by Wilfred oKiche

It only feels like yesterday when Olamide threw a hissy fit at the stage of the Headies because his protégé Lil Kesh failed to win the Next Rated prize, and the car that comes with it. That was on January 1, the first day of the year.

Twelve months have come and gone in quick succession, each bringing along their fair share of challenges, triumphs, opportunities and disappointments. In all, it does seem like 2016 was a terribly bloody year, as the tragedies threatened to overpower the positives. And for most of the time, especially if you pay attention to the news cycle, they did. The headlines are proof.

The country enters a recession for the first time in decades. Terror attacks by murderous herdsmen in the North and Middle belt. Killings and reprisal attacks in Southern Kaduna. Boko Haram. Niger Delta Avengers. Akwa Ibom church collapse. Internally Displaced Persons camps of hell, hunger and starvation, Zika Virus. Brexit. Psquarexit. Donald Trump. All in one bloody, event packed year. Could it get any worse? It did.

The politicians, except some few exceptions performed dismally and the All Progressives Congress’ Change mantra felt like a turn for the worse. From President Buhari and his inner circle to Governors Aregbesola, Bello and El-Rufai, it all seemed like the ruling class were fresh out of ideas and were actually doing more harm than good.

But out of the hopelessness, Peter Obi stopped by to remind us that most of our wounds are self-inflicted, Borno state’s Kashim Shettima brought empathy on board as an essential part of governance and Willie Obiano may like his self-serving billboards, but Anambra state under his leadership seems the better for it.

There were also moments of beauty elsewhere. Nollywood for one was another light in the void of darkness. The movies released were more ambitious, bigger, better and bolder. Fresh stars were discovered (Somkele Idhalama) and enduring ones (Bimbo Akintola, Ramsey Nouah) seemed to endure.

The Arbitration showed some out of the box thinking in terms of screenplay and set up. 93 Days was a competent narration of one of Nigeria’s finest moments. The long in the works ’76 arrived amidst critical and (hopefully) commercial acclaim. The Wedding Party is a superbly marketed product of collaboration between various Nollywood teams.

All of these films in their own different ways point to new directions for Nollywood should practitioners decide to leave their comfort zones. Writing that is thought through, cinematic adaptations of real life stories/events, and strategic alliances.

The music too was a highlight.

Wizkid put Nigeria on the international map but that is merely scratching the surface of the awesomeness that the music scene has become. New comer Kiss Daniel put out a debut pop album that put veterans to shame, so did Abuja based Lindsey Abudei and pop soulstress Aramide too. Bez returned with the atmospheric Gbagyi Child and Mr Eazi brought forth a sexy, brooding, but ultimately refreshing sound.

Which is not saying that the club bangers were slacking. Phyno, Olamide, Tekno and Timaya kept us on our feet and ensured that there was no shortage of hits.

The relative successes recorded in the arts and culture scene point to some lessons; that the news will always be morbidly terrifying and our circumstances may be less than optimum, but people will always need an escape from it all and when the local flavour is good enough, nobody needs to go outside in search for anything.

The politicians, policy makers and their social media hangers on need to understand this simple concept. Provide the environment, provide the space, get out of the way and watch magic happen. There is really no need to trend meaningless hashtags or pay social media influencers to distort the narrative. Whatever that is properly done tends to speak for itself.

Was 2016 the worst year ever? Maybe until the next one comes around.

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Medic. Writer. Reader. Critic. Occasional ruffler of feathers. Works in a health centre in Lagos but manages to find the time to pursue other interests. His writing has appeared on various print and online platforms. He has provided editorial assistance to the UK Guardian and appears on the culture tv show, Africana Literati. He tweets @drwill20