culled and read, can one be bold enough to organise a Christmas party for Children in Our Community. Eziama. Monday, December 15, 2014 Bad Christmas for children in Nigeria by Dr. Biodun Ogungbo Dr. Biodun Ogungbo advertisement My nightmare I had gone to sleep unusually early. One minute, I was lying on the bed and then I fell into a deep abyss the next minute. At some point, I had a dream that shocked me to the core. It was a dream in which Nigerian children celebrated the most horrible Christmas: a Christmas without food and drink, without music and laughter! The children had woken up early, washed and dressed up for the party. They went to the venue and waited for things to happen: for the party to start. Alas, it never did. No Santa. No drinks. I noticed that there were no men around either. But there were women, lots of women. There were pregnant women who looked fat, hollow in the face and sad with worry. They wore sadness as veils and definitely had no time for the children. They were looking to the North waiting for something to happen. Of course, the children could see this and sat quietly waiting for Christmas to happen. Alas, it never did till I woke up drenched in sweat, worried about Christmas in Nigeria. It seemed a bad Christmas for children in Nigeria. A nightmare, to be sure! Let us remember The abduction of the Chibok girls took place 245 days ago. Over 200 young Nigerian girls were taken away from their school and families, into the bush. Over 200 young Nigerian children were abducted, God forbids, never to be seen again. The girls remain missing and speculations abound that their abductors are systematically raping, impregnating, or, worse, selling them into slavery. Some say the pupils have been brainwashed and turned into suicide bombers and martyrs for Boko Haram. Bring back our girls The #BRINGBACK OURGIRLS campaign went viral all over the world as outrage poured out. The movement spread to many countries and faraway lands. Locally, the government used the police, spent time and money frustrating the organisers. Instead of assisting in whipping up even more outrage and sentiment, the government even threatened those clamouring for action. The Nigerian government paid lip service to their rescue and till date has not given any coherent information about their whereabouts. The government failed to cooperate with outside agencies and other governments in rescue efforts for these girls. All we have heard are lies, heaped up on lies and the rest of the world has now abandoned us. Lest we forget Lest we forget, a suicide bomber sent a heartbreaking reminder recently. Boko Haram butchered 49 innocent little boys in their school on November 10, 2014. The boys were bombed to smithereens in their school, their young lives snuffed out prematurely. First were the girls, now they are killing the boys! In-between, they kill men daily in many communities in the country. Christmas is coming It is weird to see the local government council putting up Christmas decorations on the streets and apparently preparing to celebrate Christmas. It is disheartening to see many shops and offices follow suit putting up dowdy, gaudy, old and tired decorations from Christmas past. Businesses and offices are arranging Christmas parties, feeding fat in apparent disregard and with reckless abandon; organising dance parties and feeding frenzies in preparation for the New Year. No empathy or sympathy Meanwhile, this year alone, thousands of families have been broken and destroyed forever. There is no empathy or sympathy for the victims of terror. There is no support for casualties and displaced persons running away from the terror in their communities. Who is celebrating Christmas? Who wants to celebrate Christmas? What have we to celebrate when no one has prepared food for the children? How can life continue with so much sorrow in Nigeria? How can we go into the New Year with so much misery in the land? How can we be so insensitive at a time like this? The sights and the sounds of Christmas terrify them and give me nightmares. Listen, this is not a time for Christmas celebrations as the future is bleak without happy children. They are waking up today looking forward to a bleak Christmas and waiting for help. But, no one has organised food for the children, and nobody is talking about Christmas for the Chibok girls!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 19:20:01 +0000
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