endorsed by President Buhari.

It was also a year of the World Cup with Lionel Messi fulfilling his lifelong ambition of winning the World Cup. With the World Cup, he firmly etched his name as one of the greatest players to play football. His world cup victory effectively ended the debate on who is a greater player between him and his eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

It was also a year when Pele regarded as the greatest-ever player to play the game of football passed on at the age of 82.

The world’s greatest-ever football player succumbed to death after suffering a debilitating bout of cancer. He won three World Cups and scored over 1,281 goals, becoming the original football icon in a long career for which he was named the “Player of the Century” in the year 2000.

Personally, it was the year I lost my mother, one of the saddest moments in my lifetime. She died on April 1st. It was a cruel joke to all the family members.

As we get ready for the presidential election in less than 2 months, I am not expecting any surprises in the election. Like they say in sports, let the best man win.