by Alexander O. Onukwue

As the festive season draws closer, the presentation of awards and recognitions have increased. Stocktaking on how the year has been spent has kicked in for most persons, and rebuilding plans for next year are being drafted.

However, while some future plans are geared towards producing good results, not every proclamation made in the past week has been received well as having potential positive values. In light of this, here are the past week’s winners and losers.

WINNERS

#ENDSARS

Change happens.

It has not happened yet, but the reaction so far generated from the #ENDSARS campaign on social media is another testament to the power of a people tired with the status quo. Shifting from its initial approach of denial, the Nigeria Police has now started reacting properly to the justified concerns of citizens by calling on Nigerians to support a new campaign to #ReformSARS. The Inspector General of Police, Idris K. Ibrahim, directed the immediate reorganization of the outfit, renaming it the Federal SARS. This would not have been possible but for those who fearlessly shared tragic stories of their encounters with the dreaded men in black.

Reforming SARS will involve more than the addition of the alphabet F to its name. But if ‘F’ could stand for something, it would be the “forward” march in the mindset of Nigerians that change happens when we want it.

Uche Secondus

After many months in disarray, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at last has elected a new National Working Committee. It will be headed by a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus. Mr Secondus secured victory against Prof Tunde Adeniran after no less than 4 candidates pulled out from the polls on Saturday. Having survived a near slide into dysfunction, the PDP will now rely on Secondus and his team to re-engineer the party towards the shape that saw it rule the country for the first sixteen years of the fourth republic. Secondus will have noticed Atiku Abubakar’s congratulatory message to him, noting that “it is time for all of us to come together to create a strong united PDP so we can get Nigeria working again”.

Nigeria’s New Tribe

The 12^th edition of the Future Awards was held in Lagos this week. Tagged Nigeria’s New Tribe, the 2017 nominees represented the best of youthful industry and enterprise across different works of life, from music and the arts to education and new media. Wizkid and Davido added more trophies to a glittering 2017 collection, while the tribe also included other winners like Eromo Egbjule for journalism, Olabisi Dada Mary for public service, Kenny Blaq for comedy, and Femi ‘Kraks’ Bakare for new media. There was a sober moment at the recognition of the award for Education, won by Pass.ng one of whose founders, Samson Abioye, passed on in July.

The Women who spoke out

2017 will go down in American history as the year of the fall of the great. The storm of revelations into sexual harassment issues in Hollywood that began with the fall of Harvey Weinstein spread to nearly every big media office and major newsroom, bringing the careers of former favourites such as House of Cards’ Kevin Spacey, Def Jam’s Russel Simmons and even congressmen like Al Franken and John Conyers Jr. TIME’s 2017 Person of the Year was, this week, was revealed as the women who dared to speak out on the issue. The cover featured actress Ashely Judd, singer/songwriter Taylor Swift and included an unidentified woman who represented all other persons who shared their stories but could not disclose their identities.

LOSERS

Rochas Okorocha

There is no depth to the bad news that can from the Imo state Government House. On a near weekly basis, Rochas Okorocha’s office produces tripe that swings emotions from laughter to bitterness and anger. His announcement of the Ministry of Happiness was bad enough in its right but the Governor made sure it was worse by naming his sister as the Commissioner. Okorocha continues to run Imo state as a personal empire, adding to a despicable record in 2017 in which he built a statue for a tainted Jacob Zuma for the benefit of the Rochas Foundation. In July, the loud mouthed Rochas said his successor may be stoned because it would be difficult for the person to replicate his achievements. But the truth is that Imo people are in agony over having to deal with this man for 15 more months.

Yahaya Bello

Like Okorocha, the Kogi state Governor is another whose manual of leadership is full of wrong priorities written in bad hand writing. How does a leader of any worth unveil a mansion and throw a house-warming jamboree when workers in his state are owed salaries of many months? With every public appearance Bello makes, it becomes more obvious the former civil servant was neither ready nor nearly suitable for the big cap he now wears. The people of Kogi still have about three years with him and the view is that this Governor’s regular shows of shame still has the chance of growing more gross.

Jimoh Moshood

The Police have continued to struggle to respond adequately to the #EndSARS campaign which gained more momentum in the past week following the deluge of negative reports on social media against the Police outfit. The move by CSP Moshood, as the Force PRO, to treat the concerns of Nigerians as non-existent was belittling and a continuation of the pattern of denials the Police has taken as its first response tactic. It’s not been too long ago that the Police had an amiable spokesperson of the calibre of Frank Mba.

Donald Trump

The US President took the controversial step of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, breaking with a long-standing tradition of his predecessors dating back to Harry Truman in the late 1940s in living the matter between both Israel and Palestine. To Trump, this was another against the grain move that aimed to prove that he was ready to take unpopular and making touchy proclamations. He wants the US Embassy moved to Jerusalem. He referred to this as a step towards realizing peace in that region of the world but the rise in tensions over the past days since the announcement was made point to the contrary. If a third intifada breaks out, there will be regrettable losses, and it will be Trump who will be termed as the chief architect.