The Year 2015... A Rundown Of Events

In a few days’ time, this year of our lord 2015 will become
history, paving way for the new year 2016. In this extract, I
try to highlight some moments of the year 2015 that shook
the world, put some countries in distress and so many
families in grief. Just like I did last year 2014, I will also try
and do some justice to this year 2015. Incase you missed
that of 2014, this link https://web.facebook.com/
sixtus.ahumaraeze/posts/381046868729466
will guide you down memory lane.
2015 to some has been a great year, to a few a year not so
good and equally no so bad, to many a year to forget. 2015
brought alongside it some ray of hope for so many people
who wanted to forget the ghost and bad happenings of 2014
and find succour in the year 2015.
This year came so fast and equally went so fast. So let’s
take a look into what transpired in the year 2015.
1. UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF 2014.
This year started with the unsolved mysteries of the past
year spearheaded by the traumatic missing of the
Malaysian Airline MH370 which got missing on March 8
2014. But July 2015, an aircraft wing part washed up on
Reunion Island. French officials confirmed debris was from
MH370. Also is the abduction of the Chibok girls by the
Islamic sect Boko haram who till now, have not yet been
released or recovered.
2. TERRORISM/TERRORIST ATTACK CONTINUES
Three(3) days after the calendar turned 2015, when
Nigerians were still in the Euphoria of the new year, tragedy
struck. The terrorist Sect Boko haram reportedly massacred
the village of Baga Bornu state. According to the CNN, the
described it as a gory sight in which people were killed like
mosquitoes. The number of deaths/fatalities varied with
western media reporting “2000 deaths” while local media
reported “at least 100 deaths” while the Nigerian Ministry of
Defence said not more than 150 dead. As Nigerians and the
world were still mourning this deaths, a powerhouse of the
world was attacked. France witnessed the first of two
attacks. The first, Charlie Hebdo attack. A French satirical
weekly magazine featuring cartoons, Polemics, jokes, etc
who because of their controversial Muhammad cartoons
were attacked leading to the death of 12 persons. That was
an eye opener for France. And they were later shocked to
their ribs on the night of Friday Nov. 13, 2015 on a cool
serene evening in the most beautiful city in the world, Paris
when the Parisians were having a good time, the terrorist
group ISIS attacked yet again, now in 6 different locations in
Paris killing 128 persons and injuring hundreds. The world
looked unto Paris with pity and sympathy and in unison
Prayed for Paris. #PrayforParis.
Also in Baghdad Iraq, a refrigerator truck parked with
explosives blew up inside the heart of a busy market in
August killing 67 people and leaving hundreds hospitalised
in its wake. ISIS equally claimed responsibility. In Ankara
Turkey, two suicide bombers blew up near Ankara’s main
train station, killing 97 people and wounding nearly 250
others.
Al Shabaab Sect continued their menace in Kenya and
Somalia, killing dozens, injuring hundreds and rendering
thousands homeless and out of jobs.
The Syrian war has lived up to its 4th year with ISIS and
oppositions making life a living hell for President Bashar Al-
Assad. It has been described as the worst event to happen
since the end of WWII that has left more than 300,000
people dead and displaced 10.6 million.
3. XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS
(XENOPHOBIA- FEAR OF FOREIGNERS) The world focused
her lenses on South Africa following the killing of foreigners,
triggered by the comments of Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini
on 21st March 2015 when he said that “Foreigners should
pack their bags and go”. By April, violence escalated leading
to the death of some foreigners, looting and destruction of
properties owned by foreigners. An inhuman act which
prompted the African oldest cum Strongest leader Robert
Mugabe to say… “South Africa will kick down a statue of dead
white men, but won’t even attempt to slap a live one. Yet the
can stone to death a black man simply because he’s a
foreigner.” - R.G MUGABE.
4. ELECTIONS
This year saw so many countries head to the polls. Sri
Lanka were the first to head to the polls on 8th January.
History was made in which incumbent President Mahinda
Rajapaksa lost to his former minister of health Mr.
Maithripala Sirisena. A great shock to Mr. Mahinda. More
shock was to come as our own nation Nigeria, whose
elections were postponed from Feb. 14th to March 28th
provided the biggest surprise of elections in the year, as
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Presidential candidate of the APC
(a party which was barely 21/2 years formed), captured
Nigeria with aplomb and removed the incumbent Goodluck
Jonathan and the PDP from power. A party which have
ruled for 16 years.
There were equally elections in Ivory coast(where Alassane
Ouattara was re-elected), Burkina Faso, Benin, Egypt,
Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, Central Africa Republic, Sudan,
Comoros, Burundi, India, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Myanmar,
Hong Kong, Andorra, Croatia, Greece, Canada, Argentina
etc.
5. HAJJ STAMPEDE
As Muslim faithful’s headed over to the holy city to observe
their annual Hajj Pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia,
Pandemonium arose as pilgrims who were throwing
7(seven) stones at Pillars called Jamarat(which represents
the devil) met with other pilgrims moving towards them
from the opposite direction thereby leading to chaos and
inadvertently, a stampede occurred. 717 people lost their
lives with an 863 injured in the incident. Deaths varying
from the old, young and even little children. The deadliest
incident to occur during the pilgrimage in 25 years.
6. ARAB MIGRATION
With the ongoing war in Syria and Iraq, European continent
have witnessed a huge rise in migration from the Arab
world. Thousands of people flee their countries in the middle
East. Many flee due to the war over there, Others with the
sole purpose to find comfort in Europe. Countries like Spain,
Germany, France, Sweden, etc opened their borders to allow
the migrants in. With the only means of transport been the
sea, there has been series of loss of lives and capsizing of
boats. Top of the bunch was a pathetic picture which went
viral of a Syrian refugee who was in tears carrying the
corpse of his 3year old son, Aylan Kurdi who drowned and
was floated ashore in the Turkish beach. Very pathetic
indeed.
7. FIRE OUTBREAK
Just two days(May 31st) after a new government was
installed in Nigeria, the nation witnessed hell in physical
form when a tanker loaded with Premium Motor Spirit(PMS)
equally known as petrol, lost control and rammed into
Asaba Motor Park at Upper Iweka in Onitsha Anambra state.
69 Nigerians were burnt to death beyond recognition.
Bodies were littered like roasted goats. A horrible sight to
behold. Also in various parts of the country, there were
reports of various fire outbreaks notably in Lagos and Kano
states.
Equally in Indonesia, there have been nearly 100,000 active
fire detections in 2015, with Indonesia’s fire outbreaks
producing more daily emissions than entire emissions in US
Economy.
8. SHOOTINGS
In 2015, there were more days with a mass shooting than
days without a mass shooting according to Sarah
Frostenson of VOX. There were 208 days with mass
shootings and 146 days with none. In 2015, 457 people have
died from mass shootings. In San Bernardino California, a
couple killed at least 14 persons and wounded 21. June
18th 2015, Dylan storm Roof opened fire at a Methodist
Episcopal black Church in Charleston S.C after first praying
with them. Oct. 1st, Christopher Sean Harper, 26, shot and
killed eight fellow students and a teacher at Umpqua
Community college Roseburg and injured nine. He killed
himself after exchanging fire with police. In Tunisia, June
26th an Islamist mass shooting occurred at the tourist
resort of Port El Kantaoui, when an armed gunman attacked
a hotel and killed thirty eight people, thirty of whom were
British.
9. AIR CRASHES
This year has seen so many air disasters happen leading to
deaths of thousands of persons. November 2015, we saw a
Russian Passenger jet crash 22 minutes after take off killing
all 224persons on board. The black box audio recording
confirmed that the plane was brought down by a bomb
which ISIS claimed responsibility. A bomb brought in from
outside and planted in the plane. Russia offered a $50
million reward for information on how the bomb was put on
the plane.
30th June, Indonesian Hercules C-130 military plane
crashed killing 122 on board. 24th March, Germanwings
Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps on a flight from
Barcelona to Dusseldorf, all 148 perished. 13th August, a
Bristow helicopter crashed into the lagos lagoon, four
people were reportedly dead. Some day later still in August,
Nigerian Airforce Plane crashed in kaduna ten minutes after
take off killing all 7 on board.
10. FALL OF OIL PRICES
The oil industry with its history of booms and busts is in its
deepest downturn since the 90’s. More than 200,000 oil
workers around the globe have lost their jobs. But why the
sudden fall in Oil Prices? The answer is quite simple. The
U.S who through the years has been a major importer of the
black liquid gold has seen its domestic Oil production
doubled over the last six years thereby pushing out oil
imports. Countries like Saudi, Nigeria and Algerian oil that
once was selling in U.S is now competing for Market in Asia
and the producers are forced to drop prices. The current
price of Brent crude now sells at $36 a barrel(This same
crude as at 2013 sold at $158 a barrel). The biggest losers
in this scenario includes the oil producing nations like
Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Ecuador, Brazil, Russia, etc who
are suffering economic turbulence. Chevron and Royal
Dutch shell recently announced cuts to their pay rolls to
save cash.
11. SECESSION AROUND THE WORLD
Just like it happened in Sudan Jan. 9th 2011, when the
southern part of Sudan decided to secede and formed the
world’s newest country… South Sudan. Some countries are
currently been plagued incessantly by regions within them
demanding for a withdrawal/split. Taking Nigeria as a case
study, this year has seen a huge rise on demands made by
the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) to secede from the
nation Nigeria. There has been series of protests and
demonstration around the South Eastern and South South
regions of Nigeria which have led to death of Individuals and
destruction of properties. With the movement been
spearheaded by Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, a U.K based Nigerian
who uses the media through his Radio Biafra network to
propagate the split from Nigeria.
Equally in Spain, Catalonia one of Spain’s richest and most
highly industralised regions are driving to get her
Independence from Spain. Several attempts has been made
within the years to vote out/secede from Spain which have
until now proved futile. Nov. 2015, the Catalan govt vowed
to move forward with its secession process defying orders
from Spanish high court. Also in the U.S, the state of Texas
are in a tussle to secede from the United states and are
currently backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
12. NATURAL DISASTERS
The most devastating natural disaster of 2015 was the
earthquake in Nepal. A 7.9 magnitude quake hit just outside
Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. More than 2100-9000 people
were reportedly killed. April 22, Chile’s Calbuco Volcano
erupted for the first time in 54years. It caused 6,000 local
residents to evacuate the area. In April 2015, there was
wildfire in Siberia that swept through 60 villages, and left 23
dead, more than 900 injured and left 5,000 homeless. The
fires were set by Russian farmers preparing for spring
planting.
In Afghanistan, Feb. 2015, series of avalanches caused by
heavy snowstorms killed 196 people in the mountainous
province of Panjshir. Over 40 avalanches occurred in a
period of one week. Also there was wildfire in Australia that
burned down dozens of homes and threatened many more
in January. A state of emergency was declared in Texas in
May after heavy rains covered the state. Homes were wiped
out and 22 people died.
Dec. 20th, a massive landslide occurred in Shenzhen
Hengtaiyu Industrial park of China leaving 91 people
missing. The landslide buried 33 buildings.
13. WARS
According to Pablo Escobar, the great drug lord of Columbia
… “We fight wars to make Peace” . I’m still trying to decipher
this assertion. This year has seen so many countries
engage in war. The war in Afghanistan has continued to
grow on yearly basis since its inception in 1978. The Taliban
has continuously been a thorn in the flesh of the Afghan
government.
Syrian war has so far been the most deadliest in the year.
There has been various groups of fighters ranging from the
Syrian government, The Kurds, Islamic state, Al Nusra front
and the opposition. It has been described as another world
war which has involved so many countries like Iran, Iraq,
Qatar, U.S, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia etc some who
entered the war to support the Syrian government, while
some came to oust the current president.
Also there is a Civil war going on in Yemen, Burundi, Congo,
Central Africa Republic, Iraq, Pakistan, Ukraine, South
Sudan, not forgetting the war against terrorism in Nigeria.
2015 is about to become history, we can only but anticipate
for a better 2016.
TO A GOOD BETTER 2016
WRITTEN AND DOCUMENTED BY
SirLegal (A. Sixtus) saying…
#PRAYFORWORLDPEACE.