By Rev. Fr. Gerald Nwafor
It was a common understanding that the month of January always goes fast but the month of February goes slowly. I agree with the assertion, but I also ask the question why? If you turn off the electric fan the source of power goes off, but the blades continue to turn until the wheels are motionless.
During the end of the year, which is December, and the beginning of the year which is January we tend to celebrate so much that some days we do not even know the difference between the weekends and the weekdays.
There are activities galore and celebration profusion. Sometimes these celebrations start early in December and end late in January. It is a known fact that when you enjoy the time, it flies, and when you suffer the time crawls. When you stay with your best friend five hours are like five minutes but when you stay with an enemy five minutes looks like forever.
The reason why January travels so fast is because we spend most of it with family and friends. Depending on the economic power of an individual the people around him would not like the month to end but it will end quickly. The poor February, which is the month to balance the books and replenish the pocket, moves slowly because the reality is only settling in.
The blades of the fan are slowing down, and the excitement of December and January is fading away so the only suitable words to console the mind that the excitement could have lasted longer was to buy into the illusion that the month of January always develops winds and fly so fast. But I can simply tell you that there are always 24 hours in one day and it has not changed since the time of Adam and Abel the just.Those our brothers and sisters who spent their days and nights in the captivity of bandits and Boko Haram people, I wish to interview and ask them if they felt the speedy movement of January at all. I bet you they would respond very differently from you and me, who enjoyed the freedom of movement.
The most important thing about the month of February is to mark your goals and plans and work towards them. It will not worry you so much if the month decides to fly or crawl because you have a target to pursue. I listened to how the politicians were lying on the television that they would do ABC and promise people heaven on earth.
It is a good thing to have hope but not in the words of a politician. I remember a politician who answered correctly when asked how we know that a politician is lying or telling the truth and he said, “Whenever the lips are moving, they are lying, and whenever the lips are not moving (silent) they are saying the truth.” Therefore, do not bank on those words of the politicians to succeed.
I discovered that President Tinubu went to France on a private visit, and then the news broke that the federal government of Nigeria paid over 900 million Naira ($1 million) to a private account in three months. What do you want the public to think about section 713 of the Nigerian civil service financial regulation which says that no public money be paid into a private account? Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.
When will the prosecution start?Back to the month of February which is the shortest month of all the 12 months in the year. It has only 28 days or 29 days. If you manage it well it will put the rest of the months in good shape and December and January of the following year will be very celebratory in nature.
Students should not continue to dream about the events of December and January but move on to the hard work in front of them during the month of February. My little niece who doesn’t understand the calendar asked if there would be another Christmas next year and I said yes she asked me when is next year, and I said tomorrow, and she went away happy.
Our people have said that everyday is not Christmas although they were not Christians from the start, but they have observed the events of Christmas and the month-long celebration that follows it and know that it should not be an everyday event because of what is involved. It is not only capital intensive, but time is also involved in the preparation, talents required to put things in their proper place, and many more demands of the celebration make it impracticable daily.
The glamor of Christmas so overshadows the chronology of January that people do not know when it comes and goes, and the next reality is February, which takes the position of a normal month after two months of fanfare and excitement. The Chinese New Year comes up on February 10th this year and my Chinese friend is telling me how fast the month of February is and how slow the month of March moves always.
I told him that February is very slow in the Christian calendar because of Christmas and all the celebrations accompanying it. He did not agree with me.So, I will conclude that no month is faster than the others but what you are involved in will change your perspective and the speed of each month.
During our school days, the fastest months were those three months of long vacation namely July, August, and September. The slowest months were October to December and January to June. If you keep your focus, you will enjoy all the months and make good the celebratory months and the non-celebratory ones.
