READ ALSO: 30 People Who Made The News In 2015 (Part 2)
25. Oba of Lagos
His Royal Highness, Oba Rilwan Akiolu I, the current Oba of Lagos was born and bred in Isale-Eko, Lagos. He was inducted on July 9, 2003. Prior to his ascension to the throne, Akiolu (also known as Eleko of Eko) was a senior police officer who in his spare time practised Law in Lagos.
In April 2015, Lagosians woke up to a public threat of genocide by Oba Akiolu against the 6 million Igbo population living in the state
Akiolu, who said that Lagos belonged to him, vowed that if the Igbo population does not vote for his preferred candidate in the governorship election, Akinwunmi Ambode, he would throw them all in the Lagoon.
He was quoted as saying: “On Saturday, if anyone of you goes against Ambode who I picked, that is your end. If it doesn’t happen within seven days, just know that I am a bastard and it is not my father who gave birth to me.
“On Saturday, if anyone of you, I swear in the name of God, goes against my wish that Ambode will be the next governor of Lagos State, the person is going to die inside this water.”
The threat went viral on Social Media as Nigerians vented their spleen with insults at the Oba.
After much resolve to calm the anger and umbrage arising from the inflammatory “vote for APC or perish” remarks by Oba Akiolu, to the Igbo residents in Lagos State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state tendered an apology and urged them to ignore the threat by the Oba.
24. Linda Ikeji
Linda Ikeji, who is one of Nigeria’s most successful bloggers, is also a writer, model and entrepreneur best known for her controversial publications and her media contributions to the development of the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Linda was given birth to on September 19, 1980, and then raised in a Catholic family from Imo State, Nigeria. She had a stinted romantic relationship with a CoolFM presenter, Dan Foster.
Sister Linda, who had part-time jobs as a waitress, model and writer, ventured into the Blogosphere in 2006 on the platform “Linda Ikeji’s Blog”. She studied English language at the University of Lagos.
In October 2015, news of Linda Ikeji’s N600 million mansion in Banana Island filtered the internet after her sister Laura Ikeji shared pictures of the mansion on Instagram.
Few hours later, Twitter users in Nigerian reacted to Ikeji’s mind boggling inquisition. While much of her numerous fans urged her to make marriage her primary focus. Others were of the option that her chances were becoming slimmer by the day due to her increasing wealth.
Linda, who is believed to be Nigeria’s highest earning blogger, recently refuted allegations that she was paid a whooping N240 million by the office of the ex-National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki. She was reacting to an insinuation by social media commentator, Kayode Ogundamisi who hinted that a certain popular female blogger based in Lagos was paid N240 million.
23. David Oyedepo
David Oyedepo is the founder and the presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church World Wide, also known as Winners’ Chapel, in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. His church has a 50,000 seat church auditorium, and it is reported to be the largest church auditorium in the world by the Guinness Book of Records.
On September 27, 1954 David Olaniyi Oyedepo was born in Osogbo, Nigeria, but is a native of Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria. He was raised in a mixed religious family His father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim healer. His mother, Dorcas, was a member of the Eternal Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement (C&S), a branch of the Aladura movement in Nigeria.
In 1982 he got married Florence Abiola Akano (now known as Faith). They have four children together: David Jr, Isaac, Love and Joys. David Jr and Isaac Oyedepo were ordained as Pastors in May 2007 by Kenneth Copeland. David Jr pastors the London Branch of the Church with his wife, Kemi, while Isaac Oyedepo is the present Resident Pastor of Winners’ Chapel International, South Africa.
Grapevines alleged that Bishop David refused to help his half-sister, who lives in abject poverty in Lagos, only because she is not Christian. Alhaja Saratu Bello is a Muslim.
In January 2015, Nigerians in Twitter-sphere reacted to allegations that the prominent cleric threatened to open the gate of hell on those opposing President Goodluck Jonathan. However, indications emerged that Bishop Oyedepo never said those opposing the president but those against Nigeria.
Reacting to the rumours, the opposition party, All Progressives Congress, APC and its supporters took to the social media to criticise the Bishop, saying that: “Go and Open the gates of Hell… We will enter there and use our PVCs to CHANGE the Padlock and Lock you inside – APC Supporter”.
22. Zahra Buhari
Zahra Buhari, who was given birth to on the 18th of December, 1994, is the fifth daughter of President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, born to him by the current wife, Aisha.
She studied Microbiology at the University of Survey, UK, which, according to speculations, has a tuition fee of 30,000 pound.
In January 2015, Zahra ‘broke Nigerian Twitter’ when her photos surfaced and lots of young Nigerian Twitter users tried to woo her. Others gave her views about her father’s political ambitions and lots more. Some months later, Zahra was accused of kicking some young girls out of a boutique in Abuja boutique.
Rumours later filtered in that Kaduna state, Governor Nasir el-Rufai was set to wed Zahra. The report though doubtful, generated much reaction from some Nigerians who took to social media to express their opinion.
In July 2015, the attention of the Presidency was drawn to unauthorized and unexpected Tweets by an account falsely linked to Zahra Buhari (@Zahra_Buhari). The account which was compromised by hackers long time ago was accused of tweeting unsavoury comments against some foreign leaders.
The Presidency, in regards to the development, officially issued a statement that Zahra’s authentic handle is @ZmBuhari and any handle other than this on Twitter should be considered as fake and therefore fraudulent.
21. Hajj Pilgrims
The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage in Mecca prescribed as a duty for Muslims to undertake at least once in their lifetime if they can afford to do so physically and financially. The 2015 Hajj took place against a backdrop of regional turmoil (including wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya),
On 24 September 2015, a crowd collapse caused the deaths of over 2,411 pilgrims, (AP) who were suffocated and crushed during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Mecca.
If AP’s tally is accurate, it would make this year’s stampede the deadliest-ever Hajj incident. The previous anti-record dates back to 1990, when 1,426 people were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading out of Mecca towards Mina.
READ ALSO: Hajj Stampede: Number Of Dead Nigerians Reaches 199
The incident happened in Mina at the intersection of streets 204 and 223 leading up to Jamaraat Bridge. The cause of the disaster is disputed. The Mina disaster inflamed tensions between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which were already raised due to the wider turmoil in the Middle East, such as the Syrian Civil War and Yemeni Civil War.
Overall, more than 20 countries from across Africa, Asia and the Middle East have reported having citizens killed and missing. Nigeria was among countries with the highest death toll.
Most notable among the victims are Tijani El-Miskin, a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Maiduguri and Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, who was the first female editor from the northern part of Nigeria.
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