2023 is at the tail end, with less than a week before we draw the curtain and step into a new year, 2024, as this year goes to rest in the archive of our minds.
2023 had been full of drama and action. Many remarkable events in different spheres of society occurred this year and shook the country to its core. Let’s explore together as we delve in:
Naira scarcity
The central bank, at the last quarter of 2022, had unveiled the new naira notes, which it said will be the sole legal tender from January 31, 2023, while the old notes will no longer be valid. This announcement made Nigerians rush to the bank to swap their old note so that it would not become useless in their homes. Unfortunately for Nigerians, they were unable to lay their hands on the new note, which was sparse in circulation. This resulted in cashlessness and developed into a big crisis as POS vendors hiked their withdrawal charge to about twenty percent on each withdrawal.
Becoming unbearable, Nigerians started reacting negatively to the CBN policy. Protests started erupting in various parts of Nigeria, and in extreme cases, attacking some CBN branches and bank branches, setting some of those branches ablaze. Although old notes were not fully retracted successfully from the society, as they still remain legal tender across the country, but the damage was already done.
Presidential election
The 2023 election was like none ever witnessed in the history of Nigeria as a nation since independence. Elections in Nigeria are usually between two dominant candidates and other contestants, fighting for the seat of the president. However, the last election took a different turn, as the nation witnessed the emergence of three strong candidates: Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the All Progressive Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi from the Labour Party (LP).
The race was a fierce one, as their supporters were staunch and die hard. Their supporters rallied themselves under different movements with new coinages never heard before. Tinubu’s followers, BAT; Atiku’s followers, Atikulate; and Obi’s followers, Obidient.
The race for Aso Rock was a tight draw, as Tinubu emerged winner with over 8.7 million votes, Atiku over 6.9 million votes and Obi over 6.1 million votes.
Atiku-Tinubu saga
After election power-tussle has become a norm in the fourth republic. Different political parties, dissatisfied with INEC’s verdict, proceed from the ballot box to the judge’s hammer.
After INEC declared Tinubu winner of the just concluded presidential election, Atiku, dissatisfied, proceeded to court, hoping to upturn the victory in his favour, with the judgment of the judiciary. This lasted months, and birth the Chicago State University (CSU) result saga over the validity of Tinubu’s transcripts. After the long tussle, the Supreme Court ruled Tinubu the winner of the election.
Fuel subsidy removal
Over the years, many have accused that the fuel subsidy that the federal government pays to abate the burdens of the citizen is only a sham and a means to an end for the few who embezzle the money. During the swearing-in ceremony of President Bola Tinubu, in his speech, he stated that fuel subsidy is gone.
But what many thought would be a blessing quickly turned into a curse, as the fuel which many complained that it was sold at 190 naira under the Buhari-led administration, skyrocketed and is yet to have a stable price across the nation. Crude oil products were not the only thing affected, but other aspects of the society.
Mohbad’s death
The death of the promising young Nigerian artiste, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, aka Mohbad, saddened the hearts of many across the nation and beyond. The singer, whose death was under questionable circumstances, was announced dead across various social media platforms.
The likes of Sammy Larry, Naira Marley and Zinolesky, who had featured in video of the young artiste being bullied and assaulted, which resurfaced after his demise, were implicated.
Mohbad’s death caused a lot of intense reactions from people of all ages, classes, and calibres from across the world. A candle night procession was held across the nation in his honour by fans. Drake sang his hit song, “Beast and Peace” from his album “Blessed EP”, among others.
He was known for his hit songs Feel Good, Peace, Ponmo, Beast and Peace, Sorry, and Ko Por Ke.