How Christmas is celebrated in Igbo land

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday December 17, 2013 at 13:0:59:

Every year, there is a special celebration that goes on in Ala Ndi Igbo and this is called Christmas.

Christmas is annual Christian celebration that happens on the 25th of December to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. Igbo people, being mostly Christians are used to celebrating it in a big way and with an extended family.

The celebration begins a few weeks before Christmas with Ndigbo living outside their traditional Igbo land begin their homecoming while those at home prepare to welcome them.

Due to many years of survival and population growth, Igbo population has outgrown Igbo land and migrated to other lands in search of more opportunities. However, there is mostly a massive home coming that happens every year that at times leaves their abodes almost empty and economically paralyzed for a while until after Christmas celebrations.

During Christmas, Ndgibo, who are mostly traders and entrepreneurs close down their shops or factories for up to 2 or 4 weeks just to celebrate the Christmas and New year.

After home coming, what happens next is visitations and people normally visit their relatives and friends who have equally come bank from foreign lands and they chat with each other in the midst of drinks and food and of course, the man of the house will present kolanut.

The children also get to visit their uncles, relatives, in-laws and big siblings and ask them to "gbaram Christmas" which means to offer them a Christmas gift and in this case, it's mostly a cash offering. I recall making a lot of money just by asking people to "gbaram Christmas" when I was a kid. So, the rich or well to do uncles and aunties will do well to carry extra cash to offer as cash gifts to people during Christmas and it's not just for the children but also for the old, poor and others that look up to you.

During the Christmas celebration and because a lot of people are expected back home, this is time time families and people setup parties, weddings and events since they'll be a lot of crowd. Families intending to create a marital relationship may use this homecoming opportunity to "knock on the door" of their intended bride, a common practice in Igbo land used to indicate interest in picking a wife from the visited family.

Traditional marriages, church harvests and bazaars are also done during this period and it normally happens before Christmas since they'd be a lot of guests and hence a lot of spending. You'll need to be outgoing to such public events because you'll be able to catch up a lot of old friends and even establish contacts there too.

On Christmas eve and Christmas day, the normal thing is going to church for Christmas thanksgiving. It's very important and marks the sort of official Christmas celebration. One has to prepare for the mass or service and worship God in spirit and truth. After church, people also stay behind for a while to greet friends or make new friends before heading home for more celebration.

On the D-day or before the d-day, there is a massive slaughter or animals such as chickens, goats and cows at family homes which are mostly extended families and there is a lot of cooking. Cooks may be hired or the family may decide to cook themselves. They may also be a family meeting to begin the day and this is normally done in the obi with the head of the family leading first with a prayer using kolanut and hot drink.

On Christmas, people mostly eat at home or at their relatives place and there is a lot of jubilation. They may also be Christmas parties are family homes with some music and enjoyment. There are also a lot of fireworks and knockouts used during this time.

After Christmas day, people who have just returned home would love to take a trip around the village in their cars just to see what they've missed. They may go to visit other relatives, town hall and other public places in their home land. They may also walk into the woods to spend a bit of time with nature, breathing the fresh air and watching animals if any.

There would also be town and village meetings as well as Umunna(extended family) reunions during this period and serious matters may be discussed or just a small party held.

Most Ndigbo spend both their Christmas and new year at their traditional home lands and after that, they would start to go back to their normal abodes in foreign lands.

As Christmas celebration is winding up, people start to get low on cash and people start to slowly disappear to go back to their businesses.

Christmas celebrations in Igbo land are one of the things that bring life back to the land since they'd be a lot of people coming home and making it lively. After the events, village life in Igbo land tends to get less interesting and life for those at home goes back to normal.