Temie Giwa
It is a remarkable thing when people come together to pick the person they feel has exerted the most influence over them within a given year. The idea of the “Time Person of the Year “ began in 1927 with a profile of Charles Lindbergh, a 25-year-old Man whose solitary flight from New York to Paris won him the Orteig Prize. He became Times Magazine first Man of the Year. The Prize goes to “a person, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that “for better or for worse, …has done the most to influence the events of the year”. The person could either be a positive influence or a contentious one. Historically, the winners of the awards have been quite the diverse group. The Earth, Queen Elizabeth, Albert Einstein have all won the honor. However so have Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin.
The idea values influence, and influence potentially could mean change. The more influence you have, the likely you will continue to influence more people and disrupt the current depressing status quo. Nigeria needs people who are willing to influence others for change. The idea of the Nigerian person of the year follows the same logic. Who has exerted the most influence in Nigeria in 2010? How have they used this influence? Is it for betterment of our Nation? Or has this individual’s influence guaranteed that we will continue to face the same challenges.
I conducted a minor poll on twitter this morning and I asked my followers to nominate a person they felt deserves to be named the Nigerian of the year. The top nominee was Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, followed by MI Abaga, the Nigerian Judiciary and Dora Akinyuli.
So to make this more democratic, I thought to ask for more nominations. So please tell me in the comment box who is your Nigerian person of the year. Who, in your opinion has influenced Nigerians the most in 2010?
You can nominate until December 23rd and voting will start the day after that, and we shall announce the Nigerian person of the year on December 31.
Remember to nominate “a person, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that “for better or for worse, …has done the most to influence the events of the year”.