The year 2023 will be remembered as one of the most eventful years in recent history.
The year 2023 will be remembered as one of the most eventful in recent history with many events making international headlines from different parts of the world. These include the Nigerian elections in February and March, the Sudan crisis that erupted in April, the Sierra Leone elections in June, and the Niger coup of July.
This 2023 wrap-up by PREMIUM TIMES also looks at the record-shattering warming that the earth experienced this year according to climate change experts, the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, the Gabon coup that ended the Bongo dynasty, the first election in Liberia following the departure of the UN mission and COP28.
Nigeria's General Election
After months of anticipation, 25 February finally arrived for eligible Nigerians to choose the next leader of Africa's largest economy. There were three major candidates.
It was the first time in Nigeria's recent history, at least since the return to democratic rule in 1999, that a third force would arise.
It was the first election since 1999 where no candidate with a military background would contest. It was an all-civilian affair.
Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, was announced the winner of the hard-fought contest with 8.7 million votes of the over 24 million votes cast in the election. His tally represents only 37 per cent of the votes, the lowest by a winner since 1979. Yet, it was 8 percentage points higher than his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The third force and arguably the most popular amongst Nigerian youth, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), was further behind with a 25 per cent share of the ballots.
As is the norm with Nigeria elections, neither of the other candidates accepted defeat, they cried foul as results were announced and proceeded to the tribunal to contest the election result.
The electoral commission (INEC) was faulted for not keeping to its promise of uploading results online in real-time.
The Supreme Court pronounced Mr Tinubu the winner, which ended the judicial battle.
Sudan Crisis
The crisis erupted on 15 April when members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) attacked the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). Over 10,000 people have died in the violence between these former allies and another 5.6 million people have been displaced.
As fighting intensified in the North African country, governments, including Nigeria, began to evacuate their nationals. Nigeria evacuated students who had cried out requesting the government to evacuate them.
Even though the war in Gaza has taken over international headlines, the crisis continues in Sudan. Several attempts at a ceasefire have failed.
Sierra Leone Election and failed coup attempts
In June, Sierra Leonians went to the polls to elect new leaders for their country or re-elect current leaders including the incumbent president, Julius Bio.
Mr Bio was re-elected in the 24 June election.
There were two major contenders for the West African country's topmost position, Mr Bio and Samura Kamara, runner-up in the 2018 presidential elections. He came second behind Mr Bio in that election.
Three days after Sierra Leoneans went to the polls, the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) declared Mr Bio of Sierra Leone's People's Party (SLPP) winner of the presidential election.
This announcement did not go without dispute from the opposition and also from civil society and other foreign observation missions.
A parallel voter tabulation (PVT) run by National Election Watch (NEW), a domestic observation group made up of civil society organisations in the country, estimated that Mr Bio scored 53 per cent and less than the required numbers to avert a run-off.
International missions were also concerned about the collation process. In a joint statement, the American, British, Irish, German, French and European Union missions to Sierra Leone said they "share the concerns of national and international observation missions about the lack of transparency in the tabulation process."
In July, one month after the elections, there was a coup scare that led to the arrest of senior military officers "working to undermine the peace and tranquillity of the state and unleash violence on peaceful citizens of Sierra Leone."
Again in November, there was an attack on the military armoury at Wilberforce barracks in the capital, Freetown, leading to the release of some prisoners. President Bio while addressing his country after the attack referred to it as a failed coup.
Niger coup
What started as a rumour of an attempted coup became a full-blown coup and led to the arrest of the democratically elected president of the West African country, Mohamed Bazoum.
Led by Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, the soldiers announced they had carried out a coup and closed all West African borders.
In a statement broadcast on national television and quoted by Aljazeera, Mr Abdramane said that "the defence and security forces ... have decided to put an end to the regime you are familiar with".Reacting to the coup, ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger including power cuts by Nigeria, a member state and current leader of ECOWAS.
The subregional bloc also threatened a military intervention if the putschists failed to reinstate ousted President Bazoum. It later backed down from military intervention. The putschists ignored the threats and went ahead to form a new government.
Several mediation groups have been sent to Niger to negotiate a way forward to no avail. President Bazoum has since remained in custody.
Gabon Coup
Barely one month after the Niger coup, in August, military officers in Gabon toed the same part, ousting and arresting President Ali Bongo.
The coup plotters said they were taking over the government following a general election that was termed not credible. The election returned Mr Bongo as president for a third term; he took over the presidency in 2009 after his father.
General Brice Nguema, leader of Gabon's Republican Guard, was named transition leader. He was in charge of the president's security.
The coup led to the end of the 56-year grip of the Bongos on Gabon.
The African Union also suspended Gabon from all its activities until the restoration of constitutional order in the country."
Morocco Earthquake
In September, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco in North Africa killing over 2,000 people.
The earthquake hit six cities and was the deadliest the country had experienced in 60 years, leaving scores homeless.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake near Oukaïmedene occurred due to oblique-reverse faulting at shallow depth within the Moroccan High Atlas Mountain range, roughly 75 km southeast of Marrakech.Libya Storm
In the same month as the earthquake in Morocco, Storm Daniel hit Libya, also in North Africa, causing a flood that affected five cities.
The storm led to the collapse of two dams sending one billion cubic feet of water into already inundated areas, hence the flood.
Over 6,000 people died and thousands missing following the fatal storm.
Israel-Hamas war
The ongoing war in Gaza that has killed over 20,000 people escalated on 7 October when Hamas launched an attack on Israel killing nearly 1,200 people.
The hostilities between Israel and Hamas have recently tested multilateralism with some experts opining that it has failed owing to the failure of several attempts at a ceasefire.
In a bid to wipe out Hamas, Israel's offensive has targeted hospitals, schools, civilian accommodation, and UN camps amongst others. Israeli defence claims that Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields while attacking them (Israel). Several attacks have been carried out on hospitals where Israel claims Hamas fighters are.
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At least five attempts by the UN Security Council have failed to reach a ceasefire rather it has left the council divided.
Liberia Elections
The October election in Liberia was the fourth since the Civil War. It was also the first time the West African country would have a presidential election without a UN mission on the ground.
Twenty candidates had their eyes on the Executive Mansion in Monrovia but in reality, it was a two-horse raise between the incumbent president George Weah and former vice president Joseph Boakai.
Liberians came out in their numbers on 10 October to vote for a new leader. Neither of the two major candidates secured the minimum number of votes required to be announced winner.
The election went into a run-off that returned Mr Boakai as president-elect. In a heartwarming development, Mr Weah conceded defeat and congratulated the winner.
COP28
The 28th UN Climate Change Conference was somewhat special to the extent that the world took stock of how well it has done concerning climate action. Called the Global Stock Take (GST), the UN Climate Change Agency (UNFCCC) said it is a moment to take a long, hard look at the state of our planet and chart a better course for the future.
The conference was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with over 70,000 participants from different parts of the world in attendance to discuss climate change and the science of it.
After two weeks of negotiations and various declarations, participants left Dubai with mixed feelings about the next steps on fossil fuels which according to scientists are responsible for climate change.
The conference ended with parties agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels; some parties wanted the phase-out of fossil fuels. The loss and damage fund which was established at COP27 was operationalised on the first day of the conference.
If the outcome of the conference is anything to go by, it is clear that the world will inevitably move away from fossil fuels.
