For many of Nigeria’s 100 million Christians, this Christmas will be different. The season of joy, traditionally marked by enthusiastic worship, abundant feasting, and raucous communal celebrations, will be celebrated more quietly this year, overshadowed by relentless attacks on Christian villages by Islamist fighters and a severe economic downturn that has sent prices soaring by more than 30 percent.
Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, the Church of Nigeria’s primate, urged caution and modesty in a speech at Abuja’s Carnival for Christ in late November. “Don’t spend all you have in order to celebrate Christmas. Know that by January, we will be paying house rent, we will be paying school fees, and therefore, we need to celebrate this year’s Christmas modestly,” he said.
Citing security concerns, Ndukuba urged urban Nigerians to avoid the cherished annual ritual of returning to their family villages, where attacks have been widespread. “Let us be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves,” he urged. “We pray that the Lord will us safe.”
Recent statistics from Intersociety estimate that between 3,100 and 7,000 Christians have been killed by Islamists this year in the country’s Northern and Middle Belt regions. Millions have fled their isolated homes to refugee camps near urban areas. The federal government’s inability to deal with the security crisis led the U.S. Department of State to label Africa’s most populous nation as a “country of particular concern” in late October.
Christmas in the Shadows
This year’s hardships stir memories of happier Christmases for some Nigerians.
“I wish we could bring back the joy of Christmas, the village setting with harmattan wind, while we drink freshly tapped palm wine, and visit friends and relatives,” said Chinye Arowomole, a 50-year-old community leader.
“As little children, we used to carry well-prepared bowls of rice and chicken to our neighbours, while they also reciprocated. It was always a season to share love.”
She said that churches in her Delta State hometown, Ogwashi-Uku, have replaced the festive vigils and carol services of the past with abridged services, “because no one knows when the Fulani herdsmen will strike.”
She added: “We live under the shadows of insecurity—where gunshots and abductions have replaced carols and where families pray their loved ones return home at all. These are the stark realities we face.”
Abuja resident Chineny Krystal said that “Christmas holiday spirit has bowed to the realities of our times—insecurity on our roads and even in the villages, compounded by the harsh economic realities, make travel a no no for us as a family.”
She added that the prices of a chicken and a bag of rice, the ingredients of the jollof rice dish at the center of traditional Nigerian Christmas celebrations, are now beyond the reach of the average Nigerian family.
“What used to be a season for annual family and community reunion has turned into a social and economic nightmare,” she said.
Many churches across the country are also sponsoring projects this year to help millions of internally displaced persons. Churches offer services focused on thanking God for preserving life, while volunteers share festive meals, and bring clothes and groceries for those in need.
Building Resilience
Chinenye Ezechi, a native of Agwa in Oguta Imo State, still hopes to return to her native village, which has not been directly affected by the security crisis, for the Christmas celebrations.
“From the first day of January, we start saving towards the Christmas. Every Ogutta son and daughter in the cities and in diaspora look forward to it. It is usually a week-long activity—traditional marriages, weddings, burial ceremonies, are fixed during the period. Mind you, we are a people who love celebrations,” she told TLC.
“I don’t need to tell you that feasting is at its best—entertainment galore! Q lot of eating and drinking—bush meat, ukwa [breadfruit], ugba [bean seed oil], nkwobi [boiled cow foot], isi-ewu [goat’s head stew] and other Igbo delicacies are showcased throughout. It is an opportunity for the locals to make brisk business too—from tourism and rentals”
Seasonal events in her region include masquerade competitions and football competitions between villages, with participants all dressed in special T-shirts and face caps. The celebrations climax on Agwa Day, when each of the district’s 10 villages present cultural displays.
This is followed by what Ezechi calls “an Annual General Meeting of sorts. Here, we discuss challenges, community development prospects, and projects. “Since the end of the civil war we have developed a resilient culture of self-reliance; community-funded and self-driven developments.”
Defiant Celebration
“Christmas reminds us that light shines in darkness. Our celebration shall remain defiant. We are alive and we will praise God, come Christmas. Nothing will steal our joy and nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ, not even death,” says Pastor Julie Josue in Jos, Plateau State. Friends of Josue’s have been killed and displaced in the attacks that have raged across her region for the past decade.
Christmas in Nigeria is not celebrated because things are good but because its people have refused to surrender their humanity to the agents of darkness. Nigeria’s Christians celebrate in a country battered by religious hatred and intolerance, full of uncertainties and fears. But they are emboldened by the love of Christ.
K.C. Nwajei is a freelance journalist based in Nigeria.
