Christmas-Themed Nostalgia
Working in December does not make sense to me. I’ve tried to understand it. Boy, do I miss the good ol' days.
I was able to tolerate this unfair set-up in early December, but once the harmattan winds set in last week, it became unbearably Christmasy.
There are Christmas lights, trees, and other decorations around the hospital. Sadly, the most important aspect of the season (i.e., having time off from official duties and being with family) seems to be forgotten.
Luckily, my week of being on call ends on the 24th, which means I get Christmas and Boxing Day off. I, however, do not understand why I can’t have the whole week off till after the first of January. Anyway, let me not lament now because maybe the way it will play out will be better than I expected.
How is my favourite reader? How is your December going? I hope you are having a much more magical one than me.
Last week, I could not check in with you because I was tired. I had a 12-week Substack streak up till then, which I’m actually really proud of, given the demands of my work-life.
As I mentioned earlier, the Harmattan winds brought me Christmas cheer, and it triggered moments when I picture my house in Calabar and imagine the walks I often take around the neighbourhood. This time of the year, there would be dust on my feet and some of the strolls would be with my sister.
This time of the year, there would be lots of happy visits from relatives and friends. Christmas is all about the food, the parties, and the festivals. December has always been my favourite month of the year, and being born in the month helped to make it even more special. Sadly, December gets more anti-climatic each year.
When I was in primary school, Donald Duke was governor of Cross River State, and he used to mandate that all schools close on or before November 30th. So we would have kicked off the celebrations with the school Christmas party on the last day of November.
There would be city-wide decorations out before December even began. Calabar’s tree lighting ceremony would take place on the night of 30th November, and along with it, the free Christmas Festival shows that offered every popular Nigerian musician and even a handful of foreign acts would begin.
I was too young to have participated in the nighttime events but I would spend almost every night awake, watching the 32-day long music festival shows from 8 pm to 4 am. If I slept, then there would be a re-run to catch during the day.
We did not have cable, but the state-owned TV station had great programming in those days. From the incessant Christmas carols playing to the season-appropriate movies and shows, there was more than enough cheer to go around.
Oh and growing up in Calabar-South, Efik cultural elements were infused into the Christmas celebrations. Lots of masquerades, Ekpe, Afia-Anwan, Ekpo Nkang, Ekpo Radio, Nnabo, Effiom, and more that I cannot even recall their names.
There was also Nyoro Ekpe (ekpe display), Utomo-obong ( cultural displays in reverence to the Obong (ruler) of Calabar) during the later part of the month, and Tinkorikor (a black and white themed festival where small mollusc (nkorikor) shells are painted black and white and worn by youths who chaotically parade the streets) festival on the first of January.
No one even uses Knock-outs (firecrackers) anymore. In Calabar-South, we used to take it a step further and ignite carbine that was more explosive. Even back then, fireworks were considered expensive, a whole 1000 naira for one. So, I cannot imagine how much they are now. On the 30th of November and at midnight on New Year’s Day, we would have a state-sponsored hour-long fireworks display at the stadium, which was very close to another place we lived, Big Qua.
Do not get me started on the Calabar Carnival, which was still spectacular. Those days, it was held over 3 days, which consisted of the cultural, the children’s, and the main carnival. The floats were much more impressive than they are these days. The costumes were intricate and high-quality. Loads of celebrities used to participate in it, and people would book hotel rooms months in advance if they had hopes of finding a place to stay during the festivities.
Over the years, the proportion of ✨Christmas✨to plain ol’ December has shrunk. Now Christmas is just 3 days, 5 days maximum. A travesty if there ever was one.
I wonder sometimes if the joy of the 33 days of Christmas was just because I was a child and had fewer responsibilities, but no, it was objectively better. There was just more money then. Wages have remained pretty much the same, but a chicken was like 800 naira then, and it is 6000 now. A bottle of coke was 30 naira and 5 litres of vegetable oil was about 1400.
I miss the good ol’ days. I wonder how the kids of today feel about December, if it still holds the same charm. I’m too young to be sounding so nostalgic. In 10 years, I may look back at now and realize how good we had it because that seems to be a trend over generations.
Nevertheless, I am glad you joined me in this Christmas-themed nostalgia. We’ll speak again on Christmas Eve, and I do hope you’re making the most of the season. Till then,
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P.S.: One day, I’m going to talk about how difficult it is to find African/Nigerian art online. Also there are differences between the writing and the recording so I recommend trying both.
I think this is my favourite substack on here, yet. I doubt this is the last time I’ll read it. And yes, I agree, Christmas has a receding hairline and December is half as fun as it used to be. Hopefully, we won’t remember now as nostalgic times, but as the beginning of a return to the coveted past. Although that might be unrealistic.