Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
November/December 2008

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Christmas in Nigeria

by Revd Dr Ebute Obiabo

"Joy to the World; the Lord is come"

Christmas is one of the happiest and most ecumenically celebrated festive seasons in Nigeria, a country on the west coast of Africa with a population of over 120 million people, speaking 375 different languages. Christians, Muslims and worshippers of African traditional religions take part in the celebrations.

Unlike Britain, Christmas celebrations in Nigeria last for a week, beginning on the eve of 24 December, when homes are decorated with fresh palm branches, which are woven together, and large African flowers of different colours. These are placed at the entrance to the house.

A huge open-field, watch-night service follows, attended by the entire community. The service will normally start at about 9.00pm and last until about 1.00 am, with shouts of joy and songs of praise that the Lord is come.
Christmas is also a time of sharing, when gifts are exchanged among family members and friends, culminating in gifts of goats, yam and cows being taken to the ministers of the various churches in the community. One of the fascinating aspects of this sharing is the neighbourhood sharing whereby housewives wake up at 4.00am to cook their Christmas meal, usually rice and goat, pounded yam and dried smoked fish with okoro, spinach, melon seed and dried prawn soup, seasoned with locust beans and spicy pepper. This food is shared with relatives and neighbours before 7.00am.

In Nigeria Christmas is a family time when all sons and daughters, both Christians and non-Christians, travel from wherever they are to be with their families. It is a time when family issues are resolved, weddings planned, and decisions taken for the welfare of the family. It is also a time when the children and the mothers are bought new clothes. Some of the family members, who cannot afford new Christmas clothes as well as a new school uniform for their children for the beginning of the school year in January are bought new uniforms, which the children wear at Christmas.

Christmas can also be a very sad and sorrowful time when many travellers lose their lives through motor accidents, due to the poor condition of the roads, with potholes, no lighting or proper road signs. This demands much prayer from various churches for the travellers that the Lord should guide and protect them as they travel with their families and loved ones during the Christmas season.

As I and my family celebrate our first Christmas in Barnes, we continue to pray for Nigerians and other nations to know the real joy and peace that Christ brings at his coming.

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