because they come with way too much controversy and it’s almost always
impossible to find two people who agree on any single list. But I’ve
always been a huge fan of Barbara Walters’ 19 year old annual television show; 10 Most Fascinating people. She
usually gets people talking with whom she puts at the top. In 2011, she
had The Kardashian Family at number 1. Americans cried blue murder. The
year after, she had the Director of the CIA David Petraeus as number 1,
even though he left office that year controversially. So when I saw her list for 2014 with Amal Clooney,
(lawyer and wife of George Clooney) as her number 1 most fascinating
person, I smiled. It was another unexpected decision. But as with every
year, you can kind of see why she’d go with that choice.
So I toyed with the idea of my own list of 10 Most Fascinating Nigerians of 2014. And no, I do not plan to go for any shock factors with my number 1. Feel free to disagree though.
Here goes…
10) ALHAJI AHMADU ADAMU MU’AZU
ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and suddenly, the opposition All
Progressives Congress (APC) realized it wasn’t going to be an easy ride
for them. He completely revamped the party this year, brought some sense
of sanity to the way things are run there and most of all, stayed
likeable by most Nigerians; an almost impossible feat to achieve as the
head of the PDP. Many think he’ll run for president in 2019.
9) TOKE MAKINWA
Or Mrs. A like she sometimes calls herself, had a phenomenal year and
what makes it even more interesting is the fact that she almost did it
by inventing her own rules. She ran a weekly video blog that grew her
fan base immensely, attended every event possible and looked flawless
while at it, entertained Lagosians on radio in the mornings, pretty much
turned her Instagram page to an ad space for people in the fashion
industry, and most importantly, completely blocked out whatever negative
talk there was about her.
She got married at the start of the year and hasn’t looked happier ever since. I still don’t get how she never looks tired.
8) DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN
Our dear First Lady has been one of our favorite people since her
husband took office in 2010. She continues to stay on the front pages of
newspapers for both the right and wrong reasons. From allegedly
battling governors to solidly standing by her man through his troubled
times, she always made the news. She had some health scares last year
but bounced back fully this year to give Nigerians what was without a
doubt the clip of the year while addressing the issue of insurgency in
the North East. She’ll really be hoping that there is God to help her
husband continue in office next year.
7) BLESSING OKAGBARE
My very own Ble Ble! She won everything winnable in athletics this
year. She was phenomenal during the Diamond League season, completely
conquered the Commonwealth games with her appropriately laid gold hair,
went on to crush all comers at the All African Athletics Championships,
before finally getting married to the love of her life. Hard to think of
a Nigerian athlete male or female, that has had a better year in the
past. Rio 2016 should crown it all.
6) ROTIMI AMAECHI
He led what was once referred to as a gang of rebel governors and has
been extremely vocal since he became a leading member of the APC. He
continues to trade words with Mr. President and his one-liners are
always a gem. Very few can boast of the resume he has, having been
Rivers State Speaker for 8 years and Rivers State governor for two
terms. His main aim now is to make sure his ‘brother’ the President
doesn’t return to Aso Rock. But he’ll have to pursue it with more gusto
than he’s done the Port Harcourt monorail project.
I’m not a fan of lists or rankings
because they come with way too much controversy and it’s almost always
impossible to find two people who agree on any single list. But I’ve
always been a huge fan of Barbara Walters’ 19 year old annual television show; 10 Most Fascinating people. She
usually gets people talking with whom she puts at the top. In 2011, she
had The Kardashian Family at number 1. Americans cried blue murder. The
year after, she had the Director of the CIA David Petraeus as number 1,
even though he left office that year controversially. So when I saw her list for 2014 with Amal Clooney,
(lawyer and wife of George Clooney) as her number 1 most fascinating
person, I smiled. It was another unexpected decision. But as with every
year, you can kind of see why she’d go with hat choice.
So I toyed with the idea of my own list of 10 Most Fascinating Nigerians of
2014. And no, I do not plan to go for any shock factors with my number
1. Feel free to disagree though in the comment section. Here goes…
5) TAYO FANIRAN
It’s hard to remember when last Nigerians were this passionate about a
Big Brother housemate. Tayo a Nigerian model based in Johannesburg went
into the house as one of two Nigerian representatives and almost
immediately turned the house on its head. People looked forward to his
fights and shouting matches. Even more interesting was the fact that he
cried almost as often as he fought. He ended up losing on the final day
and for the first time in BBA history, there was an attempt by Nigerians
(led by actor and Lagos State House of Assembly candidate Desmond
Elliot) to crowd fund the $300,000 prize money for a housemate. Shocking
stuff! Like he famously always said; ”Are they mad? They must be mad!”
4) LINDA IKEJI
So you think Linda has no talent, is only good at stealing people’s
works and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Well, her post in early December
where she posted terms for a giveaway to her followers was a true sign
of how much of an enigma she is. She had over 25,000 comments in the
first day on that single post. Many still do not understand how she’s
become ‘The Linda’ with such a simple blogging model. She runs her
business alone on her terms and gives back how and when she decides to.
Many keep predicting that she won’t be around for much longer. But
the one thing they can’t deny is that 2014 has been an interesting year
for her * wink *
3) VINCENT ENYEAMA
I still can’t believe we won’t be playing at the Nations Cup next
year. But I’m sure goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama is even more hurt. A
member of the team that are still the current African Champions, he has
been in the running for every single player of the year award on the
continent this year, became the Super Eagles’ captain after Joseph Yobo
retired and had THE BEST campaign at the World Cup yet.
It seemed like every girl in Nigeria, wanted to have Enyeama’s babies
this year, until his wife showed up on his Instagram page holding their
three kids happily. Arguably Nigeria’s best goalkeeper ever, we can
only hope that he’s still saving the best for the coming years. No pun.
2) LAMIDO SANUSI
From governor of the Central Bank and sworn enemy of President
Jonathan, to being suspended and investigated, to his coronation as the
new Emir of Kano and then being seen now on several occasions smiling
with Mr. President, it is hard to keep up with or predict this brand new
royal father’s next move. He’s blown some of the loudest whistles in
Nigeria till date with regards to the oil industry and some of his
comments before being fired as governor, continues to haunt those in
power. Never one to keep quiet, he’s been calm as Emir and only seems to
speak when he needs to. Don’t take my word to the bank though. It’s
still early days.
1) DAVIDO
Davido did it all this year. He had relationship scandals, he made
good music, he battled his fans on social media, he made more good
music, he had a public fallout with Wizkid, he made even more good
music, he won every award possible and made crazy amounts of money while
at it. It’s hard to think that he’s only 22 years old and dropped
probably the most iconic single in Nigerian music this year ‘Aye’. Most
of us run to his Twitter or Instagram page every morning hoping to catch
something interesting there and we are almost never disappointed with
the drama. With over a million twitter followers, about half a million
Instagram followers (the most by any Nigerian) and an unbelievable bank
balance, many young men want to be him. Actually, scratch that; young
and old. With the amount of cash and jewelry he put on social media this
year, his next album might just be titled B.O. (Baba Olowo).
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