Tinubu threw caution to the wind on June 2, 2022, at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, Ogun State when he declared it was his turn to govern Nigeria, having become dissatisfied with his role as ‘kingmaker’.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The year 2022 presented some of the most memorable events and never-seen-before moments of our everyday lives as Nigerians. From catchphrases to individuals associated with them, 2022 surely brought thrill and drama. Below are the most controversial persons the year produced:
Bola Tinubu
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, surely ticked this box in 2022 with his gaffes and ‘Emi lo kan’ mantra which means ‘It is my turn’ (to be president). Tinubu threw caution to the wind on June 2, 2022 at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, Ogun State when he declared it was his turn to govern Nigeria, having become dissatisfied with his role as ‘kingmaker’. The former Lagos State governor said, “Emi lo kan, it is my time, I’m educated, I’m experienced. I have been serving people for a long time. Bring me the Presidency, it is my turn.”
Despite the criticism that trailed his statement, Tinubu and his supporters have stressed emphatically that he is unapologetic about it. The candidate’s Twitter description of the Argentine football star, Lionel Messi, as the ‘Emi lo kan of Doha’ after the latter won the World Cup in Qatar, further stresses his position on the matter.
Nyesom Wike
The enigmatic Rivers State governor has been a thorn in the flesh of some members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with his insistence that the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, a northerner, resigns for a southerner to take the reins after another northerner, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, became the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 polls.
In sending his message to the party’s leaders, Governor Nyesom Wike has dined with opposition politicians and endorsed APC Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, for a second term in spite of the PDP having a candidate for the poll. Wike has also formed the Integrity Group with four other state governors who share similar interests.
Some of the scenes involving Wike that caught the nation’s attention were those of him dancing and his hype men singing “As e dey sweet us e dey pain dem” at state functions and those of the governor sitting one-on-one for an explosive interview on the PDP crisis.
Yul Edochie
The Nollywood actor surely owned 2022 as the most talked about movie star following his announcement of a second wife and a son with her. Yul Edochie broke the internet in April when he took to Instagram to reveal his colleague, Judy Austin, had become his second wife. “It’s time for the world to meet my son. His name is Star Dike Munachimso Yul-Edochie. Born by my second wife @judyaustin1. And I love him so much, just as much as I love my other children,” he wrote.
Before the announcement, Yul had been known to be married to May for 17 years and they have four children. Displeased with Yul’s actions, May has repeatedly said she would not be forced into accepting polygamy. The public attention sure did Yul a lot of favour.
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Oxlade
In February, Oxlade’s sex and nude tapes hit the internet, automatically making him the most googled artiste at the time. The tapes surfaced on the internet just months after female singer, Tiwa Savage, appeared in a sex tape that she claimed was let out by a blackmailer.
Oxlade, however, attributed the sex video involving him to betrayal. “Betrayals are very real and in the same token I want to apologise to my fans out there,” he wrote in an Instagram post. It was reported that the woman in the video sued him for N20 million, but nothing has been heard about the suit since then.
One month after the viral sex tape, Oxlade released a new song titled ‘Want You’ which became a hit. Like Tiwa Savage, Oxlade proved that a music star’s career cannot drown because of a sex tape.
Aisha Buhari
Nigeria’s first lady, Aisha Buhari, surely had her fair share of controversial moments in 2022, from posting on social media photos of her daughter-in-law’s graduation from a foreign university at the time that universities were shut in Nigeria due to strike, to her apology to Nigerians for her husband’s ‘failures’.
However, her most controversial moment in the year came in November when she got a university student, Aminu Mohammed, arrested for a tweet posted in June 2022. In the tweet, Mohammed claimed the first lady “embezzled monies meant for the poor to satisfaction”. Some reports claimed that Mrs Buhari had Mohammed brought to her in Aso Villa after his arrest at the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State and had him assaulted. It was also claimed that the first lady sustained an injury while trying to kick the final-year student.
It seemed like the case would drag on for a while after Mohammed was arraigned at an FCT High Court on allegations of defamation and cyberstalking, but it dramatically took a different turn as the first lady withdrew the charges. Mrs Buhari’s critics think it was a distasteful way of signing out of Aso Villa, her supporters, on the contrary, say she has a right to protect her image.
