As existence draws curtains on the year 2018, TheNewsGuru (TNG) takes a look back at some unforgettable top trend moments of the year.
With President Muhammadu Buhari emergence as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015 and as 2018 ushers in another election year to determine if he serves second tenure as a democratic president or is replaced, the years seems to be 3 years in one.
It seems 2018 is the year of the mother of all politics, especially as coalition such as the one seen pre-2015 general elections cropped up, however rickety, in earnest expectations to oust seating president Buhari, whom many in some quarters have judged to have performed below par.
From Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s recent stuttering at the vice presidential debates to former governor of Ekiti state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose’s ‘I’m in pains, I can’t take this anymore’ gimmicks to small girls who have big gods, 2018 seems to be the year of assurance; assurance?
The unforgettable trend moments in the year 2018 were just dropping, one by one, gbagam, and we bring them to you in this list ‘gbagamly’.
I’m in pains, I can’t take this anymore; EFCC I’m here
2018 would be incomplete without the mention of former governor of Ekiti state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, who many have judged, alongside Senators Dino Melaye and Ademola Adeleke, as the clowns of Nigerian politics.
While Senator Melaye is the all time musical politician Nigeria has known, and Senator Adeleke won the prize for the best dancer politician, former governor Fayose won the award for Nigeria’s best actor politician.
The year was dramatic when Mr. Fayose appeared on TV donning a neck gear and weeping accusing the Nigerian police to have beaten him up during a rally organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state capital.
Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the polo t-shirt the former governor put on when he appeared at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters in Abuja.
BREAKING: @GovAyoFayose present self to @officialEFCC wearing shirt with "EFCC I'M HERE" inscription. Osokomole himself ! ??? pic.twitter.com/6A0CvJCdkb
— Olúyẹmí Fásípè ?? (@YemieFASH) October 16, 2018
READ || Fayose arrives EFCC office in company of Wike, FFK [Video]
11 hours in the wilderness
Let’s not forget that our all time musical politician jumped off a moving vehicle in a ‘james bondic’ manner and then went on to spend 11 hours on top of a tree, escaping people, he said wanted to assassinate him.
The lawmaker, who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP alleged that his attackers were policemen.
READ || How I stayed 11 hours on tree top to avoid being assassinated by Police – Melaye
Why we were where were where
PDP’s Vice Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi and his counterpart in APC, Yemi Osinbajo both stole the show as they battled each other at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja in the vice presidential dabate.
The internet was abuzz with uploads of memes, quotes, short videos, other form of excerpts from the debate session and of course Osinbajo’s stuttering caught the attention of Nigerians, who themselves also took over the heated conversation by citing some of the statistics doled out by the several vice presidential candidates to support their arguments who should be Nigeria’s next VP.
Candidly, I did not know how to spell out Osinbajo’s famous stuttering at the debate. Whether it is “why we were where were where” or “why we where were we were”, I really don’t know. But, what we all know is that our amiable VP said what he said. Thats all!
Transmission transmission, amin, transmission
The police is your friend, so if we laugh over a transmission joke, they will understand. The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotun transmitted in the course of the year while trying to read his speech during a commissioning event.
Lazy Nigerian youths
President Muhammadu Buhari in April did not take it easy on the Nigerian youth at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London he attended.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s young population he said just want government to hand them everything on a platter.
While the president did not explicitly say Nigerian youths are lazy, Nigerians felt bad by the comments he made that implied so.
One Anthony Okolo questioned the president about the Northeastern region of the country, which actually prompted Buhari’s reaction.
https://youtu.be/zzsxim-q-eo
Iberiberism
Okay, so, if anyone wants a statue of himself at any location of choice in Nigeria, we probably now know who to contract by now. In Imo State, it seems Governor Rochas Okorocha might be having the statue of every Nigerian in the locker room to erect somewhere. Lets not forget this is our happiness governor and the crooner of iberiberism.
What if you come to my state, I have collected N500 billion and the only thing I could show to you is borehole… for me that is what I call iberiberism, Okorochas said in an interview with Channels TV.
Whatever iberiberism meant in that syntactic structure, the term stood among the top trend moments of the year.
NYSC certificate
2018 might not be the best of years for former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun as reports emerged she allegedly skipped the compulsory one year National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme and forged her exemption certificate.
Adeosun, who is one of the best ministers, if not the best, President Buhari had was forced to resigned after investigations into the matter. The Adeosun certificate moment is one of the most powerful moments of the year.
Assurance
Of course, it seems 2018 is the year of assurance. If 2018 is not the year of assurance for you, it definitely was for Chioma Avril.
Nigerian music superstar, Davido orchestrated this unforgettable 2018 moment gifting Chioma, his girlfriend, a Porsche car which reportedly costs N45 million.
The 2018 lover boy also took to his Twitter handle to announce a N60 million endorsement deal for Chioma, and it did not end there.
The Nigerian pop star released a high-life mid-tempo song with a follow up Chioma-dedicated music video, in which Davido shows his romantic side, heaping praises on Chioma his lover.
Nigerians sure caught the fever, and 2019 may be the year of insurance.
Sweet Boys Association
Many know him as a rapper and actor, but Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana now loves to be called president of the Sweet Boys Association (SBA).
The entertainer calls SBA a prestigious league of well-mannered, well-clad and purposeful, ambitious gentlemen.
According to Falz, the inaugural members of the Sweet Boys Association are BBNaija star Tobi Bakre, media personality Noble Igwe, fashion designer Mai Atafo, singers Ric Hassani, Adekunle Gold and Banky W, actor Timini Egbuson, among others.
READ || Falz reveals how to become a sweet boy in new video
Sho mo age mi ni
If you have not been living under a rock, the Sho mo age mi ni trend won’t be alien to you. ‘Sho mo age mi ni’ meaning ‘do you know my age?’ is a Yoruba jargon that trended on Nigerian social media platforms especially on Instagram.
The slang, made popular by budding Nigerian actor, Abimbola Kazeem a.k.a Jiganbabaoja, spread like wildfire with celebrities creating comedy skits from the trend.
READ || How Jigan became a viral sensation with #Shomoagemini trend
Everywhere stew
2018 was the year of stew, as well, and this may echo forth into the year 2019.
Everywhere stew is a slang that can be attributed to Freedom Atsepoyi popularly known as Mr. Jollof, with stew becoming viral after Wizkid released his hit song titled ‘Fever’, in which he featured Tiwa Savage in the video.
Celebrities like D’banj and Don Jazzy also leveraged on the trend by using the slang to talk about their songs and activities.
READ || How ‘stew’ made me a viral sensation – Mr Jollof
Small girl, big god
Personally, I think Naomi Campbell won the ‘small girl, big god’ contest, if it were to be a contest actually. Campbell and Buhari allegedly stumbled upon each other at the launch of the Eko Atlantic City, and it was the talk of the town for a period of time in the year.
Campbell took a snapshot with Buhari and tweeted, “Was a pleasure to be invited by his Excellency, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, to the private launch of Eko Atlantic @NGRPresident @MBuhari”.
The tweet sparked rage on social media where most Nigerians described the development as a desperate attempt by the Buhari administration to score cheap political points, but the presidency said the model only stumbled on the president.
It even got to the point where a presidential aide labelled some Nigerians “animals”.
Na dem dey rush us
Millennials turned popular Nollywood actor, Mr. Charles Inojie turned ‘Na dem dey rush us’ movie scene to a pop culture in 2018.
Millennials somehow traced the movie scene weaponized for the most viral social media trend of 2018.
Here’s is a full video
“Na them Dey rush us
Na them Dey rush us”
??????? pic.twitter.com/C0KFWyDlQb— H R H ? (@RoyalKingUsman) August 8, 2018
Adisa Sam Akolade
When a typical Yoruba man says “I deserve some accolades”, it sounds like a person’s full name, like Adisa Sam Akolade, just like Toke Makinwa found out that “Able God” was not actually “Ebuka”.
Mr. Spellz
Internet sensation, Dede Nne aka Mr. Spellz gained prominence over a viral video he featured in where he misspelt ‘Buhari’, with Nigerians on social media in a bid to imitate his spelling errors created a trend from his mistakes.
The year 2018 was important, 2019 is importanter.
Did we miss out on any moment that should make TNG’s unforgettable top trend moments of 2018, drop it with a comment below… it’s importantest!