Buhari, Ezekwesili, Shekau among TIME’s 100 most influential persons

President-elect Maj. Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has
made the TIME’s list of 100 most
influential people in the world.
Also included in the 2015 list are a
former Minister of Education and an
advocate of the
BringBackOurGirlsGroup, Mrs.
Obiageli Ezekwesili; award-winning
novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, and
leader of the Boko Haram terrorist
group, Abubakar Shekau.
The TIME 100 is an annual list of 100
most influential people in the
world whose works are changing
the world, regardless of the
consequences of their actions.
Described as “a new choice for
Nigeria,” TIME’s Africa Bureau Chief,
Aryn Baker, said Buhari made
history in March by becoming the
first candidate to oust a sitting
Nigerian President through the
ballot box.
“Now he has to live up to voters’
expectations. From battling the
Boko Haram insurgency to tackling
endemic corruption, Buhari has
many challenges ahead. The
greatest may be overcoming his
past as a military ruler, who seized
power in 1983.
“Already the born-again democrat
is demonstrating the inclusivity
necessary to lead a nation driven
by ethnic and religious tension. It’s
a promising start for a President-to-
be, who wants to leave a legacy to
match the historic conditions of his
election,” Baker noted.
Renowned Ugandan activist, Sister
Rosemary Nyirumbe, said of
Ezekwesili, “It has been a year, and
the girls (Chibok girls) haven’t
been rescued, but she has made a
difference by speaking about it. Not
just speaking but shouting. I know
some people will say she is too
loudmouthed. The loud mouth is
needed. People hear it.”
Adichie was also described as a
“conjurer of character” by the
deputy Managing Director of TIME,
Radhika Jones.
“It’s the rare novelist, who in the
space of a year finds her words
sampled by Beyoncé, optioned by
Lupita Nyong’o and honoured with
the National Book Critics Circle
Award for fiction,” she said.
The last Nigerian to make the list is
Shekau. Described as the “scourge
of Africa” by Gen. Carter Ham(retd.),
a former Commander of US Africa
Command from 2011 to 2013.

hmmm ok