CHRISTMAS IN NIGERIA

I’m going to talk about the festival of Christmas in Nigeria, I’ve asked one immigrant boy to tell me  about this festival.He is one of those people who  you can meet often, just in front this building, one of those who often asks for some money, and you’ve probably wondered whybecause the government pays  each of them 50 euro. However, now I don’t want to talk about this and not even because  most of them are  leaving their country to come through the desert, where  half of them pass away. Also they travel across the sea where  the remainder can also pass away.  I want to talk about how they are used to celebrating Christmas day, just as the Nigerian boy told me.
He started telling me that in his village Christmas is the most important festival of the year.Of course they have other festivals which are far less important.He told me that Christmas is especially important for the children because of the present. “Any different from here!” I said . He  explained that the differences consist in the quality and in the quantity of gifts and that happens only when the parents have money. “I mean in the 20/30 % of the families”he said. In the best cases the present is one dress and, if the family is very rich, also one pair of shoes. This is the only time in the year when children get a dress. He  continued on saying that most of children normally get a very large dress because they are supposed to grow into  that dress. I was laughing as he mimicked children walking with their large new shoes and he was laughing too,He was very surprised and delighted about my curiosity and interest.
The evening of the twentyfourth is called “watch night of Christmas.On this evening they usually go to church for a celebration and sing songs concerning the birth of Jesus Christ.
For the Christmas lunch they usually cook fried chicken. They are used to boiling the chicken in a little water, as some sausage has been prepared on the side. When  the chicken is boiled they cut it in little chunks and fry it in the boiling palm oil. The chicken is served inside the sausage with white boiled rice. He added that often one chicken is prepared for fifteen people and even more so that sometimes  one person has to eat the head while another eats  the claws (feet) or the neck. They are not upset about this because the most important thing is the sausage taste to flavor the rice. This is the Christmas menu for the family.