Christmas in tears

IN two days’ time, Nigerians will join the rest of the world in celebrating the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. In Christian doctrine, Jesus it was who, though sinless himself by virtue of virgin birth, bore the sins of humankind and reconciled them to God through his shed blood. The most defining aspects of his character, therefore, are his submission to divine will, love for humanity, and sacrifice. Therefore, when his birth is remembered, these virtues ought to be placed on the front burner of public discourse if only to put into bold relief the underlying causes of the dislocations and fractures that threaten to rupture the social fabric and make life one long nightmare for vast populations of people around the world.

Regardless of the claims of officialdom, it is a fact that most of humankind is today unhappy. A criminally large number of people around the world lack food and water, and Christmas Day makes no difference. The poetry of want, of hunger and thirst, is flowing without any interruption. Insecurity, whether in the form of armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, carjacking or naked acts of terror such as the bombing of hapless citizens going about their lawful business, is rife in many parts of the world, as is social inequality and reckless misappropriation of the commonwealth by transparently and unapologetically demonic leaders. This is especially the case in sub-Saharan Africa where the same leaders who rob the people blind and make life pure misery for the people issue Christmas homilies urging the citizenry to love one another and to emulate the virtues of Christ. Thoroughly godless in conduct, they are effusive in the ways they preach to hungry, traumatised people to be good citizens; that is, citizens who would not challenge the horrendous conditions in which they have been trapped.

Sure, it is Christmas season once again. But Nigerians are not really in a joyous mood because of economic pains. The Christmas season the world over is meant to be one of festivity and celebrations as it is also the end of a calendar year. For the majority of Nigerians, though, 2022 has been a year of lamentations amidst the increasing pains of economic dislocation and general insecurity. Growing inflation has meant a massive rise in the prices of food items and other products to the point of unaffordability. This is in addition to the fact that Nigerians can hardly close their eyes to sleep any longer even as many are also not able to leave their abodes for the road because of the reign of bandits and kidnappers. It is as if life could not be more meaningless and unfruitful for Nigerians.

There can be no cheer with the massive hunger and want in the land. There can be no cheer with the prices of food items having shot through the roof as inflation combines with widespread insecurity to wreak havoc on the psyche of millions of Nigerians. The situation is so bad that many Nigerians are afraid to travel home, that is, to their home towns and villages because of insecurity. Traditionally, the Christmas season offers unique opportunities for Nigerians to bond with their kith and kin, relax after a year of hard work, discussing serious national issues over copious cups of drinks and edibles, but the tempestuous times that have chanced upon them this year have forged a different course of action. In any case, even for those who have no overriding fear of the gunmen and kidnappers that prey on travellers, the issue of bus fares is yet another bother. Bus fares are prohibitive because of the fuel crisis into which the country has been thrown for over a month. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has given assurances of adequate fuel to last the yuletide, but Nigerians keep buying fuel at prohibitive rates because marketers, who themselves are not exactly saints, aren’t getting fuel at the official rates. Used to hollow promises, Nigerians are taking everything in their stride, suffering and smiling, as the Afrobeat king, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, once quipped. After all, per the master poet Christopher Okigbo, how many million promises can ever fill a basket?

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There is hopelessness and despair everywhere, but the leaders who have created the crisis will of course release their annual Christmas homilies. Yet  across the country, there is no sign that the government has any plan to redress the excruciating living conditions of Nigerians. Officials continue to strut the land, pretending to be still in charge of governance and affecting a posture of hard work in pursuit of progress. The whole essence of government and governance is visible improvement in the living conditions of the people and in the absence of such improvement, it may as well be assumed that Nigerians are without government and are on their own as they approach Christmas with tears.

This is the unfortunate reality of life in the country, and it is indeed be a verdict of shame on the government. We are not too sure that anything could be worse than what Nigerians have to put up with under the current situation. This, apparently, imposes a duty on Nigerians to recruit better leaders in the New Year.