I woke up today, the 24th of December to a deserted road and street, everywhere was so dry and it was as if nobody was in the city again. what could be the reason for this? perhaps its because is still too early or maybe because its Sunday and people are still at home getting ready for church or probable gone to church already. As i drove to my church i saw few members who came for the 6am service going, i looked at my watch to see if am already late for the church service but i was five minutes early which means they just dismissed. when i got inside the church i met empty seats, this is a church that is always filled to the brim and i wondered what could be the reason.
oh! its Christmas, and people have all traveled to their various villages for the celebration but could that be the reason why the city looked so deserted? although i wasn’t expecting the city to be as vibrant and lively as it use to be but i wasn’t expecting what i saw. am aware that most Nigerian cities are usually empty during festive periods especially Christmas because an average Nigerian prefer to spend the Christmas in the village with families and relatives rather than spend it in the city but i thought this years Christmas was going to be different because of the scarcity of fuel and the hike in transport fare but i was wrong. If Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria could be this empty, i wonder how other cities in the country will be.
After the church service i decided to take a ride round the city to see how other places are but to my greatest surprise it was the same, what i saw wasn’t different from what i saw in my neighborhood. As i was heading home i kept thinking about all the love and fun i was missing, you might be wondering why i didn’t travel but i wanted to experience Christmas in Abuja, i do travel every year but my brothers travel once in every two years and this time around our grandmother was in the city so we all decided to stay. when i came back home i went straight to bed, as i was about to take a nap the door bell rang, i pretended as if i didn’t hear it because i was trying so hard to sleep. what exactly will i be awake doing, my Christmas spirit was so down because my my mind, my soul and spirit was in the village while my body is right here in Abuja. well, as i was still trying to sleep i felt a presence, my little niece and nephew were already in my room dragging my leg and asking me to wake up, i didn’t want to stand up from that bed but i had no choice, when i finally opened my eyes and looked at them my Christmas spirit started coming back, as i was talking to them the door bell rang again, this time around i went to see who our guest were, when i entered the sitting room they where already in and lo and behold it was my sister, with her daughter, son inlaw and grand daughter.
As everybody was seated we all began to gist and laugh and little by little i began i forget that i wasn’t in the village. instead of the normal Sunday rice we decided to eat a native Enugu food called Agbugbu or Fio Fio and Ofe Nsala a popular Igbo native soup just to keep our village spirit alive.
I know that didn’t totally bring back my village Christmas spirit but it helped a little, well, i said a little because i have been living here with my family members and i see them always, seeing them today was a little different but it wasn’t something unusual. Well, i just hope it gets better.
Merry Christmas to you all and how is the celebration like in your side, Hope its not as boring as mine and i hope your city is not as empty and dry as mine?