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It’s Christmas day

By Editorial Board
25 December 2022   |   4:10 am
Christmas is upon us once again as Christians worldwide celebrate the portentous event of the birth of Jesus the Christ, the one not only regarded as the Saviour of the world, but whose birth dated and divided world history into two, according to the Gregorian Calendar.

Christmas is upon us once again as Christians worldwide celebrate the portentous event of the birth of Jesus the Christ, the one not only regarded as the Saviour of the world, but whose birth dated and divided world history into two, according to the Gregorian Calendar. Even in a world overrun by secularism and moral relativism, the continued influence of Jesus Christ in the global context is unmistakable.

As always, Christmas is associated with the festive spirit, with travels, with family reunions, and with the exchange of greetings and gifts to friends and neighbours. Nigerian Christians will want to stretch out the hand of fellowship and solidarity in charity and thanksgiving to all who have survived the unprecedented stresses and the strains of the passing year. The poor will also struggle to celebrate this period, even when the commonest Christmas delicacy has been priced out of their reach.

As we join the world to celebrate Christmas, Nigerians must not lose sight of the real meaning and essence of Christmas. The coming of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, was to herald a civilisation of love and human solidarity that will replace a world of corruption and immorality, of greed and avarice, of hatred, wickedness, and violence. Yet more than 2000 years after, our world is still enmeshed in trouble; what with the daily revelation of acts of monumental corruption on the part of those who hold positions of public trust in our country, the intractable terrorist insurgency, banditry, and the senseless killings at the hands of the so-called “unknown gunmen” across the Nigerian landscape, including those who ironically claim religious motivation for their iniquitous and sadistic enterprise.

On the international scene, the world has continued to watch helplessly as Russia and Ukraine are engulfed in full-scale violent conflicts, while the longstanding political tension between North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, as well as the Tigray Region and the federal government of Ethiopia, are yet to abate. The human society in general remains mired in corruption, social injustice and inequity, and human degradation. The greatest disasters today are often man-made.

This year’s Christmas holds special significance and foreboding, not just for Christians but for all Nigerians, who have lived through and survived one of the most challenging years in the nation’s history. Whereas in the year, the bombing of strategic institutions and infrastructures by the Boko Haram terrorists appears to have subsided, Nigerians were confronted with the proliferation of killer bandits (and the so-called unknown gunmen) that have taken over swathes of unpoliced territories across the length and breadth of the country, sacking whole villages, killing, maiming, raping, and abducting innocent citizens, including travelers and school children, for huge monetary ransoms.

In the year 2022, the faith of even the most optimistic believer has been sorely tested in the real time predicament of glaring social injustices, widespread political tension, heightened insecurity, and increasingly worsening economic fortunes, under a bunch of insensitive and clueless persons occupying political office across the board, who, like callous scavengers, appear determined to wreck the Nigerian nation and eviscerate the Nigerian people for senseless, venal gain.

With these distressing realities, how, we may ask, are Nigerians expected to celebrate Christmas? The challenge of Christmas however is to rekindle hope in the realisation of the powerful prophesies of Prophet Isaiah regarding the people that walked in darkness upon whom a great light has dawned; regarding a time when the wolf and the lamb, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear will all be at peace together, and the child will come to no harm playing by the cobra’s den or probing the viper’s lair.

The challenge for Nigerian Christians, as they mark Christmas, is to critically reflect on their national circumstances, and re-examine their commitment to living out the prescriptions of Jesus, meeting the high Christian standards of sacrificial love, selfless service, justice and equity, human solidarity, and universal brotherhood. Nigerian Christians must be prepared to apply these values to break the many barriers we see on the way of responsible and transparent governance, wholesome development, national integration, and peaceful co-existence. We must accept as Nigerians the obvious reality that the obstacles to true nation building and the desired prosperity for our country, are not in our stars, but in ourselves. It is within our power to realise the dreams of the prophets of old, to transform this nation to a haven of peace and development, using all the human and material endowments with which the Creator has blessed us. Yes, it is within our power to change our circumstances for the better, especially as the nation approaches a major national election exercise.

We urge that Christmas this year should not just be a holiday for reveling and sumptuous consumption by the privileged few in an otherwise comatose economy. Instead, we should work towards translating our widely acclaimed religiosity into more godly living on both individual and corporate levels and take the required steps towards the much-needed transformation. It is on this note that The Guardian wishes all our Christian readers, and indeed all Nigerians, a merry Christmas, with hope for the emergence of a better Nigerian society, come the New Year 2023.

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