2017 'BEST' LIST

Like every other year,2017 had its good,bad and ugly sides.I am grateful to have made it to the finish line.
These are my bests and worsts.

BEST MOVIE

The BET 3 episode New Edition biopic was awesome.Watched it quite early in the year and that the effect it had on me lasted to this point is a testament to its quality.
It was great watching a comprehensive walk through the careers of one of the most memorable boy groups ever.From the early deals to the fame,from the drugs to the girls and finally,the split.

BEST MUSICIAN

Shawn 'Jay Z' Carter.I was fascinated not just by the quality of his album but also by the elaborate promotion this genius put in motion.Before releasing the Magna Carta Holy Grail album, he inked a $20M deal with Samsung that involved the tech giant purchasing 1 million copies of the album and making it available to all galaxy users worldwide 3 days before it dropped.It effectively made him the first artiste to go platinum before releasing his album.
There had always been talk of Jigga dropping an album in 2017 and knowing this man,there just had to be an XXordinary twist in place.Well,in another unprecedented move in hip hop,he had 4:44 plastered all over buses in New York.The intrigue woven round that had everyone buzzing till it was finally confirmed as his album title.For a man that just had to give the whole world a date and watch the pre-orders begin,that was stepping things to a whole 'nother level.Mortals do what mortals do and Kings do what Kings do.Good just ain't good enough for some.

COUPLE OF THE YEAR

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.The royal house settled not only for a hollywood actress but one that was once married.Prince Harry must really love her.Meghan isn't looking to cash in on her new status in hollywood,she is quitting acting.She must really love him.
They must really love each other.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

The Super Eagles of Nigeria.We saw a rejuvenated side under Genart Rohr.The Eagles were the first african team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and they finished undefeated in the qualifiers.For post-stress routine,how does seeing off the Argentines in a friendly sound?

ARTICLE OF THE YEAR

"Justice Onnonghen,Dangiwa And The Prospects of A Southern CJN" by wait for this...Femi Fani Kayode.It came at a time President Buhari was clearly taking for granted,sensitive issues having direct impact on the unity of this country.A lot of northern elders back then were either supporting him or staying mute.
Femi Fani Kayode is known to spew the most absurd rubbish possible but then he got it perfectly right this time.There indeed were northerners who were genuinely displeased with the President's unfair bias for the north and disdain for the south.

COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR

Aderonke Bello.Most people know her as the number one female soccer enthusiast and columnist.She recently took up the job of the Daily Sun's online editor.Earned every one of her stripes.

COACH OF THE YEAR

The Super Eagles technical adviser,Genart Rohr has stood out immensely.A lot of people,having just tasted the late Stephen Keshi's policy of unearthing and cleaning up gems from our local league,highlighted his lack of knowledge of our football in criticizing his appointment.But he has proved them wrong with his outstanding performance.Without totally shutting the door on local talents,he has rigorously chased down unheralded nigerian and half nigerian talents abroad and this has yielded positive results.

LEADER OF THE YEAR

The Kaduna state governor,Mallam Nasir El-rufai takes this without much competition.A lot of us have been advocating for a drastic change to our approach as far as education is concerned with particular emphasis on the foundation; the elementary stage.In a move straight out of an article i wrote in 2014,El-rufai sacked 21,780 primary school teachers for failing an aptitude test comprising questions they should ask their students.That some parents cannot afford to send their wards to private school does not mean they don't deserve quality education.Only the government can change that and El-rufai is moving in the right direction.
El-rufai has embarked on quite a number of infrastructural projects with some of them completed even before his 2nd year in office.Personal observation has revealed his is a non-hypocritical goverment that does not focus only on major roads in the metropolis to hoodwink the people,he has taken his projects to even the most obscure parts of the state.
Love him or hate him,you have to accept he is doing a sterling job.

BEST BOOK

THINK LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR,ACT LIKE A CEO by Beverly E. Jones.Greatness comes most to those prepared for it.Fabulous read.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

The only thing missing from Kevin Durant's NBA career was a championship ring.He had led scoring for 4 seasons straight,being an NBA All star 5 times and season MVP once.He was portrayed as disloyal and opportunistic for crossing over to the Golden State Warriors in search of the elusive ring but all that talk vanished when he led the Warriors to the 2016/2017 championship.
For icing,KD clinched the finals MVP too.Typical movie stuff.

BEST MOMENTS

I started writing music reviews this year and wrote my first law article as well.Probably the only person in Nigeria with articles on politics,governance,football,music and law.Lol.
A big thank you to everyone who sent me a mail or showed me love on social media.God bless you.
I also made a lot of comedy skits and even had one of them acknowledged by the legendary Ali Baba GCFR himself.The feedback i got was mad and i thank God for that.

WORST MOMENTS

I lost an elderly neighbour in Kaduna i fondly referred to as 'papa'.We joked a lot and i was very much pained by his death.Guess we all have to go someday.

MAN OF THE YEAR

Nigerians have a problem and it is that we whine too much with little or no effort at addressing the common problem head on.Reason why we owe SERAP a whole lot for their attempts at ensuring there is transparency and accountability in government.
One man,however has taken it upon himself to mobilize nigerians to protest government's insensitivity to the plight of its people.That man is Adeyanju Deji.
Contrary to what a lot of people think,he kickstarted the #ResumeOrResign protests that chased President Buhari back to the country from London.
He allowed Charly boy take all the credit for the success of the movement and that put paid to any doubts as to the genuineness of his motive.He pushed for the prosecution of Deziani Allison Madueke,the former petroleum minister soon afterwards and the EFCC started giving regular updates the very next day.
If by January 3rd 2018,the fuel scarcity is not ended,he will lead protesters to the Aso Rock gate.On behalf of your fellow countrymen,i say thank you and God bless you.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Aisha Jumai Alhassan,the Honourable Minister of women affairs pledged her support for Atiku Abubakar come 2019.One,it proved even the closest people to the President had lost trust in him and secondly,it spoke volumes of her character.It takes a very strong woman to go against her employer and tow the path she did.Especially when that employer is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Wish you all a Happy 2018.

MY TOP 20 SONGS OF 2017

1.YOUNG-THE CHAINSMOKERS

2.MULA GANG-LIL WAYNE FEAT EURO,HOODY BABY AND JAY JONES

3.THANK GOD I GOT IT-DESIIGNER

4.CRYING IN THE CLUB-CAMILLA CARBELLO

5.THAT RANGE ROVER CAME WITH STEPS-DJ KHALED FEAT FUTURE & YO GOTTI

6.MAMA-JONAS BLUE

7.SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS-THE CHAINSMOKERS

8.GOZIE-TRAFIC FEAT 2BABA

9.BUMPA-DJ NEPTUNE FEAT FALZ & YCEE

10.RAP UP 2016-UNCLE MURDA

11.LADY HAITI-WYCLEF JEAN

12.HEARTLINE-CRAIG DAVID

13.MANS NOT HOT-BIG SHAQ

14.NTSWEMPU-D'BANJ FEAT BUCIE

15.TOP-ACE HOOD

16.I PRAY FOR MY ENEMIES-YOUNG DOLPH

17.WO!-OLAMIDE

18.TRENCHES RELOADED-PEANUT DA DON FEAT TI

19.BAD HUSBAND-EMINEM FEAT X AMBASSADORS

20.GUCCI GANG-LIL PUMP

REVIVAL ALBUM REVIEW:EMINEM IS A LEGEND AND REVIVAL UNDERSCORES THAT

One thing we learnt from Eminem's BET 'The Storm' Freestyle was just how much good shutting down does for an artiste.The unanimous verdict was an Eminem homicide when in all honestly,there was nothing spectacular about it.No exquisite lyrical showmanship,no catch power,just stuff he could have easily said in an interview.Who makes a freestyle taking 'pace' breaks?.But we were all glad to have Marshall Mathers back and that drove the immense love he got.

We had been looking forward to an Eminem album before that and why his subsequent single didn't exactly rip through the charts,we knew what we knew;and that was that a good song off his album could very well turn out one of the best made this year.Eminem is that good.The best to ever do it on a lot of score cards.

Everyone had something in common after Revival dropped,it didn't matter if the BET freestyle and Beyonce assisted single made you lower your expectations or not,they surpassed whatever expectations you had for it.He made a great album.

Lets take a walk through the tracks.

1.WALK ON WATER feat BEYONCE

The only single off the album.It originally started as a chorus written by co-producer Skylar Grey and she describes it as the song she's been trying to write since she was 6.Walk on Water passed him off as having gone stale.It was vintage Em whining about the same old things-hate,inner struggles and overcoming them.Perhaps switching up the tempo a notch would have remedied the disconnect between great verses and a great hook.

2.BELIEVE

You'll want to apologize for ever doubting the current state of his skill set after listening to this.Beast mode stuff.He thumps with the singing on the hook in that way only he can and it soaks you into his message with little or no effort.All that to complement some flawless lyricism.The new 'pause-go' delivery style he showcased on the BET freestyle works perfectly here.Naah,he never lost it.I BELIEVE,Em!!!.

3.CHLORASEPTIC feat Phresher

You have to wonder if Denaun Porter's beat would have been good for anything other than what Marshall did with it.Just the right knocturnal feel for Em to get on some 'cut-throat' vibe.Its "I'm truTV,you too PG" in a nutshell.He gets on some really savage delivery mid-way through the last verse-"What kind of nut drives a Budweiser truck,finds a slut,tries to suprise her,cuffs her...".Anything would have sounded great on that mode.Breath taking.

Em flew 8 hours to New York from Detroit to record with Brooklyn Mc,Phresher and he was worth every bit of the stress.He was fabulous with the brassy hook.

4.UNTOUCHABLE

Em tells it all from a white supremacist perspective.Before the 6:15 min song ends,you're bound to think Em is dropping the facade and embracing the fact that he is first and foremost a white boy.But then he gets to preaching about the system and racism.

He gives a very strong take on police brutality and killings but Marshall exudes so much passion playing white boy,you feel he was 'cleaning out his closet'.(Pun Intended).

5.RIVER feat Ed Sheeran

Ed got a call from Eminem's manager asking for ideas on the album they were putting together and he gets into a studio in Rusell Crowe's Australian home to couple up some drum and piano patterns plus a super great chorus and sends it to him.Em feels it and lays his verses.A little info just incase you are wondering how he got to rapping about love triangles.

A truly great song.That must be said.

6.REMIND ME

Everyone who missed the real Slim Shady more than they missed Marshall Mathers will love this joint.."Screwin our brains out like changing a lightbulb/Thats why i like ya coz am crazy just like ya/Now every time i get brain/You screw mine up/I barely can think straight/Your head game is a mind fuck..Crazy.

7.REVIVAL (INTERLUDE)

I really had to make mention of this 0:51 sec skit.The singing by Alice and the Lake on those keys was sheer magic.Perfect scenery for something deep and i feel Marshall should have made a whole song of it.

8.LIKE HOME feat Alicia Keys

Unarguably the most 'accepted' best song of the Revival album.Em celebrates the greatness of America and goes ballistics on Trump.Alicia Keys was splendid on the hook.In a few words,he gets everything right to make a truly outstanding song.

9.BAD HUSBAND feat X Ambassadors

This is one of those songs that never really get the props due to them.Its my personal favourite.Eminem reveals himself like no rapper in the game and this is one of his most gripping introspective offerings yet.

The story telling absorbs almost to the point to tears.Its that powerful.

Em remorsely looks back at the tumultuous relationship he had with his high school sweetheart and 2 time wife, Kim Scott.."Why are you a good father,great dad but bad husband".The X Ambassadors hook was mind-blowing.To state the very very obvious,Eminem is a musical genius.

10.TRAGIC ENDINGS feat Skylar Grey

Skylar's singing was super fantastic but Em's verses don't quite sync with it.There is some distance that leaves you longing for the hook to come back on.A sober Marshall delivery and some little adjustments to instrumentation would have done muchgood.

11.FRAMED

The most vivid display of Em's slim shady persona.He's talking about killing females and having Ivanka Trump's corpse in his car trunk.Good to know Marshall never outgrew slim shady.The wackiness is still on that same adorably intense level.

12.NOWHERE FAST feat Kehlani

I lack words to describe this song.Its a masterpiece that will definitely go down as an Eminem classic.Everything works; from his lines to Kehlani's chorus and then you get a Tyson K.O when he caps it off with some signature Em singing.

This will never be forgotten.

13.HEAT

The Slim shady pops up again on this rock-inspired cut but he doesn't quite make the desired effect.Not to write it off totally,its a decent song.It just sounds a bit too white.Lol.

14.OFFENDED

Em gets to know Illa da producer made the beat for Phresher's 'Wait a Minute' and has Paul Rosenberg reach out to him.He sets him up with just the right beat to go on a flamboyant lyrical spree reminiscent of the 'Rap God' song.Em nails it bad.

15.NEED ME feat Pink

It always feels dark and twisted when Em waxes on about love.Always.Theres same sides to the man you will never get bored of.It almost feels like he's daring you to sometimes.He is that good an artiste.

He allows Pink just enough room to hypnotize you before dropping his lines.Great cut.

16.IN YOUR HEAD

He samples the Cranberries' 'Zombies' for this introspective look on the challenges of being him.Nobody does that better than Eminem and we all know that.

17.CASTLE

A good song but at this stage,you are starting to feel perhaps Marshall personalizes his songs a little more than he should.

18.AROSE

You just have to love how this is deep almost as much as it is twisted and how its a farewell to the listener as much as it is to his family on his death bed.The right delivery made that happen.

Sadly,he caps it off with the last verse from Castle and it gets a bit haphazard.

MY TOP 1O SONGS OF LAST QUARTER 2017

1.HEARTLINE-CRAIG DAVID / MANS NOT HOT-BIG SHAQ

2.POR FAVOUR-PITBULL FEAT FIFTH HARMONY

3.COMO ANTES-YANDEL FEAT WISIN

4.NIGHTMARE-METRO BOOMIN FEAT OFFSET / EASY (JEJE)-REEKADO BANKS

5.SAID-NASTY C x RUNTOWN / LA FÉTE-FALZ

6.BELIEVE-EMINEM

7.ARE U DOWN-POE FEAT TIWA SAVAGE / LIKE HOME-EMINEM FEAT ALICIA KEYS

8.SKRT SKRT-TORY LANEZ / I DO IT-FALZ / SOMETHING LIGHT-FALZ

9.BAD HUSBAND-EMINEM / CARRY ON-WYCLEF JEAN FEAT EMELI SANDE / NOWHERE FAST-EMINEM

10.YAGAGA-OLAMIDE

THE $1BN SONG,THE REMIX AND THE SAD LYRICS

When Gov Godwin Obaseki of Edo state announced that the governors of the 36 states had resolved to donate $1bn out of the excess crude account to the Buhari administration for it to fight the boko haram insurgency,either 1 of 2 things was bound to happen.Either Buhari and his loyalists blame Jonathan and the PDP for making the war very expensive instead of telling us how the funds were going to be spent or they will try to justify what is practically unjustifiable.They chose the latter.

But selling it was none easier than finding a Nokia 3310.Particularly noteworthy was the lack of vigour that accompanied the defence by core Buharists.The lies are starting to get embarrassing.Public opinion was a one way traffic with the overwhelming summation that the Buhari administration is no different from the one before it.

Vice-President Yomi Osinbajo understood the damage done and moved to mitigate it by telling us the funds were not meant for the war on boko haram alone but also for 'security issues' in all the states.That hasn't seem to have done much good.Rather what it has only proven is that even the government is starting to find its own lies ridiculous.

One thing is obvious however-every narrative from who should know including Osinbajo's,places boko haram at the fore front.

The same boko haram Buhari promised to squash within 2 months if voted President and the very same boko haram he has come out to say is defeated.

The boko haram sect currently has no captured territories or camps and that technically implies the bulk of the work would revolve round sourcing intelligence.The government certainly doesn't intend to install CCTV cameras everywhere in the North East so even a quarter of a billion dollars is too much for that.Osinbajo's damage control could come much cleaner.Not that he could do much anyways,because no matter the form,it would still appear a knee jerk reaction to the most plausible explanation offered by Gov Fayose and the PDP that the money is intended to be used as campaign funds for 2019.

The government will not yield to the many calls for a break down of how the money would be utilized because it is not being honest with us.

A government that prides itself on ear-marking record breaking sums for capital expenditure but still can't boast half what the government we 'changed' could at this stage.One that still won't let us know why President Buhari said there was no Abacha loot when the Swiss government is about to send us the latest instalment of $321M.

Interestingly,the $1bn donation provided an insight into why President Buhari is not serious about looking into why some states still owed 6 month salaries despite the Paris club refunds.He turned a blind eye when the Bauchi State governor went as far as saying he wasn't obligated to pay wages owed civil servants with the funds.Perhaps PMB knew they were going to be quite useful.When i compare the Buhari we thought we knew to the Buhari we now actually know, i can't help labelling him the biggest scam ever pulled.

If it smells like a fish,then its a fish.There is something not right about the $1bn song and even the remix hasn't fixed it.

WHY ATIKU WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT

Atiku is a founding father of the PDP, the ACN and the APC.The promiscuity is legendary.If he wasn't rich enough to dole his way to the heart of things every time he has had to move in with one of his 'off springs',he would quite easily have been the most hated politician in Nigerian politics.It was barely 72 hrs into his PDP return before word spread that he had taken over the campaign expenses of Prince Uche Secondus,a party chairmanship candidate and just over a week later,reports emerged that he had donated $10M to the coffers of the party.

But money has never gotten him anywhere.The only time he managed to cop himself a presidential race ticket was when he formed his own party and he was excluded by INEC from that race in 2007.That was the closest he has ever gotten to his dream and again,he will lick his wounds when all is said and done.These are the reasons why.

1.BUHARI'S SHORTCOMINGS DEFINE HIS VISION

Thanks to the social media,politicians no longer have to issue press releases or arrange interviews before they can get across to us.We are just a click of a button away.Atiku is one of the busiest politicians on twitter,airing his views on one thing or the other.What annoys however,is how he keys into Buhari's misgivings to 'sell his market' rather than draw us clear road maps to economic sustainability,diversification or a vibrant health sector.The desperation is sickening.

If Buhari's 97%-5% dividend-sharing proclamation is highlighted,Atiku will jump up to paint himself a man of all peoples.When what is popularly referred to as Buhari's 'northern agenda' leads to calls for restructuring,Atiku will strongly align himself with those voices.If the aso rock rat invasion is raised again,i bet Atiku will tweet to let us know he and his family are clean people.

The thing is this man was once vice-president of Nigeria.If he spent half as much time enlightening us on his efforts at making Nigeria better when he had a chance to instead of degrading a man he helped bring into power,maybe he would score real points and not ones that pass him off as an opportunist.

2.A MEMBER OF THE OLD ESTABLISHMENT

Like he rightly pointed out in his letter to comedian, i go dye, his generation of leaders have failed us.Atiku was there at the commencement of PDP's 16 year impunity.Nobody remembers him for criticizing Obasanjo for the Odi and Zaki Biam massacres neither do we remember him for resigning over the trillions taken out of our coffers all in the name of improving power supply.

The only real reason some chill was placed on the 'recycling same old leaders' vibe is because most mindsets as regards 2019 tell an 'anybody over Buhari' story and Atiku is reaping off that like no man's business.But wait till he gets some serious competition.

We'll remember how PMB; the very best of the old school turned out the worst president we have ever had.

3.THE PDP RETURN FACTOR

Like a number of people have already pointed out,the APC was a haphazard arrangement set in place with the sole aim of kicking out the PDP and as soon as that goal was reached,that arrangement came back to hunt them.There were Saraki/Buhari and Atiku-Tinubu/Oyegun factions in just over a year as ruling party with no convention to fill up vacant positions in the party exco till date.

Atiku would have stood a much better chance if he was moving to the APC than the other way round.

The PDP has proved managing power and the different personalities whom it revolves round is not an easy task.Despite having its own fair share of problems,the PDP is more formidable an entity than the APC.

When the welcome parties end,Atiku will find it hard selling his candidature ahead of loyal members of his new family; the proud lot used to handing over their chaff to the APC.

Mark these words: Atiku's return will prompt a lot of PDP members in due time, to wax righteous about party loyalty and having more pride than the APC.Even those eating everything he offers now.I don't think dishonour in the PDP would take anyone by suprise.

4.LOSING THE NORTH

This is probably the main reason why Atiku will not be president in 2019.Buhari may have drawn bad blood from other regions for unduly favouring the north but capitalizing on that to curry their support only leaves him exposed where it matters most; the north.The one region whose voting power gurgles up that of other regions combined.

The northern electorate are a very sentimental bunch.Despite performing dismally, PMB still enjoys a lot of love there because the average man on the street has been programmed to see him as not only pro-masses but one with his best interests at heart.

It would have been okay if Atiku had vouched for reconstruction and gone ahead to sell it peacefully but tweets about how dilapidated houses in the north were compared to the east that had survived a civil war doesn't suggest he fully understands the long run consequences of appearing an enemy.

The entire Atiku machinery at the moment seems geared towards other regions; the very enlightened ones who already understand the need to change the present status quo.The real task lies in selling his candidature to his people and that i doubt he can do.