MY VERY BEST OF 2018

These are the things that stood out for me in 2018.

BEST MOVIE

We all loved Black Panther and it would be it in the literal sense but then this has always meant for me,anything on TV.The Netflix spanish series,La Casa De Papel was the best thing i watched all year.It was simply breath-taking.

BEST COUPLE

This would be Davido and Chioma.Whether a girl who stayed over 2 daughters from 2 different women was in it for true love or just patient enough to get her slice of OBO's goody bag didn't really matter when the affair became public.He was so crazy in love and he flaunted it.He opened a kitchen for her and bought her a Porsche reportedly worth over N40M for her birthday.That came with the smash hit Assurance dedicated to her as well.Word is she had to drop out of school to accompany him on his many trips across the world.It may or may not fizzle out but in 2018, Davido had everyone loving his Chioma and labelling him 'wicked' for setting the bar so high for male lovers.

BEST TEAM

The Super Falcons of Nigeria won the 2018 Awcon in Ghana for a record 9th time.The girls had to overcome familiar foes in gruelling 120 mins + penalties encounters in their last 2 games of the tournament and they kept a cool head through it all.Overall,the stats say we have ruled African Women football since its inception.Big deal.

BEST COACH

I would ordinarily have said Mauricio Pochettino but for the extraordinary exploits of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.He led the team to the Champions league final last season and to the top of the English Premier League at mid-stage this season.He has put in place a very efficient counter-attacking style using the pace of Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah and also created an extra awareness to the defensive responsibilities of the whole team.Klopp has proved what he did at Dortmund with even more unheralded legs was no fluke.On merit,he is the best coach in the world.Unlike other prominent coaches,he hasn't had a fat account to work with, he has just been shrewd and gotten the most of players he works with.

BEST BOOK

I went shopping one day and i stumbled on Eghosa Imasuen's Fine Boys in what was supposed to be a brief stay at the book section.I flipped through some pages and took it.Proved a very good call.
The middle-class folks appreciate a lot, the 'realness' of the social media with its every day pidgin slangs and interactions between youths being entirely themselves.It was fascinating to see a writer capitalizing on the Warri syndrome so well.

BEST LEADER

No one leader stood out for me in 2018 but if i'll have to choose,i will choose Governor Ikpeazu of Enugu state.
Babatunde Fashola deserves a tip of my hat also for the remarkable improvement recorded in power supply across the country in the last few months.Much earlier in some places.In as much as i don't want the Buhari government to return,i still have to say such improvement is unprecedented.Fashola has been the shining light in this administration.

BEST ARTICLE

I found Mitch Findlay's Does Going Platinum Still Carry The Same Weight? quite a fascinating read.In this era of digital record sales,a lot has changed in music and Findlay highlighted the highly 'technical' case of Cardi B's Invasion Of Privacy banking on the successes of pre-album singles-Bodak Yellow and Bartier Cardi to go platinum.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Anthony Joshua beat Joseph Parker and knocked out Alexander Povetkin and more importantly,kept the 3 heavyweight belts to himself.Still the undisputed champion of the world.

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR

Onome Ebi was pivotal to the Super Falcons success at the 2018 Awcon in Ghana.She was by some distance,the best Nigerian player at the tournament.

MAN OF THE YEAR

Atiku Abubakar without a doubt.A lot of people including my humble self didn't think he could win the PDP presidential ticket.Asides being a member of the old guard,he ditched the party and actively worked towards ensuring they were defeated in 2015.But win he did and in some style.I don't just support him now only because i am desperate to see President Buhari booted out,i do because he, by a hundred thousand miles has the best manifesto of all the candidates on display.If i knew then what i do now,i would have pitched my tent with him from the onset.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Lisa Murwoski, a Female Senator from Alaska was the only republican to vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as a Justice of the Supreme Court by the American Senate.Kavanaugh was probably the most controversial US Supreme Court nominee ever.He faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and of lying under oath about never being black-out drunk in college.His room mate at Yale said he saw him in that state first hand.Murwoski defied the republican party line and in a traditional senate practice called striking, she voted 'present',technically a 'Nay' to strike out her colleague,Senator Steve Daines of Montana's 'Yea' who was attending his daughter's wedding and couldn't be present.
For her courage and bravery in towing the path she believed was right and damning the consequences of disobeying her entire party and President Trump, Lisa Murwoski is not only my Woman of the year but also my Person of the year.

QUALITY, PERSISTENCE AND CONSISTENCY: THE BURNA BOY 2-YEAR PLAN TO GREATNESS

Wizkid and Davido can afford to drop 10 below-par singles at a stretch and still have their fans going crazy at the mention of their names.Burna boy enjoys no such luxury.He is not a pretty boy with a charming personality or one whose personal life is a PR dream,he's had to claw up to this present level by being nothing other than an incredible artiste.Burna is something we hadn't and still haven't seen anything like.

He is not your regular Nigerian artiste who says they aren't afro-pop but go on to realize they actually are.He is a mixture of so many natural sounds, he best captures it with the 'afro-fusion' appellation.That baritonal voice whipping up mesmerizing rhythms on some breath-taking melodies.Such a magic recipe.

Burna boy has been around and was one of the very few Nigerian artistes to have a major international deal but the last 2 years have been the most pivotal in his career since 2012 when he dropped the monster hit, Like to Party.2017 was when Burna understood what his craft needed.It had to transcend just an album and singles off it.

He had a unique product; a quite unrivalled one and guaranteed a good song.If he kept himself busy and stayed in our faces with a slew of good releases,he would become a mainstay.He needn't have a Manya like Wizkid or a Fia like Davido,all he had to do was drop or get on a good vibe as consistently as possible.From DJ Jimmy Jatt's Chase to the fire-cracker Chillin Chillin with A.I,he kept the heat coming.

When he dropped Gba along with the bedazzling Deja Vu late that year,he had everyone looking forward to his Outside album dropping early 2018.All he had to do was deliver and even if he decided to go on a hiatus from thereon, it would do practically no harm.Outside turned out arguably the best album by any Nigerian artiste in the last 5 years and debuted at number 3 on the billboard reggae chart.Heaven's gate and Streets of Africa were deliberate attempts to score a global hit and even if none ended up another Man's Not Hot,he made a solid impression.

Google searches for Kanye West's Ye (album) led to Ye,a song off the album and curious listens across the globe led to a regenarated buzz 5 months after its release and Burna capitalized on that to shoot a video for the song.Ironically,that was when it became a hit in Nigeria.What that moment proved was that if you didn't love the songs on Outside then you probably hadn't heard them.

Consistency is the word.That is what has gotten him from the undisputed title of Nigeria's most underrated artiste to the very best at the moment.Despite not being on the same pedestal as a Davido or Wizkid in terms of mega-hits, he has built a reputation as the GoTo man for music out of the ordinary.

The blue print of the previous year extended to 2018 and after just 3 months of the 'mandatory' waiting period for promotion,videos et al, he dropped his first post-album release titled Agbada.After that came Vampire and once Major Lazer caught a hard-on for afro-beats,it was only a matter of time before they kicked it with him.They made a super jam called All My Life.Gbona came and then On the Low.Aggressively in your face.No chills.

It has paid off handsomely.The world already knew the stuff he was made of,he just had to make it count.Burna boy may not have the fanatical following of his contemporaries but he can boast of being loved by every music fan.The Burna boy topic quells a Davido/Wizkid debate.

The willingness of both sets of fans to accept he has something extra their artistes don't exposes not only their sentimental attachment to them but also an acknowledgement of their being first and foremost, lovers of good music. He has not had anything outside of the music working for his brand.Quality,Persistence and Consistency.All it took.

MY TOP 20 SONGS AND BEST 5 ALBUMS OF 2018

1. BLACK EFFECT-THE CARTERS

2.MY OWN-STYLES P FEAT WHISPERS

3.SISI MARIA-MALEEK BERRY

4.CAN'T BE BROKEN-LIL WAYNE

5.GRINGO-SHATTA WALE / DIET-DJ ENIMONEY FEAT SLIMCASE,TIWA SAVAGE & REMINISCE

6.LAND OF THE FREAKS-2 CHAINZ / BANGING-MR 2KAY FEAT REEKADO BANKS

7.DEATHROW-YOUNG SCOOTER / HERE AND NOW-PRAIZ

8.PRAISE THE LORD-A$AP ROCKY FEAT SKEPTA

9.WHITE LABEL-NAS /AFTER PARTY-DESIIGNER

10.PLAYLIST-MI FEAT NONSO AMADI

11.SURVIVAL-DRAKE

12.KWEKU-CHIEF OBI / CHILLIN CHILLIN-BURNA BOY FEAT AI

13.SUPER EAGLES DODORIMA-AUSTINO MILADO

14.ALL MY LIFE-MAJOR LAZER FEAT BURNA BOY/ HOUSTONFORNICATION-TRAVIS SCOTT

15.OLA-PERUZZI FEAT MAYORKUN

16.ONE TICKET-KIZZ DANIEL FEAT DAVIDO / END OF DISCUSSION-RICH THE KID FEAT LIL WAYNE

17.NEGOTIATIONS-WALE

18.LOVE YOU LONG TIME-MALEEK BERRY FEAT CHIP

19.ON THE LOW-BURNA BOY / CALM DOWN-BURNA BOY

20.FRIENDS-THE CARTERS

TOP 5 ALBUMS

1.OUTSIDE-BURNA BOY

2.TRIPPPLE CROSS-YOUNG SCOOTER

3.STRINGS AND BLINGS-NASTY C

4.HEARTWORK-PERUZZI

5.DAYTONA-PUSHA-T

MY TOP 10 SONGS FOR 3RD QUARTER 2018

1.CAN'T BE BROKEN-LIL WAYNE

2.ALL MY LIFE-MAJOR LAZER FEAT BURNA BOY

3.OLA-PERUZZI FEAT MAYORKUN /ONE TICKET-KIZZ DANIELS FEAT DAVIDO

4.ZANKU (LEG WORK)-ZLATAN IBILE

5.10 FREAKY GIRLS-METRO BOOMIN FEAT 21 SAVAGE / THE BENZ-SPOTLESS FEAT TEKNO

6.GAWU-MYSTRO / LOVE YOU LONG TIME-MALEEK BERRY FEAT CHIP

7.BAD INTENTIONS (DE DE DE)-BLACK MAGIC / ARREST THE PRESIDENT-ICE CUBE

8.GUCCI SNAKE-WIZKID FEAT SLIMCASE / ON THE LOW-BURNA BOY

9.DOING YOU-MALEEK BERRY

10.WONDER WOMAN-DAVIDO / TRAP BABY-YOUNG DOLPH

TOP 3 ALBUMS

1.HEARTWORK-PERUZZI

2.CHAMPIONSHIPS-MEEK MILL

3.CROWN-LOOSE KAYNON × AQ

ON THE MAN AND THE SYSTEM: KEYAMO SPEAKING LOUD IN FAVOUR OF ATIKU

To be very honest,i thought President Goodluck Jonathan was going to rig the 2015 Presidential elections and that thought crept in from the day, Femi Fani Kayode was made the spokesman of his Presidential campaign.FFK was a talking time bomb.Patience Jonathan's comments on how 'people dey born shidren troway for the other side' targeted at the north, stuck that thought to my head.Card reader was definitely a Jonathanian scheme.

I was back home in Kaduna at that time and my folks had stocked the house with just about everything from food down to movies.Jonathan was going to win against the people's will and violence would erupt.Never under-estimate the power of prayers.The Merciful Lord urged him to fight a clean contest and he did.

It was simply unthinkable that a man shouldering the sad burden of public discontent, would appoint a man with a tongue like FFK's as his head of publicity.A lot of Nigerians knew both weren't the candidates they would ordinarily vote and the fears some of us had about President Buhari have been justified.Instead of engaging in a 'your father this,your father that' yabbing contest with Rotimi Amaechi (his counter part on the other end), FFK could have done a number of things,among them spreading the video of President Buhari urging his supporters at a campaign rally to kill anyone who prevents them from protecting their votes.The major ill in appointing the wrong spokesperson is not only that they would be incapable of managing your public image like they should, they could very much end up doing your enemies' job for them. 

Festus Keyamo was doing an impressive job so far of defending and selling Buhari to Nigerians.He believes so much in his lies they have turned truth.He sounds nothing like the man who told Akeem Nafiu of the New Telegraph newspapers on Monday 20th November 2017 that stealing was still unabated under the Buhari administration.A real hustler.

He understands if his product is inferior then he has to spend more time trying to degrade the competition but in doing so Keyamo wobbled all the way to justifying the very thing the competition was saying about them.In response to Atiku's comments telling Buhari his anti-corruption drive wasn't making much progress because he was slow and not the system like he claims, Keyamo issued a statement saying if the system had been working well before 2015, Atiku would be in jail.Minus the allegations he made, what Keyamo and Atiku are saying are identical.The system was bad then and is still bad.No 'change'.

Knowing its virtually impracticable for Keyamo to market his product by illustrating in detail, how the system is slow and not the man in charge, he decided to take shots.A careful look at the allegations Keyamo threw the path of Atiku all but confirm Atiku's assertions on corruption thriving and left unchecked under Buhari.Something Keyamo himself once said.The limitation law may hinder any move to prosecute Atiku acquiring substantial shares in INTELS as a customs officer but the other things alleged of him are what Buhari's 'system' can fix.A probe, which many justifiably expected to not even take-off, has already been ordered of Obasanjo's $16b power spendings so nobody can tell Nigerians the system is not fast enough to prosecute Atiku and OBJ for awarding themselves licenses to operate private universities contrary to the Code of Conduct for Public officers.All that needs to be done is to secure and check the dates on the certified true copies of the licenses from the Nigerian University Commission.That more ratifies the notion that the system is ineffective and has left corruption to thrive than that it is slow.

Keyamo went on to say the EFCC had indicted and recommended Atiku for prosecution in respect of a Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) scandal when he was Vice-President.Though the said indictment was quashed by a court of law, it in no way precludes the EFCC from charging him to court.We voted Buhari to change the way things were run and it is sad that these same people sit and bemoan what they can quite easily make right. All the EFCC has to do is file a charge in court.If they know all these and are doing nothing, then they have deliberately left room for corruption to fester.

What made Keyamo look more pathetic was his recourse to Atiku's indictment in the US for money laundering.The Americans have never requested that Atiku be handed over to them in a matter it had prosecuted and convicted Siemens.As a matter of fact,the United States department of justice has said the US has no criminal case against Atiku Abubakar.If Buhari and Keyamo think otherwise what then is stopping them from handing over a man presumably wanted in the US for prosecution?.Or is the United States of America some village here that banishes criminals as punishment?.

Keyamo may have been doing a good job prior to his response on Atiku's claims but he is fast towing the path of FFK.As far as Atiku's alleged corrupt past goes, his open challenge for anyone to provide any evidence of corruption against him and also his promise to probe the Buhari administration if elected, has won him a lot of converts from those whose only problem with him were these sort of allegations people like Keyamo bandy around.If he was dirty, he wouldn't promise to probe Buhari because this government would dig up all his wrongs and hold him accountable for them.That is the most sense anyone would make of this.

Keyamo didn't just shoot at open space in his counter, he confirmed what the opposition was saying.The Buhari administration has allowed corruption to thrive and if he was diligent in his responsibilities, not only would Atiku be standing trial for obtaining a license to operate a university while still in office along with his former principal, he would also be handed to the US since they maintain he has a case to answer there.Either way, Buhari pulls down his main obstacle to returning for a 2nd term while doing the country some good.Except of course, he and those that speak for him are desperate liars or are incompetent to fight corruption like Atiku has suggested.The problem is not the system.It is the man in charge of the system.Keyamo only confirmed that.

THERE'S STILL A COUPLE MORE DAYS LEFT IN 2018 & PERUZZI REMINDS US OF THAT.HEART WORK EP IS ONE OF THE BEST MUSIC PROJECTS MADE THIS YEAR

There's always been one problem.Peruzzi has a better lyrical prowess than Mayorkun and even his label boss,Davido.That is a sparkling quality in the saturated afro-pop scene where everyone wants to dance or sing-along.But what Mayorkun and OBO undoubtedly have over Peruzzi is a better understanding of the workings of the ideal naija song.The chorus is 90% of your song around here and these artistes are deft in their use of lines and syllables that not only appeal to the fans but stick with them for a long long time.A great song doesn't necessarily translate to a hit.

Peruzzi's biggest claim to fame asides of course, being a cousin to Davido's beau, Chioma (of Assurance fame), is that he was featured on 2baba's Amaka.A song some of us believe 2baba was paid to make just so Peruzzi could get on it and garner some publicity for himself.It ended up a smash hit with 2baba keeping virtually all of the credit.Heart Work was going to be his first real chance to make a bold statement and he did just that.

While he may not possess as much connectivity to the street fan as a Davido or a Mayorkun,he has proven he can win just as much with what he is made of.On Heart Work, he strikes the right balance between good sounds and a vicious commercial edge.No one song tells this better than Ola with Mayorkun.A quite pleasant pop medley which pretty much appears the very first made here.

The ideal artiste understands his craft better than anyone and nothing speaks more to that than the type of artistes they feature on their songs.Every collabo works for Peruzzi on Heart Work.Burna boy complements him on without a doubt,the most radio friendly song of the entire EP, Champion Lover.A breath-taking love exposition that underscores his ability to make a mass appeal song just as well as anybody.Peruzzi may lack an innate street flavour but he not only boasts an uncanny ability to whip up catchy lines in his verses,he boasts of a little more grit than your regular pop artiste.Stand-out qualities are invaluable assets for any singer looking to break into the mainstream.Why Burna boy guarantees you a hit with every release.

He fuses some of that grit with a natural desire to have fun on a track to spawn the hilarious Did You and the very raw Dina with Barry Jhay and Jamaican super star, Popcaan.A ragga cut as explicit as it is brilliant.He's as rude a boy as warning the gyal dem "Listen up one time/Me no come here fi play/Me no run a f**king pageant/Me no Ben Bruce".LOL

He solicits label boss,Davido for the very infectious Try, a song with just as much smash hit potential as Champion Lover.

We see all shades of the artiste on Heart Work and in as much as i'll give him credit for his ability to up the tempo a notch like he proved on Sagbana,he'll need to work some more on making a slow song.As pleasant as Majesty may sound,patches of unbalanced rhythm rub off on effect.Maybe Bleed needed some of the intensity of Majesty but it certainly didn't deserve a chorus like the one it had.The 'If i wait for you' part was an ear sore.

Davido has been working really heard to get this artiste heard and loved and with 3 videos at a go of the very best songs on display, Peruzzi should get all the attention he deserves.More than a leaked bedroom video ever would fetch him.

Because Heart Work is without a doubt, one of the very best projects by a Nigerian artiste in 2018.

PDP ISN'T WHY BUHARI HAS FAILED

Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on media,Garba Shehu, Monday on Channels TV in a response to a statement by Phrank Shuaibu,the SA public communications to PDP Presidential candidate,Atiku Abubakar said the late submission of hand-over notes by the Jonathan administration was responsible for the late appointment of ministers.

I remember citing the timing of the submission and the voluminous nature of the notes in pleading for patience for President Buhari back then out of a desire to see him succeed.So did a lot of other voices.

But what Shehu needs to know is that,as time went on,Buhari's inaction proved instrumental to writing off his administration as one lacking in focus and direction.A leader who knows what he wants and where he is headed,should already have the names of everyone he intends to serve with by the time he assumes office.That is the ideal practice.Atiku Abubakar has long promised to have his list ready by latest,May 29th 2019 if elected.Shehu not only proved to us why he is a better alternative but also helped further his cause.But then Shehu was only towing the path of Buhari,Osinbajo and the entire APC-blaming the PDP for everything.

In places where governments are held strictly accountable and pinned to the highest standards,an incumbent government seeking re-election campaigns on the strength of its accomplishments over its first term.Its been 4 years and the PDP 16-year misrule is still the APC's strongest campaign point.While the opposition candidate synonimized himself with jobs and cleared whatever doubts we had with his blue print; the Atiku Plan which among all things highlights a heavy resort to empowerment by having master craftsmen train a million apprenctices annually.The type of schemes the $324 million Abacha loot should finance instead of a N5000 'chop money' empowerment.

While the average nigerian has come to know Atiku to profess a burning desire to revamp our economic fortunes,Buhari and the APC,just less than 3 months to the 2019 general elections,have come to be identified with 2 things-the 'Next Level' phrase and 'PDP 16 years'.It is not in dispute that even the die-hard Buharist still can't pin-point any part of 'Next Level' good enough to drive his candidature.It is important Buhari and his party first correct the notion that people deem them a failure because of their inability to handle the insurmountable challenges the PDP years placed before them.

A lot of people like myself support every government at the very beginning perhaps out of a desperation to see a better nation and virtually everthing that has made those people turn on the Buhari government are totally unrelated to the PDP.

The PDP is not responsible for President Buhari's proclamation of providing dividends along voting lines; 97% will get more than 5% was what he said and that singular act at that time,justified every agitation for a separate state.Things have gotten so bad, 'One Nigeria' has become a campaign point for politicians.

The PDP is not responsible for Buhari's refusal to diligently probe bailout funds issued to states to pay salaries.The Bauchi governor categorically said to everyone he wasn't obligated to pay salaries with them and Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state 'commissioned' his mansion in Kogi while some workers were being owed 10 months salary.

The PDP is not responsible for the high level of insecurity across the country.In addition to boko haram,we have seen the emergence of a killer breed of fulani herdsmen who have massacred scores of innocent lives since President Buhari came into power.Boko haram on the other hand has become a bigger and 'richer' threat with the UN indicting the Buhari-led Federal government of paying millions of euros to secure the release of the kidnapped Dapchi school girls.The Presidency also exchanged boko haram prisoners for 82 chibok girls.The government got back and returned kidnap victims to their families,i commend that.But it has also strengthened the sect with cash and man power.Now boko haram is attacking military bases and killing our soldiers.Technically,the government is sponsoring and fighting the war on insurgency.Add also the sky rocketing of kidnap cases across the country and you have why Buhari has performed worse than any administration since 1999 as far security is concerned.

The PDP is not responsible for Buhari's insistence on the EFCC boss,Ibrahim Magu despite an indictment for corruption by the DSS and his appearance on tv with a Buhari 2019 lapel pin on his suit.

The PDP is not responsible for the non-prosecution of Babachir Lawal and Patience Jonathan despite the EFCC having seized her money and properties.

The PDP wasn't responsible for President Buhari's clueless dance round critical issues like the banning and unbanning of rice importation through land borders and the removal and reinstatement of fuel subsidy en route a hike to N145.The handling of the fuel crisis was the first real pointer to Buhari's incompetence.After a merry-go round lasting about six months,they came out to tell us the scarcity was as a result of marketers' inability to access dollars.What a proactive government would have spotted from the onset.Well,Atiku has promised to revert fuel price to N87-N90.

The PDP is not responsible for the non-prosecution of embattled DSS boss,Lawal Daura.A man many think is a scapegoat.He raided Saraki and Ekweremadu's residences along side the police just weeks before the invasion of the national assembly.Aisha Buhari's ADC,Baba-Inna is also detained without trial.He has been alleged to be a front for the first lady's extortion of politicians scared of the EFCC hammer.Maybe somebody doesn't want the world to hear what they have to say.

The PDP is not responsible for President Buhari's refusal to probe AGF, Abubakar Malami SAN despite an indictment by the senate for his role in the reinstatement of wanted fugitive,Abdulrasheed Maina back into the civil service.When the bubble bursted,Maina practically strolled away from our shores.

The PDP is not responsible for the President not hosting and rewarding the Super Falcons winning the AWCON title in Ghana.After their previous win in Cameroom,the girls had to hit Abuja streets with placards before they were paid their dues.The Sports minister's excuse then was that no one expected them to get this far.Atiku had to bail out the amputee Eagles with N10M to enable them attend the Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico.The government totally turned a blind eye to their predicament.Our sportsmen and women have never been so under-valued and No,the PDP is not responsible for that.

The APC seems to forget that if Nigerians were satisfied with the PDP's way of doing things and didn't feel they deserved better,they wouldn't have voted them in to 'change' things.And like Atiku would say,the most critical question is-are you better off than you were 4 years ago?.

PDP isn't why Buhari has failed.Let that sink in.