From Charity Nwakaudu and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, couldn’t have been exempted from preparations for this season. Mrs Margaret Emmanuel, a housewife, lent credence to this. She said it was one of the best Christmas seasons she has ever experienced despite the fact there was not enough money to plan the preparations:
“Where money came from I can’t explain. But we cooked, shared to our loved ones. We are still cooking and sharing. The truth is that money just came. It is not I have it somewhere to spend. And I thank God.
“The economy has made some homes not to have enough for the Yuletide.
It is so disheartening. When were young Christmas used to be a period of abundance, a time to share and joyous.
Veronica Ngbede, a civil servant, said: “There was food to eat.
Everything that makes it Christmas was in place. It was a successful Yuletide. I started saving for the Christmas Season in January and it paid off handsomely.
“We should imbibe the attitude of saving. No matter how little it is everyone should try to save money. Yes, things could seem very hard.
If you want to really enjoy Christmas you have to save. There is even fun when you save for Christmas.”
Mr Augustine Ibeh, a businessman: “The Christmas celebration was good.
Our children were able to celebrate with so much fun and joy. Where I would have been feeling terrible was if I didn’t have to give or provide for the children. Their joy is my joy, once they are happy, I am also happy. Though I am not the one having the fun. Once they can celebrate and always remember they had a good Christmas, then I am okay.”
Rebecca Adah, agreed the celebration was good, though she really didn’t have visitors: “But the fact that I went out and gave myself a treat was worth it.”
Dr Mariam Idowu was on duty in the hospital: “Most of that day I spent catering for people, which is another way of celebrating Christmas. As long as my family had everything necessary for the celebration of Christmas, then the celebration was good. For those who didn’t have, the coming year, 2023, should bring new light to everyone.”
Jennifer Adubor, a Journalist spent the day cooking for everyone to eat. “That made the day a joyful one. Christmas can be joyful when you plan ahead no matter how little. There should be reservation for the Yuletide.”
At the MagicLand adjacent to the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, a large crowd of people of all age groups were seen enjoying themselves.
The scene was not any different at the Gate Way ShopRite, Airport Road. It was crammed up both on the eve and Christmas day. Residents struggled to make last minute Christmas purchases even on the Christmas Day.
A civil servant, Mr Dennis Chikere, told Daily Sun: “The large crowd here does not mean things are not hard. This is the toughest
Christmas. I came here to shop for the Christmas but things are so expensive. I had to cut my budget and excluded a lot of things from the list my wife gave me.
“There are things that I needed to buy. But I could not. The prices have skyrocketed. They have gone beyond what my wife and I expected.”
A security man at the mall said: “Majority of the crowd you see are just kids coming for sightseeing. They are not making purchases. A lot of people also came with their families to just look around and take pictures. Although they would have loved to buy some of the nice things here for themselves but they couldn’t afford it.”
At the fun park, Ann Francis said: “I came out with my friends to look around to help me forget my sorrows. I am very broke this Christmas My friends and I wish to buy ice cream and shawarma, but we can only afford popcorn. Even tickets for roller coasters that were N500 they are now selling for N1000. In the past, we would try at least four to five before going home. Today, we will just do one and go home.”
A mother of three at the Liberty Junction, Kubwa, Joy Ameh said: “We thank God that we are opportune to see this year’s Christmas, but it is not what it used to be. I developed headache in the market when I was trying to minimise what I had on me to get the family presentable food for the celebration.
“We are all used to the alarming increase in the prices of rice and chicken. You cannot believe that chickens that were normally sold at N4,000, are being sold from N8,000 and above. It was not easy. Because of that, I was not able to share food with neighbours. It was stressful and embarrassing but we bless God for the gift of life.”
A resident of Mpape, Liliana, insisted that this year’s Christmas remained the worst she ever witnessed: “I was not even able to get second children second hand clothes. Their father has not been paid for the past five months.
“This 2022 is a year to remember. It should fasten itself up before it finishes us with hunger and other challenges.”