On Christmas Day, calm after the chaos

I t is Christmas again in Lagos! The
streets are calm. Vehicles are scanty on
the roads. Economic activities have gone
into slumber and the state is almost
asleep.
The level of noise and other sources of
environmental pollution is low, and con­
sequently, there is relative peace in the
air. Lagosians would wish the trend to
continue forever. But the day will soon be
over, and their wishes will melt away like
the morning dew.
Presently in all parts of Lagos, movement
is easy. Many residents have gone to their
villages to see their loved ones, and for
some others, to show off their wealth.
Commuters now move around Lagos city
effortlessly. The roads are looking a bit
saner, as gridlocks have vanished major
highways. Residents living on the
mainland don’t have to be awake as early
as 4.00am to resume the day’s work or to
meet up an appointment by 9.00am on
the island.
Christmas, observed by many as a
festival of the birthday of Jesus Christ is a
big event in Christendom. African
societies enjoy Christmas out-doors and
they are usually soaked in fun in the
course of the celebration. Decorations of
different designs characterise most
corporate buildings, individual houses
and streets. Christmas songs and
children’s caps are everywhere.
Unarguably, Christmas, celebrated on
December 25, is looked forward to even
by adherents of other religions. Ebere
Chidi, who sells clothes at Oshodi, told
our correspondent that the spirit of
Christmas and New Year could not be
compared to anything else.
Said he: “Tell me any other celebration
that can shake the world like that of Christ­
mas? Schools must be on vacation,
companies will balance their accounts,
businesses are shut down and
everywhere is decorated with lights. One
beautiful thing about it is that the
celebration is meant for all – Christians
and non-Christians alike. You feel the
sensation everywhere. I am yet to travel to
my village but I will definitely do so.
Maybe I will travel on December 30. By
then I might have been through with my
sales for the year.”
The period is regarded by many as the
ideal time to have a break from the hustle
and bustle of Lagos life, and to share
some good moments with family and
friends. It is a time when city-dwellers
head for their towns to celebrate the rare
moment.
In some quarters, Christmas is seen as all
glamour and glitz: a period to indulge in
unmitigated revelry. To some, Christmas
as a period to have a party, get drunk
and live a flamboyant lifestyle. To many
Christian clerics, however, that isn’t the
reason for the season.
It has become a tradition, especially
among Nigerians of Igbo extraction, to
travel to their villages during the yuletide.
Many of them have turned it to a yearly
sacrifice that cannot be compromised.
Our reporter learnt that the average Igbo
families consider their houses in their
villages as their only real home.
Christmas comes but once in a year, on
December 25. The expectation and prepa­
ration towards the day actually add more
glamour to the event. Perhaps, no other
moment reveals how excited families
would be than Christmas time.
The Christendom is usually engulfed in
frenzy of celebration, caroling and
showing all forms of care, support and
generosity to one another.
Daily Sun gathered that most Igbo people
regard the inability to visit home in
December as a sin. They could live in the
cities from January till December but
can’t afford to celebrate Christmas
outside their hometowns.
Many people in the cities prefer to work
hard from January till December. In the
final month of the year, they gather their
profit and face their hometowns to
celebrate the Christmas.
According Mr Sunday Chima, who lives at
Iyana-Ipaja, celebrating Christmas in his
village is beyond the birth of Jesus. To
him, it is simply a cultural thing that
anyone living in Nigeria or abroad should
return home and re-connect with his
kindred once a year.
“To the average Igbo man, the village is
the only real destination to mark the
yuletide. The rich never miss travelling,
but the poor also don’t want to be left out
during Christmas and the New Year
festivities. From the beginning of the year,
they anticipate and prepare for the
season, and in December, all roads lead
to the East,” he said.
Chima said from far and near, his tribes­
men besiege their respective villages, not
only to celebrate Christmas with their
relatives but also to engage in other
social activities organised annually in
their towns. He added that some
financially buoyant persons also use the
medium to show off the wealth they have
accumulated over the year. He further
described the celebration as an avenue
for many families to boast about their
illustrious children of whom they are
proud.
He lambasted those who use the medium
to flaunt their wealth. He described them
as empty barrels which make the loudest
noise.
“Christmas is something we cherish very
well in the East, so, we don’t joke with it.
We always do everything possible within
the law to travel home during the
celebration.
“There are many reasons an Igbo man
travels during the season. It creates room
for successful fellow tribesmen to discuss
issues of common interest especially on
how to move their town forward. Of
course, you cannot also take away the
social aspect of it.
“There are football matches between dif­
ferent age grades, different parties,
launching of projects and cultural festival.
Families discuss some pressing issues
and settle disputes. It is loaded with fun
and whoever cannot make it there would
naturally feel left out and embittered,” he
said.
But it is not only the Igbo that cannot do
without visiting home at Christmas. From
Lagos as well as other parts of Nigeria,
people travel to reunite with their family
members.
Chima added: “It is not everyone that go
home annually for the celebration of
Christmas that soils his hands in order to
make money to flaunt at home. There are
many that don’t indulge in sharp
practices. To be candid, most of them
have genuine enterprises which yield them
equally genuine money.”
Mrs Beatrice Akintola is a Lagos resident.
She believes that the state would have
been a boring place without the presence
of visitors from others parts of the
country.
Her words: “Everywhere looks dull and
uninteresting. Maybe I am feeling it much
because I have many people from other
parts of the country as friends, both in my
compound and where I sell. The people
from other parts of the country that I have
as friends and business partners have
never duped me.”
But Mr Ogugu Oghene had a contrary
view. If he had his way, not too many of
those that went to their hometowns from
their villages would return to Lagos, refer­
ring to the commercial city as presently
enjoying total peace.
“Since I came to Lagos 15 years ago, the
only period I enjoy Lagos is between De­
cember 25 and January 5 or thereabouts.
For example, I ply the Abule-Egba/Oshodi
route Mondays to Fridays to and fro my
office. I sacrifice between three and five
hours on that short journey everyday to
traffic jam. This is the same road you can
cover for just nine or eleven minutes.
Calculate those wasted hours on the
traffic in a year. You will pity or weep for
Lagosians, including myself.”