Easter is an important Christian celebration that marks the beginning of hope for the church. It is a day that Christians mark the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Easter is a public holiday in Nigeria, a country which is deeply religious country with a population that is evenly divided into almost equal numbers of Christians and Muslims.
Easter is a joyful occasion commemorating Christ’s victory of death and his ascension into heaven to take his place on the right hand of the father. It is also a time of feasting, singing, dancing, and drumming.
In many ways Easter celebrations in Nigeria are like those in other parts of the Christian world. However, there are also some festivals and celebrations held that are unique to Nigeria. Some of those celebrations combine the pre-Christian practices of honoring dead ancestors along with the worship of the resurrected Christ.
Good Friday is observed with somber, prayerful gatherings at local churches. Some of the Easter Sunday celebrations see people take to the streets in colorful traditional costumes dancing and singing songs of joy, happiness, and salvation. The festivities have a very distinct West African flavor.
Only about 40% of Nigerians are Christians. They are primarily from the Igbo and Yoruba people. While there are Christians living throughout the country, the majority of them live in the southern part of Nigeria. Hence, the livelier Easter celebrations take place in the south of the country. They include song and dance, all-night vigils, and sunrise services.
The 8 days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are known as Holy Week. They include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Gloria Saturday. That week is also called the Passion of Christ. It comes at the end of a 40 day period dedicated to fasting, prayer, penance, and contemplation known as Lent.
Easter is a movable feast. It does not fall on the same date each year. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. established Easter Sunday as being determined by the lunisolar calendar. It is held on the first Sunday after the new moon on the March equinox.
Easter celebrations are very important to Christians in Nigeria. There are no Easter eggs or bunnies. Instead, Easter is a time family members travel from far and wide so the family can be together to celebrate the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Families gather together, pray, and remember the sacrifices of Jesus throughout Holy Week. Everyone is expected to make it home by Good Friday to attend church together.
Everywhere one turns the one finds men, women, boys, girls irrespective of tribe or creed lamenting the prevailing economic hardship and the attendant high prices of food items in the country. Staple foods such as rice, beans, pepper, tomatoes, onions, vegetable oils, Palm oil are now out of the reach of average Nigerians.
A recent market survey conducted in some markets in Lagos reveal that prices of some foodstuffs are now higher than what they were in the previous year even during a period of fuel scarcity that adversely affected the distribution of goods and services. Random investigations in the last week show that a 50 kilogram bag of rice, a popular staple now sells for N16, 000 as against its price of N11, 000 last Easter. A bag of beans is now N39, 000 as against N21, 500 in 2015.
However, Unlike Christmas which goes with much funfair and commercial activities, Easter is more solemn in nature. Having faithful dedicated themselves to a 40-day period of fasting, repentance and abstinence; it is only natural that activities of the preceding days still carry with it some elements of solemnity and penitence.
According to the Catholic cleric, while it is true that the economy is still in a dicey state, it is not expected, however, to dampen the spirituality associated with Easter. As Christians, one is not expected to take care of the body only. One must give prime priority of the soul which is the real essence of who they are. While it is good to eat and nourish the body with good food, etc. One must equally nourish the souls by constantly reading the word of God, talking to God in prayer and meditation and also striving to live righteously.
AKIN-ADETORO ADEDASOLA
References:
Eyoboka, S. (2017, April 16). Home page. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from Vanguard: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/easter-2017-celebrating-god-difficult-economy/
Home Page. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2018, from Public Holidays Global: https://publicholidays.ng/easter/
Okolie, F. (2014, April 14). Home. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from Multidox: http://www.multidox.org/blog/8/post/82.html
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