Wednesday, December 27, 2006 at 1:01am
Nigerians love Christmas, shun Santa
Christmas in Nigeria is a time for new clothes, family reunions and colorful dances as people return to their native villages to share the traditional "Christmas rice". There are no Christmas decorations, however, and some children recoil at the image of Santa, decrying it as evil.
"His costume looks phoney and his face is strange," says Ifunanya Chima, 8, when shown a picture of the iconic figure. "We prefer masquerades," he said, referring to the traditional dancing which is a big part of the season here, BBC Online reported Wednesday.
No matter that half of Nigeria's 130 million people are Muslims with a scattering of pagans. At Christmas, most Nigerians forget their religious differences and just share the Christmas dish of boiled rice with fiery chicken stew. "I celebrate Christmas because it's a time for loads of fun," says Ibrahim Idris, a Muslim in Abuja.
Christmas clothes replace gifts as excited children and adults try to outdo each other in showing off their best duds. Nigeria's fast-growing Pentecostal Christian sects hold large retreats, but they sometimes look like bazaars as enterprising people seize business opportunities.
All is not fun, however. Armed robberies are more common during the Christmas season. Road accidents also tend to increse since most city dwellers drive to their villages on poor roads.
In villages, Christmas is a scene of masquerades and dance groups offering free entertainment in the village square. This shows the growing influence of traditional African religious rituals on Christianity in Nigeria and that many Nigerians stopped attaching religious importance to Christmas and simply see it as a social event, BBC Online says.
"His costume looks phoney and his face is strange," says Ifunanya Chima, 8, when shown a picture of the iconic figure. "We prefer masquerades," he said, referring to the traditional dancing which is a big part of the season here, BBC Online reported Wednesday.
No matter that half of Nigeria's 130 million people are Muslims with a scattering of pagans. At Christmas, most Nigerians forget their religious differences and just share the Christmas dish of boiled rice with fiery chicken stew. "I celebrate Christmas because it's a time for loads of fun," says Ibrahim Idris, a Muslim in Abuja.
Christmas clothes replace gifts as excited children and adults try to outdo each other in showing off their best duds. Nigeria's fast-growing Pentecostal Christian sects hold large retreats, but they sometimes look like bazaars as enterprising people seize business opportunities.
All is not fun, however. Armed robberies are more common during the Christmas season. Road accidents also tend to increse since most city dwellers drive to their villages on poor roads.
In villages, Christmas is a scene of masquerades and dance groups offering free entertainment in the village square. This shows the growing influence of traditional African religious rituals on Christianity in Nigeria and that many Nigerians stopped attaching religious importance to Christmas and simply see it as a social event, BBC Online says.