2018 People, Places, Things & Event

The year 2018 was full of various exciting and memorable moments. In our yearly tradition, we are bringing you close up of people, events, things and places that shaped the year.

Here is a recap of what went down in 2018:

AFRIMA Awards - The 5th All Africa Music Awards were held Accra, Ghana.  The prestigious awards which is in its fifth edition went down at the Accra Interntaional Conference Centre Ghana with a galaxy of stars gathered from across the continent. Davido emerged as the biggest winner as he was crowned Africa's 'Artist of the year' defeating the likes of Tiwa Savage, Nasty C and Diamond Platnumz.

Akinwunmi Ishola - Veteran playwright, novelist, actor, dramatist, culture activist and scholar,  Professor Akinwunmi Ishola, died at the age of 78, a month before his 79th birthday and a year before his 80th birthday. The Yoruba literary scholar whose works include Efúnṣetán Aníwúra, Iyálóde Ìbàdàn, Tinúubú, Ìyálóde Ẹgbá, among others died in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Anthony Joshua - Anthony Joshua stopped Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles after a bruising battle.  heavyweight titles.

Artificial Intelligence – The popularity of AI keeps soaring, especially in the Tech, Autos  and Mobile Devices world. Artificial Intelligence isn’t only limited to powerful supercomputers and big devices; it is also becoming a part and parcel of smartphones and wearable devices and equipment. Edge computing is emerging as the next big area in AI. The functioning of AI is getting more versatile with each passing day.

ASUU Strike – There has been an ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The union is asking the federal government to uphold an earlier agreement they have with the government regarding funding. ASUU declared an indefinite nationwide strike on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at its NEC meeting held at the Federal University of Technology, Akure.

Big Brother Naija (Double Wahala) – The third season of Big Brother Naija tagged 'Double Wahala' created a huge buzz.  Miracle emerging the winner after 85 days of the competition with 19 other housemates. The reality show no doubt made billions from fans SMS as the host of the show, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, revealed that over 170 million votes were cast in the course of the season, 30 million of it coming in the final week.

Black Panther – Black Panther is a American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Black Panther premiered in Los Angeles on January 29, 2018, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 16, in 2D, 3D, IMAX and other premium large formats. It became the 9th-highest-grossing film of all time with over $1.35 billion worldwide, breaking numerous box office records including the highest-grossing film by a black director, and becoming the highest-grossing 2018 film in the U.S. and Canada and second-highest-grossing film of 2018 worldwide.

Boko Haram  - After been ‘Technically Defeated’ and the local governments under Boko Haram control was reclaimed, the deadly terrorists group resumed pockets of attacks in 2018 but unlike in the past, the Nigerian military are curtailing their excesses swiftly.

BREXIT – It was a tough year for the British prime minster, Theresa May who is finding it very difficult to convince the parliament to allow Britain to exit the European Union in what has been popularly known as BREXIT. The Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, but many people are now calling for a second referendum after realizing that Britain’s exits from the EU may not be a favourable one.

Burna Boy – Nigeria’s afro-fusion star, Burna Boy scored a hit with his monster single, YE. The artiste also went ahead to have a sold-out concert tagged “Burna Live” on December 26, 2018 at EKO Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos

Cardi B – Hip Hop diva, Cardi B and her husband, Offset welcomed their first child together, but Offset’s fourth. The baby girl was named Kulture Kiari Cephus. Cardi B later had a feud with rival, Nicki Minaj which led to a physical altercation at the New York Fashion Week party.

Childish Gambino - Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover had a hot 2018 thanks in part to his smash single “This is America”. The song addresses the wider issue of gun violence in the United States, the high rate of mass shootings in the United States, along with longstanding racism and discrimination against African Americans. The song’s video received about 12.9 million views in 24 hours, and has over 460 million views on YouTube.

Davido – After a big buzz with his new lover, Chioma and scoring a hit with the single ‘Assurance’, Davido again made the headlines when his pictures arriving the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp pop up on the internet. It was later reported in the media that NYSC) canceled the compulsory one-year orientation exercise over his inability to keep up with the provisions of the NYSC. It will be recalled that despite being a member of the NYSC, Davido travelled outside Lagos State and also campaigned for the Peoples Democratic Party during the Osun election. These  are contrary to section 31 of the NYSC Bye-Law (Revised 2011) which warned NYSC members not to engage in private practice.

D’banj - Nigerian singer, entertainer and entrepreneur, D’banj, and wife Lineo Kilgrow, lost their one-year-old son, Daniel Oyebanjo III.

The toddler reportedly drowned at a pool in the singer’s residence in Ikoyi, Lagos. The singer took to his Instagram page to announce the sad news by posting a black image with the caption: “Trying Times. But my God is Always and Forever Faithful.”

Dr Oluyinka Olutoye – This brilliant Nigerian surgeon carried out a successful surgery on an unborn baby at a Texas hospital in the US. According to medical reports, the unborn baby had sacrococcygeal teratoma, a rare tumour that appeared at the base of the baby’s tailbone. These types of tumours, it is estimated, occur in about one of 40,000 pregnancies, and if left unchecked, could continue taking the baby’s blood supply and eventually cause heart failure. To carry out the operation on the baby named Lynlee Hope at 23 weeks, Olutoye and his team removed her from her mother’s womb, operated on her and then returned her to the womb where the injuries from her operation healed and she continued to grow until she was born again at 36 weeks.

Emmanuel Macron – France president, Emmanuel Macron paid a state’s visit to Nigeria in his latest attempt to forge closer ties with English-speaking Africa. During his visit to Nigeria, Macron visited the New Afrikan Shrine in company with the State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode as part of Season of African Cultures 2020, a French celebration of Africa’s rich and diverse cultures.He was later presented with a drawing of himself by 11-year-old artist Kareem Waris Olamilekan who drew him under two hours. He was then taken on a tour of the shrine by Femi Anikulapo Kuti.

Eco Bank - In continuation of its youth engagement program in tertiary institutions across the country, Ecobank stormed some selected  Nigerian campuses with Ecobank Xpress Account Concert. This initiative avails students of tertiary institutions the opportunity to open the Ecobank Xpress account, a digital account that requires no documentation, minimum balance or paperwork, simply by downloading the Ecobank Mobile app. Students who took part in various competitions at the event  won prizes ranging from laptops, tablets and fridges, among others.

Falz – Rap head Falz made a cover of Childish Gambino’s hit track “This Is America” and called it “This Is Nigeria”. The hiphop act in the song addressed  various social issues in Nigeria and like the American version, the song went viral that it caught the eyes of hiphop mogul Sean Combs aka Diddy who talked about it on his Instagram. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) later threatened to drag Falz to court over what they termed, “inciting” video.

Florida School Killing - On February 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing seventeen students and staff members and injuring seventeen others.

Genevieve Nnaji - On September 7, a few days before its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival(TIFF) , it was announced that Netflix had acquired Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut, Lion Heart, making it the first Nigerian Netflix Original movie.

Gov Ambode – Lagos State sitting governor, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode became the first that won’t be running for a second term due to intra-party politics. The governor lost at the party primary to Babajide Sanwo-olu

GT Bank Habari - Leading African financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, has announced the launch of Habari. Habari is a GTbank powered platform for music, shopping and lifestyle contents. The mobile app is said to be “a simple, smart and exciting digital app that adds value to users’ lives. It is the first of its kind created by a financial institution.

iPhone X – Apple launched the exquisite and the most expensive iPhone with a $1,000 price tag at the Steve Jobs Theater on the company's new Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. 

Jamal Kashoggi - Saudi Arabian dissident, author, columnist for The Washington Post, and a general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel was assassinated at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by agents of the Saudi government.

Kendrick Lamar - On Wednesday afternoon (May 30), Kendrick Lamar made history when he became the first non-classical or jazz musician but a hip-hop act to win a Pulitzer Prize in music for his acclaimed 2017 album DAMN.

King of Boys – Filmmaker, Kemi Adetiba scored a big one with her latest box office flick, King of Boys. The thriller movie which was released at the tail end of 2018 broke many records. "King of Boys" is the fifth-highest-grossing Nigerian film by domestic gross (226,144,653 ₦). “King of Boys” starred Adesua Etomi, Sola Sobowale, Paul Sambo, Osas Ajibade, Toni Tones, Sani Muazu, Demola Adedoyin, Akin Lewis and Omoni.  The movie also features popular rappers Ill Bliss and Reminisce in their movie debut roles.

Kunle Kembe - Nollywood filmmaker Kunle Afolayan  launched an African inspired clothing line called Kunle’s Kembe. Kunle’s clothing line showcases an array of beautiful unisex, African print baggy styled pants inspired by the Kembe – baggy trousers popular among the Yorubas.

Leah Sharibu - Leah was one of the schoolgirls kidnapped in Dapchi, Yobe State, by Boko Haram, but she was held back when others were released because she refused to convert to Islam.

Luka Modrić - Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named the Best Men’s Player at 2018 The Best FIFA Football Awards, fighting off competition from fellow nominees Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.

The award caps off an incredible year for Modric, who won his fourth Champions League title with Real Madrid in May, before leading his country to a World Cup final in July and being crowned UEFA Men’s Player of the Year last month.

Leicester City - On 27 October 2018, an Agusta Westland AW169helicopter crashed shortly after take-off from the King Power Stadium, the home ground of Leicester City Football Club in Leicester, United Kingdom. All five people on board – the pilot and four passengers, including club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha – were killed.

Linda Ikeji - Nigeria's super blogger, Linda Ikeji gave birth to a baby boy, in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. The blogger, whose pregnancy made headlines in the past months and generated a lot of interest, broke the news of the birth of the baby boy herself on her @officiallindaikeji Instagram account. Though the paternity of the baby was shrewd in secrecy, his identity was later revealed to be Sholaye Jeremi. 

Made Kuti - Fela Anikulapo Kuti's Grandson, Made Graduates From Music School.

The happy father, Femi Kuti took to Instagram to share the good news with a happy looking picture of himself, Made and his wife, Funke.

Omorinmade studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London where he obtained BMus in Composition.

Interestingly, this is the same school Made’s legendary grand-dad Fela Anikulapo Kuti graduated from.

Mike Adenuga - The French President, Emmanuel Macron during his visitation to Nigeria conferred France’s highest national honour of Commander of the Legion of Honour on Globacom Chairman, Dr Mike Adenuga, Jr.

Dr. Adenuga thus becomes the first Nigerian to be decorated with the award.

Explaining why the French Government decided to confer the country’s highest honour on Adenuga, President Macron said the legendary business guru is “a true role model for Africa” who has contributed immensely to the growth of the African and French economy.

President Macron applauded Dr Adenuga on his promotion of the French language and culture in Nigeria.

Miss Kanekalon – The annual Miss Kanekalon grand finale which took place on July 14th, 2018 at Landmark Event Centre was definitely an exciting experience as Stephanie Iloabachie from Port Harcourt, a true African damsel adorned with beauty and brains, emerged Miss Kanekalon 2018.

Stephanie is a graduate of sociology. She aspires to be a fashion designer of international standard.  She recently applied to attend a fashion school so she can fulfill her dream to become a successful fashion designer in a few years.

MTN Campus Invasion – MTN in her usual grand style stormed selected Nigerian higher institutions with her Campus Invasion event. There were lots of activities packed into the four days of the Invasion. The students had Football Matches, engagement with a Life Coach, Parties, Games, Giveaways, Star Performances by MTN brand ambassadors, etc.  

Migrant Caravans -  Migrant caravans have traveled through Central America for several years, part human rights protest, part effort to guarantee safe passage for Central Americans traversing a dangerous route north. Last year’s group, with about 7,000 people, was dwarfed by the roughly 400,000 people who were apprehended at the U.S. border in 2018, as well as the more than 100,000 who applied for asylum in that period. But it became a major focus for President Trump, who attempted to use the specter of an invading caravan to rally his supporters.

Mo Abudu - Media mogul Mo Abudu announced the partnership deal between EbonyLife Limited and Sony Pictures Television. The 3 year deal which is to co-develop 3 exciting scripted TV projects to be distributed internationally. The three-project deal, the first of its kind between SPT and a Nigerian production company, will also include a TV series inspired by the Dahomey Warriors. The action-packed series, inspired by true events that took place in the West African Kingdom of Dahomey, will tell the empowering story of the all-female Warriors and show the ultimate strength of women coming together, fighting to protect and honour their people.

NETFLIX – Netflix popularity continue to soar especially in Nigeria. A torrent of Netflix-produced content – 700 original TV shows and 80 films this year alone – has kept the fans rolling in and made Netflix a darling with investors. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Netflix had over 148 million streaming subscribers worldwide.

NIKE Controversial Advert - Nike releases controversial Colin Kaepernick advert which sparked up a row amongst some Nike customers who started burning their Nike shoes and put up the video on social media.  Kaepernick already had a deal with Nike that was set to expire, but it was renegotiated into a multiyear agreement to make him one of the faces of Nike's 30th anniversary "Just Do It'' campaign.

Naomi Osaka – Naomi Osaka, who was brought up in New York after her family moved over from Japan had the golden moment of her career when she won the 2018 grand slam, Wimbledon beaten her idol, Serena Williams to win the coveted trophy.

OAU Sex-For-Marks Scandal – A former lecturer in the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele, who was dragged to court for demanding sex to pass one of his students, Monica Osagie, was sentenced to two years in prison by a Federal High Court in Osun State. The judge who presided over the case sentenced Akindele to 24 months jail-term for asking Monica for a sexual benefit and handed him another 24 months jail-term for soliciting from the victim sexual benefit to pass her.

Olamide OLIC – HipHop star, Olamide had the fifth edition of his annual concert on 23rd of December 2018 at Eko hotel Convention Center, Victoria Island, Lagos. #OLIC is an annual headline concert by the rapper, where he gets to relate with his fans.

PEPSI DJ Brand Ambassadors - Multinational Company, Pepsi took her support for the Nigerian entertainment industry to another level by signing on four superstar DJs as their DJ Ambassadors! These DJs; Obi, Cuppy, Spinall and Xclusive all shared the amazing news accompanied with an announcement video on their various Instagram pages to their fans.

Prince Charles - The Prince of Wales, Charles, and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, visited Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari received the royal couple upon their arrival in the country at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Prince Charles has made three previous official visits to Nigeria in 1990, 1999 and 2006. This is the first visit of the Duchess of Cornwall to the country.

Rihanna Education Fund - Rihanna Helps World Leaders Raise Over Two Billion For Education. The actress, singer, dancer, beauty and fashion mogul, and big-time philanthropist, The multi-talented icon added a splash of celebrity to the fundraising conference for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in Senegal, Africa. The GPE is a multinational effort to fund education in developing countries, and the Barbados-born Rihanna is the organization's "global ambassador."

Samuel Mensah - A former student of the Opoku Ware SHS, 18 year old Samuel Mensah, has set kind of a record by being accepted into 8 U.S institutes of higher education.
8 Colleges in the U.S.A wants Mensah to study with them, including three in the prestigious Ivy League.
Gaining admission into Ivy League schools is the dream of millions of senior high graduates in the U.S and across the world, with those eight ‘Ivy League’ schools considered the creme de la creme of universities in the World.
The GPA average of U.S schools is 3.0, but the GPA average of the lowest Ivy League school is 3.90. Over 200,000 students apply every year and less than 10% of that number gain admission.

The Royal Wedding  -  The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The groom, Prince Harry, is a member of the British royal family; the bride, Meghan Markle, is an American former actress.

The Future Award Africa - The Future Awards Africa dubbed  the Nobel Prize for Young Africans, and the most important youth awards by Forbes was held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The 2018 edition had the Not Too Young to Rule sponsor, Samson Itodo, emerged the winner of 2018 Future Awards Young Person of the Year.

Tiger Woods - In winning his 80th PGA Tour event and first since 2013, Woods showed the magic is still alive, ending a 5-year drought. The outcome of the 2018 Tour Championship was never in doubt on as Tiger Woods picked up his first victory since 2013 by rolling to a final-round 71 and two-stroke win over Billy Horschel.

Tiwa Savage -  Singer and songwriter Tiwatope 'Tiwa Savage' Balogun started 2018 by getting featured on Vogue’s ‘World 100: These Are the People Who Are Inspiring Us Right Now’ in February.

Soon after, she headlined her debut UK show at the Indigo at the O2 Arena before a sold-out audience on August 24th. In November, Savage beat strong contenders like Davido to make history by becoming the first African female to win Best African Act at the MTV EMAs. 

She rounded up the year by sharing the stage with Beyonce and Jay Z at the Global Citizen Festival in South Africa and getting featured in the December edition of British Vogue.

Tosyn Bucknor - Nigerian media personality, actress and social media content creator Tosyn Bucknor died died due to complications from sickle cell. The deceased was reportedly found dead by her husband, Aurelien Boyer, when he arrived at home from work.

Unity Bank Unifi – In her bid to take banking closer to the campus students, Unity Bank alongside her brand ambassador, pop star Adekunle Gold stormed some selected Nigerian higher institution with the Unity Bank Unifi Campus Storm. The Unifi train hit Unilag, Unijos, UniIbadan among others. Unifi is a tier 1 savings account with a 300k deposit threshold/limit, zero opening and minimum account balance, it is available to youths between the ages of 16-35.

Wizkid - Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known Wizkid, had a year so good we are just going to call 2018 Wizkid's year.

He kicked off things by becoming the first African act to sell out London's 20,000-capacity O2 Arena in May. He also performed at loads of international shows like the Reading Festival, UK and the recent 2018 Global Citizen Festival in South Africa, where he performed with the likes of Beyonce, Jay Z and Pharrell.

Outside the music, he had a great impact on Pop culture made evident by the fact that his Super Eagles World Cup jersey, designed by athletic apparel giant 'Nike' sold out 10 minutes after launching. He took things to a whole new level by walking the Dolce and Gabbana Runway alongside top model, Naomi Campbell, hanging out with Diddy at his US home and getting an official 'Wizkid Day' declared in his honour by the US State of Minnesota.

Wizkid's year ends with a high note with his song 'Fever' named as the top trending songs of the year. His other songs 'Manya' and 'Soco' also dominated the list.

World Cup - The 2018 FIFA World Cup which was the 21st FIFA World Cup was held in Russia. It was the first World Cup to be held in Eastern Europe, and the 11th time that it had been held in Europe. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup.  It was also the first World Cup to use the video assistant referee (VAR) system. The competition was won by France.