Eid Adha in spirit of woes

I had a thought about Muslims in Igangan, Southern Kaduna, Ebonyi, Zamfara and many other parts of the country where the activities of bandits and ‘unknown’ gunmen had made life difficult. I prayed that innocent faithful in those areas would not be slain amidst Sallah celebrations. After all, more legs would walk into these places/cities, and amid fanfare, many would have forgotten to keep to the security tips.

I considered the people of Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and other places where Boko Haram had taken hold and considered their fate during Sallah, how did they celebrate? Those that travelled for Sallah too had my thoughts, did they get there or how many were kidnapped? It is indeed a hellish time to celebrate in Nigeria.

After sailing through the rigour of insecurities, the cost of food to celebrate Eid was another matter especially when the cost of food items now contests superiority with the minimum wage.

It is safe to say current Nigeria repels the good spirit of Eid; kids found it hard to get “Eid money” from the elderly ones.

I sympathise with areas where electricity had been relinquished for a long and many had to use money that is unavailable to power their generators so they could drag little fun on Sallah Day. It’s sickening. Festive periods in saner countries come with unrivalled ecstasy but in Nigeria, you are either scared of travelling home for Sallah due to insecurities or worried about the prices of commodities to celebrate. This is pathetic. This gravity and grandeur of recession, insecurities and hard times we hope will not last for long. But maybe, our hopes are only being hung by wicked chains of those at the helm of affairs.

Hashim Yussuf Amao,

Ibadan.

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