This year alone, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has garnered two different awards designating her as the Personality of the Year. There were also Lifetime Achievement Awards, Businessman of the Year award, and Banker of the Year. In Nigeria, the cardinal criterion for awards conferral is much crasser; it is about access to power and resources. Given the elite’s vain predilection for egotism, most politicians seem to take the Man of the Year awards as a vote of confidence. Lately, Oshiomhole admonished the National Association of Nigerian Students over its penchant for bogus awards of excellence rather than meaningful civic engagement.

Source: Punch April 18, 2018 23:03 UTC