Today, Christendom celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago. It was a birth foretold by the prophets of old who prophesied the coming of a saviour who would bring freedom to his people. For the Israelites who had lived for centuries under slavery by nations that had conquered them in battle, they were full of hope and expectations that a valiant saviour would arrive to conquer their enemies and restore the primacy of Israel among the nations. However, the Christ that was born in a manger to a Nazarene family came as a meek lamb, preaching love, repentance from sin and salvation. The Saviour’s mission was to bring the light of God to dispel the darkness that sin had plunged the world into. The faithful look forward to Christmas by making spiritual preparations – mending their ways and repairing their relationship with God and man. For most, it is time to reunite and share moments with family and friends. For some, it is time to show love to others through acts of charity.
However, God’s love for mankind, for which He sent His only son as a sacrificial lamb, is an eternal love that is not seasonal, and it behooves on the faithful to continue to show love to fellow humans at all times – which is why Jesus Christ summarised the 10 commandments of God into love for God and love for fellow humans.
Over the years, joy and gaiety were the usual sentiments around Christmas in Nigeria. However, in the last few years, those sentiments have been diminishing year-on-year as families grapple with worsening conditions of living. The high expectations of better life that Nigerians looked forward to on return to democratic rule in 1999 has not come close to being realised as government after government have not only failed to improve their citizens’ lot, but the country is on a steady downward spiral due to bad and incompetent governance, massive theft of the commonwealth and wasteful application of the country’s resources. The result is that Nigeria, a country blessed beyond measure with rich natural and human resources, is now the poverty capital of the world, with nearly two-thirds of its over 200 million population wallowing in penury. The disaffection with the way the country has gone has also given rise to all sorts of security challenges in all parts of the country. From separatist agitations in the South East and South West, to terrorism and banditry in the North West and North East, to herder-farmer violence in the North Central, to oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the South South, and kidnapping all over the nation, the whole country has become largely unsafe to live in, no wonder many Nigerian youths and professionals are fleeing the country in droves in search of greener pastures.
On the economic front, the galloping inflation that has pushed essential commodities out of the reach of most families, the endless fuel supply hitches and a soaring exchange rate have not helped matters.
All these and more have dampened the Christmas spirit a great deal; however, as a newspaper, we urge Nigerians to keep hope alive, just like the people of Israel in the time of Jesus.
We are confident that all hope is not lost as Nigeria’s problem is man-made, and comes mainly from poor, incompetent and corruption-riddled governance at the national and subnational levels. Fortunately, unlike during the military juntas, this time around there is something they can do about it. Next year provides Nigerians an opportunity to decide who become their leaders at all levels. As we approach the 2023 general elections, Nigerians owe it as a duty to themselves and their nation to vote in leaders who can arrest the rot into which Nigeria has been sunk, and begin the process of retooling governance away from catering for the interest of a privileged few to enunciating policies and progammes that will impact positively on the Nigerian people and their country.
Already, the Buhari administration has carried reforms of the electoral process and passed a new electoral law which mandates electronic accreditation and transmission of votes from the polling booths, among others. This provision has increased the integrity of the process and makes it difficult for crooked politicians to steal the people’s mandate.
It is our belief that when leadership emerges from clean elections, those in leadership positions will show greater accountability to the people and this will ultimately result in better governance going forward.
Merry Christmas to all Nigerians.
