Christmas: The Eve

Chapter 3

The Christmas Eve

This is a day of final preparation everyone wants to be sure that their clothes are in the box. It is rushing hours. Last minute shopping is done at this time. There is also the matter of collecting one’s dresses from the tailor for some

 But most importantly it is a day of cooking. There is the cooking of stew, frying of meat, preparation of kumu zaki and “chinchin”. Chinchin is made from flower) it small and harder than bones. The children usually go close to their mothers to have a taste her cooking and I was not left out. 

The Christmas Eve service which is made of Christmas carol holds in the night. It sometimes hold at midnight. The popular “silent night is sung.” There is an exhortation usually on the real meaning of Christmas. This is explained as the birth of the Savior and Emmanuel meaning God with us.

There was also the explanation of what it is not. We are usually told that Christmas is not about eating, drinking and wearing of new dresses. Sometimes this is dramatized. But believe me as children Christmas was both to us. We were nappy about Emmanuel. We were also excited about having Christmas dresses, food and drink in abundance at least once a year.

The truth is this is the only time that many will eat rice to their satisfaction. Meat was also a rear delicacy but it was also available in abundance at this time. As far as the children are concern over and above anything else that is happening on the Christmas Eve is the anticipation of the following day –Christmas!

Christmas in Northern Nigeria coincides with the end of the raining seasons. This is the harvest season. Many in the community were subsistence farmers. Many who have jobs also do a little farming. Therefore, the rice that many people eat at this time was locally farm. In many cases it is from the farm of the people cooking it. It was full of small stones and one has to use a calabash and water to sieve the stone from the rice. At Christmas it was therefore a lot of work because of the quantity of the rice.

A few rich ones will go for a popular brand of foreign rice that is called Ungle Ben’s rice. At first as a child I use to think it was unglue beans that was the name of the rice. I use to wander how unglue beans will not be beans but rice.  This type of rice was bigger than the one we knew. It also did not have small stones.  It therefore does not need sieving. As children we were also attracted to it because it comes in a beautiful pack.

In those days we did not go to visit Father Christmas but there were Christmas songs everywhere in public places by the people selling one thing or the other ranging from shoes stockings to cloths, ear rings necklaces and bungles . At the same tine there were those that where hulking such things.

At home my father’s favourite songs was a collection of Christmas song by bonny-M. The album will be played on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day. It will be played over and over again and the volume will be high. I could at that time sing all the songs along with Bonny-M. My favourite track however, was “Felix nabi die” I did not know the meaning of the song then but I like its bit.  I guessed it was wishing Felix happy Christmas. As I grew up I checked the meaning and found that it means, “Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year and happiness.”

Our Muslim friends also partook in the Christmas Eve activities by selling Tomatoes, Onion and different types of pepper to us because they were the only ones that were gardeners.  Some of them will hulk their produce from house to house. My childhood friends were also involved in the hulking.

On this day the children will generally and secretly try out their clothes for the very last time. Any adjustment needed will be made on this day. In the afternoon we will decorate our houses with Christmas light and Christmas cards and some time pictures depicting the season like the shepherds, wisemen, angel or Mary and the baby Jesus.

It is also a day we go around the community houses to house singing songs and beating drums to gather money for the Boy’s Brigade Nigeria. But before this we will spend sometimes in front of the church after the Christmas Eve service singing and dancing. The visitation to houses will thereafter follow.

When our young Muslim friends see us passing they will be cheering us on with excitement. They will be calling our names. We will shout back at them. I can still hear the voice of Habibu and Audu saying, “John Happy Christmas.” I will shout back, “Happy Christmas” or “Same to you.”

We had no problem with each other. We loved each other and do the same during Sallah which is the Muslim equivalent of Christmas.

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