Imagine celebrating the Christmas season without new clothes, new shoes, staying at home and not being able to visit the vacation spots and seeing Christmas lights on houses across the street and at home it seems like nothing is happening. This Christmas is certainly going to be low-key for many people, not thanks to the current economic crisis that is being experienced in many countries around the world.
Although there are confirmed reports of countries that are already out of recession and some like the United States of America about to get out of it, the truth is that the world has been severely hit in the last two years by harsh economic situations that have not been so attested in a long time. The UK, for example, is still struggling to get ahead and it doesn’t look like it will be over before Christmas.
In Africa, the situation is no better than in the developed world. Africa is known to have a higher concentration of poor countries and people than any other continent in the world. Although planning for Christmas, even without the economic collapse, has never been good, the effect of the tough economy is going to aggravate an already dire situation.
The percentage of rich in a country like Nigeria, for example, is less than 9% of the total population, but Nigeria ranks very high among countries richly endowed with natural resources. Many families may not be able to afford quality Christmas clothing for their children this season, but the minute-rich will fly to Europe and other resorts with their families to celebrate the season.
THE STREETS ARE DRY
On those days you can hardly walk through the beautiful streets of Lagos without feeling Christmas in the air. You come across beautifully decorated shops, banks, hotels, post offices, museums and schools and the feeling was just nostalgic, but now it’s all gone and vanished into thin air. All the streets are dry and everyone seems to be interested in continuing their legal business without showing any sign of preparation, all due to the harsh economic crisis. The effect cannot be measured and one only wonders what Christmas Eve will be like.
OUR HOUSES ARE NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE
Parents are worried, mothers are confused, and what about their children? They don’t know what to expect and they all have long faces almost every time they come home from school. They are worried because the only thing they talk about these days is what Christmas will be like and as long as parents continue to keep quiet about celebrating the Christmas season, their faces may never change.
THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL