On Christmas Day, calm after the chaos as cities deserted

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 con­sequently, 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 Christ­mas? 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 prepa­ration 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 tribes­men 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 dif­ferent 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, refer­ring 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 De­cember 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.”

Photo: Ibadan Garage 

Written by Job Osazuwa for the Sun