In four days’ time billions of people around the globe will be celebrating one of the most honoured days on the calendar – Christmas.
This is the day, according to the Scriptures, that Mary and her carpenter-husband Joseph had, the baby that God had sent to earth to save mankind, Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
Christmas, unlike most other religious celebrations, is one of the few that is celebrated by all creeds – Christians, Muslims, agnostics, free thinkers, idol worshipers and the like.
On December 13, 1996, I was in Cairo, capital of Egypt, to cover the African Cup of Champions Clubs’ final between Shooting Stars (Nigeria) and Zamalek (Egypt). I was bowled over by the way the Egyptian capital was spruced up ahead of Christmas.
I must confess that even though Egypt is a predominantly Muslim nation the various decorations on the streets could be compared to what would have been on display in a European country.
Reports have it that it was not until the year 533 AD, that the head of the then Roman Church, which is today the Catholic Church, Constantine, changed December 25 from a ‘pagan’s day of sacrifices to Jesus Christ’s birth commemoration.
He called the day: “The mass for Christ, that is, Christmas!”
“Christ” in Hebrew means: “The Anointed One” or “The Chosen One.”
While “mass” in Greek means: “A big gathering of people.”
Thus, Christmas means: “The gathering of people of Christ (His followers/disciples).”
In Nigeria, Christmas is actually one of the few celebrations in which most people truly take time off from their busy schedules and spend time at home with their family and friends, merrymaking caught up in the joy of the occasion.
Christmas is also the time that many of us living in cities enjoy going out because the roads are usually free, making us wish that that would be the case for the whole of the year.
This is the period when Christmas trees and lights are brought out from storage and mounted in various homes; while many businesses also use this period to mount well decorated trees in their neighbourhoods with dazzling lights which attracts visitors from near and far.
One must also spare a thought for the turkey which is often the bird of choice on the dining tables in many western homes in the form of Christmas puddings.
Back here, while the cost of turkey is very prohibitive, keeping it out of the reach of many, purchasing its smaller cousin, the chicken, will be a tall order for millions of Nigerians, as this too, like most other things, has become very expensive.
Sadly for millions living in the world’s most populous black nation, this period is going to be very bleak as they struggle to make ends meet, due to no fault of theirs
They have been let down by those that have been in charge of the nation since the advent of the Fourth Republic 25 years ago.
Of course, once again, we will be told not to lose hope by both politicians and religious leaders; but the undeniable truth is that despite their repeated promises, the nation is worse off now than in1999, and it is clear that something is not right.
Of course, one can exonerate religious leaders (Christian and Muslim) for always admonishing the people not to lose hope but keep their faith in the ability of the Lord to turn things around – after all – they are not the ones running the country.
However, what excuses do those directly running the nation, the politicians; have in letting things go down south for millions of those they are governing while they, their families, friends and associates appear immune from the hardship ravaging the land?
For instance, last Monday, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, revealed that this year alone a staggering N3.25 trillion or 12 per cent of the national budget had been allocated to defence and security. And yet, many still can’t sleep with both eyes closed or make journeys without placing their faith in the Almighty for them to reach their destinations safely.
Meanwhile, he and other members of the political class have no such worries as they move around in heavily fortified armoured convoys and have ironclad 24/7 security provided for them and their families.
While acknowledging the necessity of military action, Abbas emphasised that a more cost-effective and sustainable approach would be to invest in critical sectors like education, healthcare, and infrastructure – areas that address the root causes of insecurity.
According to him, “Relying solely on force risks treating symptoms rather than addressing the underlying causes of insecurity.”
The onus is thus on the political leadership to come out with the right solutions to checkmate the underlying causes of insecurity so that more Nigerians can actually enjoy the benefits of democracy.
One has to travel back to the 70s, 80s and, perhaps, 90s to understand while more and more people are taking to crime. In the aforementioned decades, the economy was much better and thus there was no need to turn to crime in order to survive.
During the week, more reasons for ugly trend of rising hunger in the land was revealed when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 34.6 per cent in November — up from 33.8 per cent in October.
In its consumer price index (CPI) report for November published on Monday, NBS said the rate represents an increase of 0.72 per cent compared to the October 2024 rate.
The Human Development Indices (HDI) are equally poor, with figures showing that over 10 million Nigerians have been shoved into poverty in the last 18 months while over 2 million infants have lapsed into end-stage malnutrition in the corresponding period.
On Wednesday, presenting his N49.7 trillion 2025 Budget to the joint-session of the National Assembly, President Bola Tinubu sounded very upbeat when he declared that the sufferings of Nigerians will soon be over
He said: “The time for lamentation is over…It is a time for every Nigerian to look hopefully towards a brighter future, because a new day has dawned for us as a nation.
“The road of reforms is now clearly upon us, and as the President of this blessed nation, I know this less-travellled road has not been easy; that there have been difficulties and sacrifices. They will not be in vain. And we must keep faith with the process to arrive at our collectively desired destination.
“We must build on the progress we have made in the past 18 months in restructuring our economy and ensuring it is strong enough to withstand the headwinds of any future shocks of the global downturn.”
Unfortunately, the four presidents before him also promised the people good tidings, but invariably left them worse off than before they got into office.
As things stand today, many Nigerians will be celebrating Christmas, wishing that a miracle would happen and their living conditions will improve drastically. And, who knows, God might just answer our prayers this festive period.
Merry Christmas in advance!
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