The year 2008 was a great year. A year filled with many ups
and downs. A lot of events made this year special, and I’ll like
to go through a few of them. We all started this year with a lot
of expectations, we had goals and objectives that we wrote
down. This is a good time to review these goals and see how
much we were able to achieve.
In 2008 we saw the economies of the world crumble into recession.
Great nations like the United States, the United Kingdom amongst
others all suffered a global financial crisis. Stock markets crashed
and investors counted their losses. Individuals lost their jobs and big
corporations filed for bankruptcy. Government of these nations
struggled to keep their economy afloat by bailing them out of their
financial crisis, most of this still on-going and will go into the new year.
We also witnessed an election that fulfilled prophecies and changed
the course of history. Barack Obama became the first African
American to be elected President of the United States of America.
This was a feat that was beyond peoples imagination. The road to
victory was though and looked very unlikely. This event made us all
think a little differently about the word impossible, made us believe in
the audacity of hope and also believe that ‘yes we can’.
We saw terrorist attack different parts of the world. The latest of which
saw gunmen run mad in a city where it was least expected. We witnessed
kidnapping in different nations and saw pirates taking over ships just like
in movies. We saw natural disasters destroy towns and cities. Lives were
lost. We witnessed man made disasters like plane crashes and boat
mishaps. We lost people we loved and also celebrated great men and
women.
Here in Nigeria, we saw drama in the political terrain, elections were over
turned and in some cases the people’s choice were elected into office. A
national hero who championed the anti corruption war faced trials himself
as the police force tried and are still trying to make life difficult for him. Our
President was away from the country for a period of time for the lesser hajj
and this brought about controversy in the nation as to his health and
whereabouts.
These events made 2008, we might have hoped for something better or even
have been awed by what we saw this year. However this year might have
been, we have a lot to be thankful for. The fact that you are alive and well
and you have seen the year 2009 is enough to be grateful for. You might
not know how much progress you have made until you actually check the
events of the past year.
2009 is here, we have learnt a lot over the past year and know a
little more of what to do and what not to do. We have hope for a
better day and more important than achieving our goals and objectives
is the road to achieving it. There are times where the road might look
tough and it might seem too dark. At times like this we must hold on to
the Almighty and trust in him.
2009 will be our best year yet. The highest point you achieved in 2008
will be your lowest point in 2009. I appreciate my family, friends and
everyone who I came in contact with in the course of the year and
I look forward to building on our relationship. It is my prayer that this
new year brings you closer to the greatness that is in you, have a
blessed 2009.