By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
“Of all the months of the year, there is not a month one half so welcome to the young, or so full of happy associations, as the last month of the year.” That was Charles Dickens expressing his feelings towards December.
I would simply add that the seniors also welcome December with joy; if not for a happy end of the year, then it would be for an anticipation for a fresh start. In either case, we have arrived at the end of the calendar, the month called December. It is cold in the west, east, and northern hemisphere but very warm in the southern hemisphere or Sahel region.
The world, being a global village, tends to celebrate the season simultaneously. The religious aspect brings to the fore the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ and the social aspect marks the end of the calendar year. Other religious groups also have their big feast being celebrated during the December period.
The Jewish Hanukkah and the African traditional Kwanzaa. Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and the subsequent rededication of the second temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE (Before the common era). Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African American culture from December 26 to January 1st.
There are celebrations on all aspects of December be it social, cultural, religious, and civic. I do not want to miss out on some of the religious trademarks of Christmas, therefore I continued the tradition as an adult. One good example is going to the Christmas Vigil Mass to hear the choir sing the ‘Silent Night’ and some other Christmas hymns, carols and songs.
They bring to mind my parents and my brothers sitting together in the church using our voices to praise God. I still go to the market to buy myself a nice shirt, shoes, trousers, and a watch, the way my parents would have done 40 to 50 years ago, just to recreate that special feeling. I try to make sure that the food on that Christmas day is special. It used to be chicken and beef but now I have added point and kill (fresh fish).
We used to walk miles to visit relatives but now I will take a taxi, Okada, drive, or carpool. The visit still brings to mind the family reunion, though I do not know some of the newbies. The O.G.’s (Old Guys) still give me a befitting welcome as Nwadiana/Nnaochie.On the social aspect of the celebration, almost all the villages in the eastern part of Nigeria have one activity or another. I played soccer for my village in those days. We went to Arondizogu, Umuoji, Akokwa, and Nnewi to watch the masquerade. One time we went to Abagana to watch the masquerade.
The type of gridlock we encountered on the road did not even allow us to get to the main arena. We were stuck on the road till 2 AM. When we came back home people came to us to hear the stories about the Abagana popular masquerade called Odachi. The fact that we could not get to the arena encouraged many people to go to Abagana the following year to see such a masquerade that could have caused the traffic gridlock. The finals of some town’s soccer tournaments were so huge that people traveled from one town to another to watch the debacle.
I watched the finals in Nanka between the Lagos branch and the home branch. I watched the finals in Nnewi, Ichida, Okoh, and Ekwulobia. Those games were explosive and entertaining. The only advice I would give to Christmas travelers is to avoid those towns with big soccer feasters on the day of finals, because the road will be filled with cars and people. But if you can attend the games, it is a wonderful competition to behold.I will also use this opportunity to call on the government, local, state, and federal, to build or rebuild our parks (Polo Park, Agbakoba Park). I grew up in Enugu and Onitsha.
It was during Christmas that my parents took us to the polo park in Enugu. We enjoyed ourselves and there were a lot of fun activities. I went back to see the park after many years it had been sold by the government and that is where you have the Shoprite shopping center standing today. The Agbakoba park in Onitsha is not maintained and half of it has been sold. The government does not think about the leaders of tomorrow. Everything should not be about money; the kids need entertainment too. Growth should be comprehensive (body, mind, and soul).
The Christmas celebration should be a time of full celebration for kids, young people, adults, and senior citizens. If you work for 11 months, it is not too much to ask for one month’s rest.Finally, I would not end this without reminding ourselves that a lot of Decembers remain ahead of us. If I did not achieve all the planned targets this December, I will exercise some patience this time and strategize for next year’s December. To get rich should not be by fire and by force. Remember that gbanu gbanu gwujie ji, etukwulu ani choba odu ya (The farmer does not harvest his yam in a hurry so that he doesn’t lose the tail).
This December will come and go, and, God willing, we shall all see another December. The cultural celebration of Uzo-iyi, Nwafor, Otite, Akpu-Okochi, onwa-asa, onwa-asato will all come and go, but those who exercised caution will see the next one. Please do not over-drink, do not over-eat anything, because too much of everything is bad. Drivers do not drink and drive, speed kills and overspeed kills many people in one setting. Always remember to be moderate in your behavior.
Extend your generosity to your relatives, do not worry about those who have bad mouths. The ungrateful ones would say that your generosity was to take away their destiny. Do not be bothered by those ingrates because good destiny should not be waiting for you to give them rice and meat during this season.
Just be generous from the heart, buy clothes for the less privileged, and give food and money to the poor. Put smiles on the faces of your family because Onye Chineke gbalu Christmas ya biko gbalu Umunna ya (He who is blessed by God should remember his people). December is a month of happiness, a month of hope, a month of peace, a month of joy, and ultimately a month of Love because it is a month that encompasses the birth of Christ.
