We are led to quote from the Bible in the determination of the person of the year.  Dr. Luke’s prefaced his account of the gospel by saying “forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth…  It seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of these things from the very first to write unto thee most excellent Theophilus”.  The fact is the year 2010 has had many protagonists, producers and pretenders.  Truth be told you should not live 365 consecutive days and not do any good whatever.  Everybody therefore has done some sort of good and is eligible for some sort of mention during 2010. 

Let us therefore set out our criteria for the person of the year 2010.   The person must have done some great good during 2010.  If the person did something before 2010, that would have merely tangential bearing on the determination.  If that person did well during his student and university years that will not count.  School days were happy, happy days and many persons acquitted themselves well in academia.  If the person won his seat at a recent election that might be a factor.  It cannot be the deciding factor.  If that were so we would have had eleven (11) persons of the year.  In short our person of the year must have done the greatest good to the greatest number during 2010.  It must be said of that person that he has outshined all the stars that shun so brightly around us during 2010.  Further let us say that there is a tinge of bias in every determination.  That notwithstanding the person of the year must have widespread acclaim and acceptance of all persons in St. Kitts and Nevis during 2010.

Now to my chosen candidate for this high honour.  Suppose in 2010 you retained your seat in the Federal Parliament for a third consecutive time.    Then suppose prior to the retention of your seat you served in the Nevis Island Cabinet as the Legal Advisor and while there demonstrated legal brilliance and pursued a legislative agenda for the benefit of the good people of Nevis.  My person of the year in 2010 was carrying on the struggle to have the ownership of Cable TV on Nevis in the hands of the good people of Nevis.  He had already spearheaded legislation to have the Nevis Island Government take over the assets of Cable TV/Nevis.  If it were not for the efforts of the enemies of the state led by another mercenary opposition lawyer we would have achieved this noble objective. 

My nominee for the person of the year in 2010 had already set up a Commission of Inquiry with the aim of providing Nevisians with decent and transparent government.  In 2010 my nominee had already negotiated and set up the legal mechanism for the first Caribbean Wind Farm in the heart of his St. James constituency.  In 2010 he was the featured speaker in the inaugural launch of wind energy to his people.  In 2010 my nominee for the person of the year has already by skilful and relentless negotiation spent hours, days, weeks nigh months hammering out a legal, legislative and contractual framework for geothermal energy to feed into the grid and to provide alternative and green energy to the good people of Nevis.  Geothermal energy is located in the parish of St. James.  Our nominee founded and furthered this source of energy in the midst of the giveaway that he inherited.  Some Man! Some achievement for some year! 

Consider this.  Our nominee not only won a straight consecutive seat in the Federal elections of 2010.  He became the first elected Attorney General of St. Kitts and Nevis since 1980.  He is the second Nevisian to be so appointed, the first being Eugene Walwyn of late memory.   Incidentally Mr. Walwyn demitted the office of Attorney General in 1971 the same year of birth of our nominee for the person of the year.    Recall with me that during the year under review another lawyer from Nevis also retained his seat in the Federal Elections.  What is apparent is that nobody even remembered to ask him to join them in government though he expressed a willingness to be so considered.  My nominee edged out even this “great goodly gentleman” for the nation’s chief legal post.  Nevisians then got a seat of power in the Federal Government for the first time since 1993.  Some fellow!  Some achievement!  Nationals at home and abroad welcomed the new Attorney General with open arms and with much acclaim at the swearing in ceremony in Basseterre.  

Nevisians now had in our nominee a person of humility, learning and political gravitas that could carry the mantle of the nation’s top legal guru and custodian of the advice to a government.  In 2010 he has demonstrated much team spirit and has won the acclaim of his cabinet colleagues especially the Prime Minister himself.  The Hon. Prime Minister has sent our nominee to personally represent him hither, thither and yon and has given him the thumbs up as a man among men.   In 2010 Nevis and St. Kitts moved from the islands of hate, suspicion even superstition of the past years to what Martin Luther King referred to as a “beautiful symphony of brotherhood”.  This was made possible because of the politics, personality, poise and perspective of one of Nevis’ most pleasant sons.  In 2010 Nevis and St. Kitts physically, literally and figuratively beat their “spears in plowshares and their swords into pruning hooks” mainly because of the presence in the Federal Government of our nominee who is not only the Attorney General but the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs.

The Attorney General has not been on the job for nary a year.  Yet he has already being instrumental in piloting through the Federal Parliament and repatriating to Nevis the corporate taxes that the former Premier of Nevis and long serving Federal parliamentarian admitting during the sitting for this timely piece of legislation that he has been trying to do for fourteen (14) long wintry years to  no avail.  Where therefore the pretenders have fallen down flat our nominee has scaled the mountain of signal achievement for his people.  In 2010 the good people of Nevis passed the payment of corporate taxes in Nevis and also took over the payment of the police.  Of course we see this as a way of being in charge of our island’s security.  The proverb “who pays the piper calls the tune” speaks volumes in this regard. 

Through it all there is an air of humility and service that surrounds him.  His feet are securely fastened to the earth and his characteristic boyhood grin still guides his every move.  We cannot imagine that he would not have the nod of all of us wherever we are and however our bias.   We make it bold to say therefore and call on every one, friends, Kittitians, Nevisians, countrymen lend me your years and join with me in congratulating and declaring with a blaze of glory The Hon Patrice Dwight Hanniff Nisbett, Attorney General, Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis as The Person of the Year 2010!  SELAH!