Christmas, a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is here again. The yuletide season is usually a public holiday in Nigeria as almost everyone celebrates it or partake in its observance particularly in the Southern and Central regions.
It is a known fact that the yuletide people who reside away from their ancestral homes do not afford to spend their holidays outside. Even people who do not celebrate Christmas utilise the opportunity by travelling to visit friends and relatives.
Nigerians spend a major part of the year going about official duties and businesses from the early to the later part of the year. Therefore, Christmas provides them the break to unwind, travel to have fun and spend time in the midst of family and friends.
Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2019 and various lockdown in almost every country of the world in 2020, the yuletide season used to be a time of fiesta and many fun filled activities across the country. Music concerts, comedy shows, performance art, kite flying, carnival games, face painting, races, dance performances, live music, communal feasting and other side attractions are the events people customarily engaged.
But suddenly, like a thunder, came the anti communal COVID-19 restrictive protocols that swept across the world. Like others, Nigerians were welcomed to an unusual yuletide in 2020 due to the prevalence of the global pandemic. A moment of relief came when the authorities announced phased lift of the lockdown and restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the virus, and many Nigerians decided to celebrate 2021 Christmas albeit on a low-key.
However, just when they- communal celebration enthusiasts thought (there) they would like before feel the breathe and warmth of Christmas once again (thanks to Covid-19 vaccination), the world was slammed with a new variant known as the Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2, said to have a travel history from South Africa. Omicron has been designated a “Variant of Concern” by the World Health Organisation because of its more complex transmissibility.
To slow down the incursion of this highly transmissible variant, the UK government placed Nigeria and ten (10) other African countries on a ‘Red List’. Similarly, the Federal Government of Nigeria initiated diplomatic steps of retaliation in order to have the pronouncement reversed. All eleven (11) countries on the list were removed accordingly.
While sovereign states are putting measures in place to prevent the spread of Omicron, the WHO has recommended several actions including “enhancing surveillance and sequencing of cases; sharing genome sequences on publicly available databases, such as GISAID; reporting initial cases or clusters to WHO; performing field investigations and laboratory assessments to better understand if Omicron has different transmission or disease characteristics, or impacts effectiveness of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics or public health and social measures.”
(As at Thursday, December 16, 2021) So far, statistics from NCDC has it that over 1,051 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been recorded from eleven (11) States in the country. With the number of confirmed cases on the increase and international travel protocol into and out of Nigeria, what does the yuletide season mean for Nigerians in the year 2021? Gone are the days when the most concern was on road safety. Now everyone has to do more because health safety is involved and the government might be compelled to again roll out some kind restrictions. To some, nothing changes; travelling to spend time with their families in their ancestral home is paramount no matter the cost.
Everyone has a role to play to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The most effective steps individuals can take in the season is to apply piously adhere to the protocols of, “keep a physical distance of at least 1 metre from others; wear a well-fitting mask; open windows to improve ventilation; avoid poorly ventilated or crowded spaces; keep hands clean; cough or sneeze into a bent elbow or tissue; and get vaccinated when it’s their turn”.
Notwithstanding the challenge of the present time, the birth of Christ must be celebrated high or low-key. It is therefore, the duty of every individual to prevent the spread of Covid-19 whatever variant is concerned so as stay healthy and safe. After all, only the living they say, can celebrate.
Merry Christmas And A Joyous New Year In Advance.