The purported birth of Jesus of Nazareth, commemorated every December 25 as Charismas, is the most popular religious celebration in the world. Even in non-Christian countries such as China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey and Iran, reverberations of Christmas are unmistakable.

“We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own. The Igbo, always practical, put it concretely in their proverb Onye ji onye n’ani ji onwe ya: “He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down.”– Chinua Achebe

It was truly a celebration of beauty, brain and cultural appraisal at the grand finale of the Queen Nigeria beauty pageant tagged ‘Beyond Beauty’, which witnessed the emergence of 20-year-old Diamond Okoh Obiahu as Queen.

Very seldom have I encountered such hate, backed by ill-applied quotations from the Holy Writ. In this season of goodwill to all, very rarely has such venomous abhorrence been let loose on the head of an opponent even in times of war.

The Christmas season has also become a time for solemnisation of marriages. Many couples are getting married this season. It is all so nice seeing young couples; immaculately dressed, apparently happy, feeling fulfilled, sometimes relieved, smiling into the future with great hopes and expectations. It is wonderful to be surrounded by family, friends and well wishers, but it is momentary.

Anything you have not used for a year, you don’t like or doesn’t work should be shown the way out of your home. You can donate them to some places or give them out to those who would find them very useful.

At the end of each year, we all make resolves to better our lives in the coming year. Some of these resolutions, we stick to, and some, we suddenly lost enthusiasm to fulfil.

For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed (Mal. 3:6). The only thing that is constant is God. This therefore means that all other things are subject to change. Thus, our condition is subject to change. Yes, that seemeth challenge is subject to change by the unchangeable changer. The bible says that we are not consumed or destroyed because God changeth not.

We have all moaned about the political landscape in the country. A landscape that breeds corruption, incompetence and mindless greed. We have all complained about the fact that we are ruled in the main, by our second eleven and the decay in health, education, energy to name but a few is an eloquent attestation to our choice of leaders.

IN the end, the return journey by road from Maiduguri to Abuja, took fifteen hours! It was certainly one of the scariest trips I have done in recent times. By Sunday night, I learnt that I would have to return by road not by air as we had arrived on Saturday. I feel happy in the long run, that I travelled by road, because I got a clearer picture of what Borno people in particular and the Northeast in general, have undergone in the past couple of years: towns and villages raided many times; economic activities and social life suffered severe restrictions and there is a mix of stoicism and fatalism underlining existence for majority of people in these communities. One of my friends, who I had not seen since 2007, told me that people still living in Borno are there because they have nowhere else to relocate to!