CHRISTMAS IN TIMES LIKE THIS
It’s a season of love. Be kind to people
As Nigerians join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2024 Christmas, the season has acquired a special tone this year owing to the socio-economic challenges the nation is going through and the impact on citizens. In Nigeria today, the plight of the under-privileged is steadily worsening and many go to bed with less than a survival diet. If there is any lesson to take from the stampede that killed dozens of children in Ibadan, Oyo State as well as others in Okija, Anambra State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, it is the level of hunger and deprivation in the country today. There is therefore no better time than now for public officials at all levels to eschew greed and avarice while building an ethic of human solidarity aimed at promoting the common good.
It is indeed unfortunate that in a season of celebration, we would witness three heartbreaking tragedies during the distribution of palliatives which resulted in stampedes. We commiserate with the families who lost loved ones as we pray for the speedy recovery of all injured people. “In a season of joy and celebration, we grieve with fellow citizens mourning the painful losses of their loved ones,” President Bola Tinubu said in his condolence message. “Our prayers of divine comfort and healing are with them.”
Therefore, beyond the decoration of streets and houses, exchange of gifts and singing of carols, this Christmas is a good time for stakeholders in our country to begin finding lasting solutions to the existential challenges that seem to overwhelm us. People in government must begin to pay serious attention to the plight of those who
cannot celebrate this season because they have no means to do so. It is also important for men and women of goodwill to offer support to the weak and vulnerable of our society. It is a time to be kind to the people around us.
In specific terms, this season is a reminder of that historical event which took place more than 2000 years ago, when Christ was born in the relatively humble town of Bethlehem of Judea. That birth, as well as the mission of salvation connected with it, was at once a promise of redemption from spiritual death, a declaration of an end to the reign of darkness and a call to mankind to embrace the light of God.
If Jesus Christ came to serve and not to be served, our leaders should learn to bring light to the dark land; hope to the hopeless; justice to the oppressed and integrity to the wasteland. And for the rest of us, Christmastime underlines the importance of the family institution. It affords wives, husbands, and children the opportunity of reuniting and sharing warmth and love.
Indeed, there is a lot that citizens can draw from the Christmas season as we seek to build a better society for ourselves and generations to come. It is a season of love and hope. Times
may be hard, but we cease to live when we cease to hope. And we cease to hope when we give in to despair. And despair comes when we lose the appetite to smile and laugh even at our problems. As a famous character in the late Prof Chinua Achebe’s novel, ‘Things Fall Apart’ admonished, “Let’s smile not because we don’t have problems but because we are stronger than the problems.” There is no better time than
today to put up
that lost smile in our faces and join the uncountable numbers of people around the world in celebration of this glorious season.
We wish all our readers a joyful and peaceful Christmas.
