The biggest losers in 2016

The year 2016 was a year of mixed blessings for some prominent Nigerians in all strata of life, from politics to football, entertainment, and even religion.

Some were the biggest losers as they hugged the headlines for all the wrong reasons that refused to just go away no matter how hard they tried.

Pulse List brings you some of the biggest losers of the year 2016.

Sambo Dasuki

Before his fall from grace to grass, Col. Sambo Dasuki was one of the most powerful men in the country, especially during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan to whom he served as the National Security Adviser (NSA).

But today, the Sokoto State born son of the former Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, has been in the detention of the Directorate of State Services (DSS), since he was arrested in November of 2015, with a plethora of charges bordering on the misappropriation of $2 billion meant for the purchase of arms for the Nigerian Military in their fight against the Boko Haram.

Instead of disbursing the funds for what they were meant for, Dasuki went on a sharing spree with top politicians in readiness for the 2015 presidential elections.

But when the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost out to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the cookies crumbled and he was indicted in a plethora of charges.

Some of Dasuki’s haul of charges include a 6-count charge bordering on money laundering, alleged illegal possession of firearms, illegal diversion of N32 billion, diversion of N13.6 billion, and stealing.

Today, every imaginable person points to him as the source of their funds during the reckless spending spree of the past regime. Dasuki is now left in the cold with no straw to hold on to.

Musiliu Obanikoro

Another person who stood as a big loser in 2016 was Senator Musiliu Obanikoro who has so far, returned the sum of N400 million to the government, part of the looted funds by the same Sambo Dasuki that was given to the former Minister of State for Defence in the mad spending thrift.

After playing hide and seek with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for many months, Obanikoro ended his-on-the-run stunts and came back into the country willingly to hand himself over to the anti-graft agency and since then, has been singing like a Canary.

He has been telling all who how he collected N4.7 billion from Dasuki and how he has been throwing the cash stolen from the coffers of the country.

Apart from being hounded by the EFCC, Obanikoro has now been declared a persona-non-grata by his once-close pals as he has indicted the likes of Ayo Fayose, the Ekiti State Governor and Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister who were his right-hand men.

His case is like that of the devil who vowed never to perish alone in the pit of hell after he was thrown out of heaven for his rebellion and no one could ever be lonelier.

Prophet TB Joshua

Prophet TB Joshua, the General Overseer of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), is one of the most respected men of God in Nigeria and in Africa, for that matter but in the year 2016, the popular seer seemed to have lost some touch with some predictions he gave.

Before the very notable goof when he categorically declared that Hilary Clinton would win the presidency of the United State of America over the eventual winner, Donald Trump, not many doubted his predictions as he was mostly on point but just that shot set him back greatly as many have continued to equate him with fake prophecy.

Apart from the Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump fiasco, billionaire businessman and governorship candidate in the recently concluded Ondo State gubernatorial polls, Jimoh Ibrahim also mentioned that TB Joshua predicted that he would win the election and in the end, he failed woefully.

Abdulmumin Jibrin

The former Chairman, Appropriation Committee of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin also ended up as one of the biggest losers of the year 2016 after his attempts to indict some principal officers in the House in the much talked about budget padding scandal didn't as he thought.

Jibrin who only decided to blow the whistle after he was removed from his position, incurred the wrath of his colleagues as they ganged up on him and tried to cow him into submission.

Even his party, the APC, also try to ban him from going on with the war against his colleagues but when he refused to back down, he was suspended for 90 legislative days, the equivalent of one year.

In the meantime, Jibrin would not be part of the money sharing that goes on in the House while his constituency would be starved of a representation, just because he tried to do the right thing at the wrong time. He turned out to be the loser in the power play and the scandal has been conveniently swept under the carpet.

Dame Patience Jonathan

In the history of First Ladyship in Nigeria, Dame Patience Faka Jonathan, the wife of former president, Goodluck Jonathan, was the most powerful as her influence was felt from Aso Rock to her home state of Bayelsa.

Mama Peace as she was fondly called, did everything for her husband to return to power for a second term but it was not to be as the incumbent president was shunted aside by Muhammadu Buhari.

Presently, Dame Peshe, as she was also called by her admirers, is enmeshed in a $15 million scandal that has been seized by the EFCC in different bank accounts which were traced to her domestic aides.

When the anti-graft agency discovered the money in the accounts belonging to aides of the Jonathans and asked them to say how they came about the humongous monies, Dame Jonathan came out to claim they belonged to her and were gifts from friends and political lobbyist in the six years she was First Lady.

But such an explanation has not been able to cut ice with the EFCC and she has been running from pillar to post to reclaim the money without any success.

Super Eagles

When the former captain of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh was appointed as the head coach of the team, the President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, told the world that he was the African Pep Guardiola who would take Nigerian football to heights never imagined.

But during the short reign of the African Guardiola, the Eagles wobbled and fumbled so bad that there was practically no direction for the team. Oliseh succeeded in alienating senior players in the team, stripping Vincent Enyeama of the captainship band and gave it to a young Ahmed Musa, ignoring the senior players like Mikel Obi and Efe Ambrose.

Emmanuel Emenike and Enyeama retired from the team and Oliseh entered altercations with the federation and insulted Nigerians to no end.

On the pitch, results were also nothing to write home about as the team could not beat the so-called minnows of African football and in the end, the team could not qualify to the 2017 African nations Cup because of Oliseh’s blunders.