The year 2020 did not end without some trending photos that set the Internet on fire and got many Nigerians talking about them.

Frontline activist and co-convener of #BringBackOurGirls movement, Aisha Yesufu’s power salute photo during the #EndSARS protests in October tore the Internet and at the last count, had garnered over five million retweets on Twitter.

Coming in close at second was the photograph of President Muhammadu Buhari visiting his farm in Daura, Katsina State, where he inspected how his cows were doing in the wake of the abduction of 344 schoolboys from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara local government area of the state.

Photos of the #EndSARS protesters that shook the country in October are still tearing up the social media space months after the protest took place and they have also made it to this list.

There was also the photo of the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. Daniel Pondei in fainting mode, as well as the mother of a kidnapped Kankara student crying bitterly, which broke the hearts of many Nigerians.

The photo of former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, while stepping down from the plane following his extradition from Niger Republic to face money laundering charges also set the social media space on agog.

We had a tough time selecting the 10 top photos that set the Internet on fire in 2020 but in the end, we just had to bring you these photos.

1. Aisha Yesufu

Activist, Aisha Yesufu’s photo tops our list of the trending photos of 2020 after she was pictured during the #EndSARS protest dressed in a Hijab, and throwing a fist into the air, symbolizing the defiance and resolve the youths had demonstrated for weeks while protesting against police brutality in the country.

2. President Muhammadu Buhari

The picture of President Muhammadu Buhari visiting his cattle ranch in his Daura country home a few days after the abduction of students from the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, got many Nigerians wondering if he was really concerned about the plight of the kidnapped students.

The photo and video of the visit was posted on Twitter by his Senior Special assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, which led Buhari to face a barrage of attacks by Nigerians.

3. #EndSARS

In the month of October, Nigerian youths decided to take their destinies in their hands, and took to the streets of Nigeria to protest against the excesses of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigeria Police Force that had been accused of brutality, torture, extortion and extra-judicial killing.

Photos from the protests are among the many that set the Internet on fire, both within and outside the country.

4. Abdulrasheed Maina

The photograph of the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, coming down the plane at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, following his extradition from Niger Republic where he had been in hiding after jumping bail in a N2 billion money laundering charge, also made it to this list.

Maina was arrested in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, where he had fled to after he jumped bail and was declared wanted by an Abuja High Court.

5. Babatunde Fashola

The Minister of Works and former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, was in the news in the better part of November when he ‘mysteriously’ discovered a camcorder at the Lekki Toll Gate plaza following the shooting of protesting youths by soldiers on October 20.

Read also: Year in Review: 10 top Nigerian politicians who fell from power in 2020

Fashola who later became known as ‘Agent Fash,’ had discovered the camcorder even after the Toll Gate had been swept severally and investigators combed the area thoroughly.
In the true sense of a proven private eye, ‘Agent Fash,’ after going round the Toll Gate for a few minutes, found the secret camcorder.

6. Kankara Boys

Another photograph that quickly went viral and set the social media space abuzz was that of the abducted students of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, following their release from the bandits who had kidnapped them.

The 344 boys were kidnapped from their hostels on December 11, but after rounds of negotiations with their captors, were released on December 17.

The photograph of the boys as they were being herded into the Katsina State Government House without shoes and looking exhausted, disheveled and scruffy, went viral and had so many retweets and comments.

7. Prof. Daniel Pondei

The photo of the fainting former acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. Daniel Pondei, makes it to our list following the drama he put up when he slumped while being interrogated by the House of Representatives on the alleged misappropriation of N81 billion by the NDDC.

Pondei had been hale and hearty, and even chatty, (apologies to Information Minister, Lai Mohammed), while the probe was on but when the misappropriation question was thrown at him, he suddenly convulsed and lost consciousness.

8. Mummy Calm Down

In July, a four-year-old boy became an Internet sensation when photos of him begging his mother to calm down as she was about to discipline him for an offense, found their way to the social media.

The little boy painted the picture of a traumatized child who was going through pains in the hands of his mother and in the typical innocence of children, kept telling his mother: “Mummy, please calm down.”

Later, when the mother was asked to explain her action, she said the boy was fond of putting up an act whenever she was about to spank him for any wrong doing.

“He normally does that anytime I had to spank him. And I always tell my sister that: ‘See what your son used to do.’ Anytime I had to beat him, he would just be acting drama’. He has been doing that for a long time. So that day, I was about to spank him and he just put up an act. Then I picked up my phone. I said ‘Let me record the act as evidence that this is what I have been telling you about,’ the mother had said.

The video, however, catapulted the boy to stardom as he and his parents were invited by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who made him an Ambassador while many companies also struggled to make him their brand ambassador.

Sanwo-Olu also adopted the boys’ ‘Calm Down’ plea as a slogan for the residents of the state, asking them to always ‘Calm Down’ no matter the circumstances.

9. Crying Mother

The picture of a mother of one of the abducted students of the GSSS, Kankara, crying bitterly, broke the hearts of many Nigerians, some of who cried along the woman. The picture was so pathetic that it went viral and even had foreigners crying with her.

10. 23-year-old Nigerian boy marries 46-year-old America woman

Another picture that went viral and got Nigerians talking was that of a 23-year-old boy from Kano State, Suleiman Isah, who got married to his 46-year-old American lover, Janine Sanchez Reimann.

The wedding Fatiha which held in Kano on December 13, was celebrated with pomp and pageantry and the photos which were posted on social media quickly went viral.