People Of The Year 2016 by Hannatu Musawa

PERSON OF THE YEAR 2016: PRESIDENT ELECT, DONALD.J TRUMP The greatest single news event of 2016 took place on November 9 when the American electorate went to the polls to cast their votes to determine who will emerge as the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. Having emerged from the most bitter and contentious election campaign in living memory, a Democratic, Hilary Clinton and Republican, Donald Trump submitted themselves to the voting process in a bid to decide who would become The President of the United States of America.
With scandal after scandal bedevilling each of the candidates, by all odds the more polarizing figure was Billionaire Donald Trump. During the campaigns, Mr Trump had reaped on the
harvest of an audacious, defiant, repugnant, divisive policy he had pursued for much of the time. He had used bigoted and discriminatory language to describe minorities. He had been chauvinistic towards women. He had presented himself as a thoughtless uninformed Yob before the eyes of a horrified and apparently impotent world. He had been shockingly vile and as a result, had trailed horribly in almost every opinion poll.
Almost all his actions and utterances were shocking to the world, but nothing was as terrifying as the prospect of where he would take his international policy in the backdrop of an already divided and distressed world.
When the man won an improbable victory that almost no one saw coming, Donald Trump, without doubt, became 2016’s Man of the Year. And he did it in a populist way; totally in an unexpected, original and unique way. One may not think that his winning person of the year is particularly a positive one. But the person of the year is someone who had the most effect on world events, positive or negative. And no one has had that more than Donald Trump. In the past when he had not won, he behaved like a baby and tweeted, “The Time Magazine list of the 100 Most Influential People is a joke and stunt of a magazine that will, like Newsweek, soon be dead… Bad List!”
Perhaps he should have won the child of the year back then. With an opposite reaction, upon hearing that he had won, Donald Trump gave an interview saying, “Well, it’s a great honour. It means a lot. Especially, me, growing up reading Time Magazine. It’s a very important magazine. I’ve been lucky enough to be on the cover many times this year and last year. But I consider this a very great honour.”
It is inarguable that he is the person of the year. There has been a potpourri of people whom have graced the cover of the magazine. And not all of them have been necessarily positive. Back in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi was person of the year. In 2007, Vladimir Putin was the person of the year. In 1939 and 1942, Joseph Stalin was announced person of the year for both years. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini was person of the Year. In 1938, Adolf Hitler was person of the year. And Barack Obama was announced person of the year in 2008 and 2012. One does not have to like the person of the year; they just have to think that they are consequential. And, this year, that is inarguably Donald Trump!
NIGERIAN OF THE YEAR 2016: THE FACELESS NIGERIAN PEOPLE.
Earlier in the year, the Nigerian government announced that the country was going through a recession. This was marked by the general downturn in the economy where there was high unemployment, slowing gross domestic product, and high inflation. As usual, Nigerians intercepted this period of general economic decline, increase in unemployment, and a general rise in the prices of goods and services over a period of time, with bravery.
In every corner of the country, Nigerians toiled, accepted their new normal and creatively looked ahead in the hopes of a better day. Whether it’s increased inflation, where the percentage of goods and services that can be purchased with the same amount of money decreases, the Nigerian woman continued to display her wares in the market. Whether it’s reduced consumer confidence or reduced real wages, where falling real wages means that a worker’s pay check is not keeping up with inflation, the Nigerian worker kept his daily appointment at the office. There is no doubt that the country is going through the most challenging time of recent history… but the Nigerian citizen continues to patiently persevere.
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR 2016: MR. SAM OMATSEYE
Mr. Sam Omatseye’s articles in The Nation Newspaper and several other print and online forums are informative, enjoyable and give a deep understanding into any of the topics he chooses to write on. I find his incisive scrutiny and factual interpretation of news, thought provoking and, as such, often find myself referring to his column to get his perception on several subject matters. He is presently one of Nigeria’s most brilliant writers and his objectivity, to me, is essential and extremely refreshing.
BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016: BORN A CRIME: STORIES FROM A SOUTH AFRICAN CHILDHOOD BY TREVOR NOAH
Shocking, depressing and hilarious, Trevour Noah’s autobiography gives the reader insight into life in South Africa under Apartheid. Through his life story, the book takes one into a journey during and into the post- apartheid era in the 1990s. Mr. Noah’s accounts are visceral, deeply personal memoirs about the crime of being born “half-white, half-black” in a country where his birth was a legally criminal violation; punishable by five years in prison.
The son of a Xhosa mother and a Swiss-German father, Mr. Noah recalls that, “the only time I could be with my father was indoors:” “If we left the house, he’d have to walk across the street from us.” It was dangerous, as a light-skinned child, to be seen with his mother as well: “She would hold my hand or carry me, but if the police showed up she would have to drop me and pretend I wasn’t hers.”
There’s nothing exaggerated about this claim. He simply wasn’t meant to exist in apartheid South Africa. For most of his early childhood, the current host of The Daily show was hidden in order to shield him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away.
The intrigue of the over-the-top actions his mother took to keep him hidden from the government and to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life is heart wrenching. Finally freed by the end of Apartheid, the mother and son lived freely and embraced the prospects, which had opened up through the centuries-long struggle.
The relationship between mother and son is endearing as is the story of a rascally young boy struggling as he grows up in a world where he was never supposed to exist. The writing is deep, exciting and funny.
VIDEO CLIP OF THE YEAR 2016:
This clip of the American First Lady, Michelle Obama having an interview with The Late, Late Show’s James Corden as they sang Carpool Karaoke together with Missy Eliot is my favourite video clip of the whole year. Michelle Obama is my favourite first lady of all time and her grace, spirit and wit makes her very relatable to the ordinary man on the street. She used her platform to take on several of her own positive initiates but at the same time she had a great sense of humour and kept a sense of normalcy.
We’ve grown to love the Obamas as if they were a part of our own families. We’ve watch their daughters blossom into young adults, we’ve seen Obama himself gray while still retaining his signature smile and wit and we’ve seen Michelle captivate the World with her charm.
She made it look like living in the White House was just a normal thing. Whenever she made television appearances like this clip, she always felt unscripted, casual and sincere.
SONG OF THE YEAR 2016: “HELLO BY ADELE”
While I was unable to relate to the lyrics of this song, this provocative and emotion filled piece leaves me feeling hypnotized and strangely inspired whenever I listen to it. I could listen to this one track for hours. Adele is, without doubt, one of the most gifted, creative and prolific songwriters of this generation