If you were to ask people around on how they could describe 2019, you will definitely get different answers. Some may say financial crisis, losing someone special, funny year, etc. No doubt 2019 has definitely left its mark with both good and bad memories that will continue to linger till the foreseeable future. At fatherland gazette, we have chosen to present to you some of the major events of 2019, you might remember some, took part in or was affected by them. Ether ways, these events are now nothing but history.
NIGERIA
Among many others, here are some events that generated lots of controversies in Nigeria last year.
First is the FULANI HERDSMEN ATTACK: Boko Haram would have been on the list even before Fulani herdsmen but Boko Haram is not a 2019 issue, neither is Fulani Herdsmen but their nefarious activities became rampant in 2019, killing several people especially on their farm land and also kidnapping some, all because they are in search of food and water for their livestock. The people who are known with sticks for controlling their livestock suddenly became armed men.
This has generated a lot of controversies within the country that nearly threatened the unity Nigeria due to dawdling reaction of the federal government to this security concern.
Coming right after that is the XENOPHOBIC ATTACK which saw many Nigerians killed in South Africa. Many lives were lost in these attacks and this made the president and some celebrities to boycott their trip to South Africa. Nigerians were forced to retaliate not just on social media but in protest attack on South African businesses in Nigeria such as Shoprite and MTN, which gave opportunity for some to loot and vandalize those stores.
Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air peace came to the rescue by repatriating over 600 Nigerians back home before the two countries president where force to have a round table dialogue.
Next is the closing of land Borders across the country due to inability to control smuggling activities the government moved into closing land borders for days which turned into weeks. This affected the economy especially the rise in the price of rice, which is Nigeria’s number one staple food.
Another major event of 2019 is the rape allegation saga between Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of COZA and Busola Dakolo the wife of music artist Timmy Dakolo. In which she alleged to have been raped by the renowned man of God when she was a teenager. She however lost the case in court, her allegation however generated lots of controversies in the country affecting the Christendom.
Finally, the sudden release of Sowore and Dasuki whose arrest have generated lots of public concern especially on account of the federal government’s failure to release them as against multiple court orders which many interpreted to be infringement on democracy.
AFRICA
Various elections were held this year involving various African countries such as Nigeria and Burkina Faso. Elections in Africa has always been on the watch of the world due to the fragility of African democracies. There were change in government and many incumbent leaders who do not want to leave their positions were forced to do so particularly in countries like Senegal, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
Due to its own making or by default, the continent routinely experiences brief spells of progress and then longer, often intractable cycles of challenges that could be misconstrued as its dominant narrative. The state of security in Africa in 2019 was a bit complex compared to other years. The continent faced a lot of crisis in form of terrorism, military takeover, country unrest, clashes between animal settlers and farmers, cult groups clashes and the increase of robbery in banks.
The year of 2019 was a devastating year for Africans in which new diseases were known and previous conquered diseases came back. This year’s main ones and ongoing events includes: Ebola virus disease in Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rift valley fever in Central African Republic, cholera and malaria outbreak in Burundi, Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria.
THE WORLD AT LARGE
The international arena was full of historic events in 2019, of which time and space will only permit us to mention a few. One of these historic events was the resignation of UK prime minister Theresa May after being unable to get the British parliament to agree on a Brexit deal. Also, US President, Donald Trump became first sitting US president to visit North Korea after stepping over the border in the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean Peninsula to meet with Kim Jong Un. In football, US defeated the Netherlands to claim the Fifa Women’s World Cup for the fourth time.
Furthermore, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for Nairobi, crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa killing all 157 people on board. All Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were subsequently grounded worldwide. Lastly 51 people were killed and 50 others injured in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand: Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, both of which were the target of shootings by Australia-born Brenton Harrison Tarrant. It is the deadliest mass shooting and terrorist attack in New Zealand’s history and described by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”. Subsequently, Facebook announced they had disabled 1.5 million videos of the gunman’s rampage.
Thank you for reading, we hope for a better year!
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