The Y!/YNaija.com Person of the Year is in its fifth year and is awarded to the
individual who has most visibly influenced the Nigerian society for good in the
past year, breaking new boundaries or consolidating on gains – and driving the
advancement of the public, especially young people.
The editors announced
there was no winner for its first edition in 2011. The 2012 winner was
entrepreneur and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. The 2013 winner was tech
industry trailblazer, Jason Njoku and the 2014 winner was Obiageli Ezekwesili
for championing active citizenship and entrenching the idea of the 'Office of
the Citizen'.
The shortlist is announced following the decision of
editors as well as feedback from readers and social media audiences. Voting
commences today, Friday, 20 November and closes after a month on Sunday, 20
December.
The Y!/YNaija.com Person of the Year 2015 shortlist:
Bunmi
Akinyemiju and Kunmi Demuren, business
Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan,
politics
Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, politics
Ibukun Awosika,
business
Attahiru Jega, public service
Goodluck Jonathan, public
service
David Oyedepo, education
Simdul Shagaya, technology
Bola Ahmed
Tinubu, politics
Josephine Ugwu, citizens
The profiles:
Bunmi
Akinyemiju 37 and Kunmi Demuren
The duo of Bunmi Akinyemiju and Kunmi
Dumeren, both experienced and successful business executives, presently manage
Venture Garden Nigeria (VGN), a holding company for a group of financial
technology entities providing data-driven technology platforms. Their
stewardship of VGN made perhaps the biggest headlines in the financial
technology ecosystem this year when it was announced that they had raised
$20million from Convergence Partners in exchange for a minority stake. Even
though the terms of the deal aren’t in the public domain, this has been the
largest Series A round for a Nigerian entity to date. They have set new
standards for the possibilities in business across the
sub-region.
Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, 56
“Aisha don’t give up”.
Those were president Buhari’s words of encouragement to Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan
when the results of the hotly contested Taraba state gubernatorial elections
came in and she found herself trailing Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP). Mr President needn’t have bothered, for like a certain female
former prime minister of England, Al-Hassan has been doing battles all her life.
A trained lawyer, Al-Hassan became the first female to be appointed attorney
general in Taraba state. She would later become the first elected female senator
from the state, serving in the 7th Senate from 2011 to 2015. Refusing to let
issues like gender, religion or a federal appointment get in her way, Al-Hassan
scored a massive win for females in Nigerian politics when the state electoral
tribunal nullified the victory of Mr Ishaku and declared her winner of the guber
polls. Barring any other judicial reinterpretations, Al-Hassan is on course to
become the first female elected governor of the federal republic.
How’s
that for leaning in?
Rotimi Amaechi, 50
Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi
received a thankless and unattractive job offer when he was tasked with chairing
the 2015 presidential campaign of General Muhammadu Buhari. A perennial seeker
of the highest office in the land, Buhari was at the time an unattractive
candidate whose stern, uncompromising features had been rejected by voters
nationwide on at least 3 separate occasions. Amaechi took to his new assignment
like a man with plenty to prove. And indeed he had. Locked in an epic political
battle of wills with former president Goodluck Jonathan, Amaechi spared no turn
reimagining and reinventing candidate Buhari with a focus on the younger
generation. Assembling a cracker-jack team comprising some of the most dedicated
professionals and committed volunteers this side of the world, and benefitting
from a lacklustre outing by the past administration, Amaechi chipped away
gradually at Buhari’s inadequacies, polishing his candidate to a nice, shinning
gloss. The result? A landmark electoral process that peaked with the
unprecedented defeat of an incumbent administration.
Ibukun Awosika,
53
Ibukun Awosika isn’t the first female Nigerian to chair the management
board of a top tier bank, but her elevation this year to the chairmanship of the
board of directors of First Bank Nigeria Holdings, one of Nigeria’s most revered
institution, points to the conclusion that 2015 is indeed the year of the
Nigerian woman in business. And it is only befitting that this honour would come
to the woman who has through her life and career blazed the trail for her gender
and empowered and inspired thousands to reach for their dreams. Impossible is
nothing, according to the Ibukun Awosika playbook. Whether it is her work with
The Chair Centre and its group of subsidiaries which she runs, her passion for
development and mentoring evidenced by the soar away non-profit, Women in
Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) which she co-founded in 2001,
or her contributions to nationhood via public service, Awosika remains a leading
light and beacon of hope for women - and men.
Attahiru Jega,
58
Professor Attahiru Jega is no stranger to public service. As a lecturer
and union leader in the eighties, he battled the military junta to a standstill.
As an administrator, he presided over the Bayero University Kano with top level
precision. But it was with his appointment as chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Jega would face his biggest challenge.
The job was never going to be an easy ride, as Jega had inherited an INEC facing
a crisis of credibility. Step by boring step, he went about his job and with his
comforting assurances and bitesize successes in warm up elections, gradually
began to give Nigerians reasons to believe once again. For the 2015 elections,
Jega’s INEC joined the rest of the world in embracing technological advancement
by introducing the card readers and permanent voters cards (PVC). Even though
the process was far from seamless, these additions went a long way in
forestalling electoral fraud. And who can forget his calm, unruffled mien even
in the midst of provocation where he was accused by a PDP agent of manipulating
the process on live television? Refusing to buckle under pressure, Jega stood
his ground, unmoved and announced the results just as they were presented to
him. The job isn’t complete yet but Nigerians once again have reasons to believe
in the electoral system, and Attahiru Jega is the man to thank for
this.
Goodluck Jonathan, 58
In the thick of campaign season,
former President Goodluck Jonathan once declared that his political ambition
isn’t worth the blood of any Nigerian. As events would prove, this statement was
no mere rhetoric. While political scholars, historians and Nigerians of all
walks of life debate the legacy of the Jonathan presidency, one thing remains
certain, his commitment to the electoral process via reforms and independence
has been unparalleled by any other Nigerian leader. Even though the campaign
season was as brutal and bloody as they come, Jonathan had set the foundation
for INEC’s decent outing by appointing an incorruptible, well regarded
administrator as head. Jonathan also respected the independence of the electoral
agency and avoided any undue interference. As the results of the 2015
presidential polls trickled in and it became clear which way the pendulum swung,
Mr Jonathan’s supremely presidential act of immediately conceding defeat,
calling his opponent and accepting the result in good faith remains a high water
mark in Nigerian, nay African politics. With this singular act, Jonathan
carefully side stepped the electoral violence that could have followed, deepened
democracy on the continent and became a sterling example for leadership. As the
world looked in on us, Mr Jonathan rose to the occasion and we remain eternally
proud of him for walking the talk.
David Oyedepo, 61
David Olaniyi
Oyedepo, founder and presiding bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide is known
to the world as a preacher and pastor to his flock. What goes understated most
of the time however, is his vital role as a renowned educator and administrator.
Oyedepo has gone about this mission with all the zeal of a hundred missionaries
and has emerged in recent times, as the biggest Nigerian investor in education.
The scale of his ambition is as breathtaking as the successes he has recorded so
far. With the Covenant University in Ota, he has remodelled tertiary education,
bringing back excellence to a system hanging on the precipice. This commitment
to excellence is being replicated in projects like the Landmark University
Omu-Aran, an institution with an agrarian mandate, the prestige driven Kingdom
Heritage model primary and secondary school franchise and a proposed Crown
University in Calabar. If there is anyone who has done more for the Nigerian
education system, combining educational excellence with an eye for architectural
designs that create the perfect ambience for raising a new crop of leaders, we
are yet to meet them.
Simdul Shagaya, 39
For three years now
Simdul Shagaya has been focused on building a home grown business with the guts
and potential of competing globally. This is no mean feat considering that
e-commerce is still in its infant stages and Nigeria is still struggling with
basic challenges of broadband penetration. Limitations do not exist for Shagaya
though as his firm but steady hand has guided Konga through rapid growth bursts
aided by aggressive marketing, remarkable customer service and a burgeoning
middle class armed with greater spending power. The ripple effect hasn’t gone
unnoticed. Online retailing is set to leap frog advances made by traditional
brick and mortar businesses within a short space of time and Konga’s success in
the market place has inspired a long list of competitors looking for a bite of
the online pie. It helps also that the charismatic Shagaya is the kind of leader
that makes his empire a work friendly environment. Konga was recently voted one
of the best places to work this year by the Great Places To Work Nigeria
Institute. With an unforgiving work ethic, effectively motivated team, timely
business instinct and a burning hunger to succeed, Simdul Shagaya renews the
possibility of building a Nigerian business that is truly world
class.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 63
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tasted
both sides of the political coin. As a resilient member of the opposition, he
knows what it is like to be on the outside looking in. Following the result of
the 2015 general elections and victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
he also knows what it’s like to be at the centre. And few politicians are as
deserving of this victory as Asiwaju Tinubu. In the 4th Republic, Tinubu entered
the political fray via the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and won a hotly
contested mandate to govern Lagos, Nigeria’s most important state. He survived
many political shenanigans and grew his clout to the level of godfather and
regional leader, discovering and nurturing a new generation of political
leaders- Fashola, Fayemi etc- who have gone on to bloom where planted. As
Nigerians expressed dissatisfaction with the PDP government that held sway at
the centre for 16 uninterrupted years, Asiwaju marshalled a strike force that
held consultations from across the country. The result was an unprecedented
merger of various political parties from different regions to constitute the
mega, truly national All Progressives Congress. Managing the ambitions and
expectations of the various power blocs within the APC has been a difficult job
but if anyone can get the job done, it has to be one with the grit,
farsightedness and sagacity of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Josephine Ugwu,
36
By this time last year, only a handful of Nigerians had heard of Josephine
Ugwu. At the end of 2015 though, this dedicated cleaning lady who works at the
Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos had become a household name and
something of a celebrity. For once, her new found fame arrived not through the
usual avenues- politics, entertainment or sports. In a single act of almost
unfathomable honesty, Ugwu who at the time earned a monthly salary of N7,200,
returned a staggering amount of N12 million in cash which she found in an
airport toilet while performing her daily duty. In a country where everyone has
been branded dishonest, Josephine Ugwu’s antecedents- it isn’t her first time
returning monies stumbled upon- provide renewed hope that there is goodness yet.
And that Nigeria remains a great nation littered with good
people.
There will be no award or ceremony for the Y!/YNaija.com
Person of the Year 2015. The winner will be notified formally and an
announcement made to the public on Wednesday, 30 December, with an essay
detailing rationale, impact and significance.
The public can begin to
vote here: http://ynaija.com/398460-2/
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