THE RESILIENCE OF NIGERIANS ALSO DESERVES THISDAY RECOGNITION AND AN AWARD

The history of the "Man of the Year Award" appears to be as old as humanity itself. It is a media custom that honors and celebrates people who made a significant contribution to a social cause or who had a major impact in a particular year. "Time Magazine" came up with the idea for the initiative and made Charles Lindbergh the first recipient, honoring him for making the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in just 33 hours and 39 minutes. He was undoubtedly the hero of 1927. Martin Luther King, Jr., was another prominent person to appear on the front cover of "Time Magazine" on January 3, 1964. As a fervent supporter of equality, Martin Luther King organized a number of demonstrations in 1963 against the systemic racism and racial segregation that pervaded the US. The most pivotal year in the Negro's unrelenting and uncompromising struggle for equality was 1963. Time Magazine rightfully named the inspirational King "Man of the Year" in 1964 for his powerful letter from a Birmingham jail on April 16, 1963, and his speech at the March on Washington in August 1963, where he gave the famous "I HAVE A DREAM" speech.

Notable people from various areas of life have appeared on Time magazine's front cover as "Persons of the Year" since 1999, when the Man of the Year or Woman of the Year title was changed to Person of the Year. Other categories, like Hero of the Year, Athlete of the Year, CEO of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, and Guardians of the Year in 2019, Kid of the Year in 2020, Breakthroughs of the Year, Dreamer of the Year, Icon of the Year, and Innovator of the Year in 2022, Team of the Year in 2023, and Community of the Year in 2024, are occasionally added to Time's annual recognition in partnership with a partner company. In the year 1998, Mark McGwire received the Hero of the Year award. Before McGwire's 70 home runs in 1998 became a baseball historical landmark, Roger Maris held the single-season record of 61 home runs in 1961 for 37 years. Similar to this, athletes like LeBron James and Lionel Messi have earned the Athlete of the Year award in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Numerous news outlets and organizations, including GQ magazine, Esquire magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, The Economist, Forbes, Financial Times, and others, have followed Time magazine's example since its founding in 1927 by honoring people who had a noteworthy and influential impact in their respective fields during a given year. 

The well-known Nigerian national newspaper, THISDAY, which was founded on January 22, 1995, is not an exception as it also adopted Time magazine's "Man of the Year" project and concept. The first recipient of the Man of the Year award and subsequent recipients of this annual tradition are not entirely clear (or maybe it was just something that started with the President and no one had ever graced the newspaper's cover page as the Man of the year before). Its recent selection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the "Man of the Year" was not warmly received, though. And regardless of the criteria that led to THISDAY's contentious decision to name the President the "Man of the Year," Nigerians are less concerned because it is widely held that anyone who receives recognition from the news media must have continuously upheld high standards of integrity in their field of influence, avoided scandals or controversies that could damage their reputation or public image, received widespread recognition for efforts and accomplishments that inspire others through their actions, vision, and resolve, and worked to improve society by advancing causes like justice, education, or humanitarianism. Prior to being named the man of the year by any news outlet, he must, above all, be the man of the people. He must also have national legitimacy, as is the case with an incumbent president. However, disgruntled Nigerians who have had their "hope dashed" instead of being "renewed" as promised in the "Renewed Hope" slogan during the most recent general election campaign and who have been subjected to "Tinubunomics" felt that the "Emilokan" (it's my turn) proponent fell short of the previously mentioned standards to some or a significant degree. Thus, the anticipated controversy that followed his "Man of the Year" award.

In actuality, the "Jagaban" was not the first to cause controversy about the popular choice of THISDAY and the public's unwillingness to accept such media acknowledgment. There was opposition to the appointment of individuals such as Ayatollah Khomeini (1979), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942), Nikita Khrushchev (1957), and Adolf Hitler (1938). All of these, however, are fallacies regarding this yearly media award because the recipient of this esteemed honor is not solely a symbol of honor; rather, it is a recognition of the one who, for better or worse, had the most impact on the news that year. And in the light of this harsh reality, THISDAY is correct in selecting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Man of the year.

However, the poor and suffering Nigerians who have been at the receiving end of the so-called economic reforms should have been the ones to grace the cover page of the "Man of the year" award; the Nigerian who chose to cook with firewood because he or she could no longer afford the price of refilling again should have been the "Man of the year" award; and the dropped-out children whose parents could no longer afford to bankroll their educational pursuit again due to hardships should have been on the front page of THISDAY. THISDAY ought to have honored the Nigerian who was unable to pay for the needs of life as the "Man of the Year." At this stage, I will like to borrow an excerpt from Festus Adedayo's article of "Suffering Nigerians Deserve Man of the Year Award, Not Tinubu". In his piece, Adedayo wrote and I quote, "My choice for the Nigerian Man of the Year will be you; yes, you! In the year that just ended, the Nigerian has gone through an excruciating time. The Nigerian Man of the Year is the president’s friend who tumbled down from owning five Rolls Royce and now rides a Honda Accord, while his friend, the president, rides a Cadillac Escalade and flies a presidential jet that costs about $150 million. My Man of the Year is the Nigerian who is still breathing under this suffocating economy; who can hardly pay his child’s school fees. My Man of the Year pick is the elderly Nigerian who can hardly afford the cost of his drugs but manages nevertheless. My Man of the Year has suffered untold hardship in the hands of Thisday’s Man of the Year pick. Step forward to receive your award, longsuffering Nigerian!"

ThisDAY's definition of "resilience" and the context in which it was used to secure the President's cover page as the "Man of the Year" are unknown to me, but Tinubu's toughness and resilience—in addition to the smiling picture of the man whom many sentimentally believed to be the cause of their collective pains and sufferings—have earned him the title of "Man of the Year." In actuality, though, Nigerians' tenacity and how they weathered the previous turbulent year—which was marked by rising living expenses, the elimination of subsidies, the devaluation of the naira, and the social unrest brought on by these policies—should have received more recognition than the man who appeared to be grinning on the front page of a major newspaper to give the president the impression that he had done a fantastic job of providing relief to the masses. 

While I prefer not to engage in the debate over whether the President merits recognition as "Man of the Year," it’s worth noting that this borrowed media tradition is often misunderstood, as its criteria are not solely based on "goodness." That said, I believe honoring and celebrating the collective resilience and tenacity of Nigerians as "Persons of the Year"—highlighting how they have navigated the challenges posed by the administration’s indecision and lack of clear policy direction—would have been more fitting. Such recognition would far outweigh the choice of a leader whose actions, starting on May 29, 2023, have dashed the hopes of those who believed he would surpass his predecessor in governance, rather than renewing them.