Job Osazuwa
Easter is a festival marked every year by Christians all over the world to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is regarded as the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, and the season is one that many Christian faithful eagerly look forward to in the calendar.
It is a period of joy, which is preceded by series of activities, including Lent, Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday. On the day of Christ’s resurrection, there is usually wining and dining in many homes across the world, as well as special church services.
But with the global spread of coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 100,000 lives worldwide, everything took a dramatic turn this year.
Though the Federal Government declared last Friday and Monday public holidays, many people saw the ‘holiday’ as insignificant because they had already been asked to stay at home in most parts of the country.
All over the world, including Nigeria, the Easter celebration looked very different this year. Everything was done on a low key. There were no church gatherings, no neighbourhood feasts, no Easter parties and no Easter shows at event centres. There were no celebratory meals with extended families and friends. The tradition of displaying of crucifixes on the streets was not observed this time around.
In the few areas where Easter celebrations took place, homes and churches, the usual splendour was lost and missed by the practitioners.
One of the persons who spoke with Daily Sun, Mr. Emmanuel Amieghe Idahosa, said there was no way he and his family could celebrate Easter this year. He lamented that there was no extra money to prepare special meals.
“Even if the government had lifted the restriction order on movement and social gatherings, there was still nothing I could have done. My printing business and the small private school I run have been shut down for weeks now. So, where is the money to celebrate?
“I am not too bothered all the same. The most important thing for my family and me is to stay alive so that we can celebrate another Easter. Every day is supposed to be a sober reflection of the supreme price that Jesus paid for our sins. As a Christian, I appreciate God for the gift of Jesus every day in my life
“We have been on lockdown since. Easter celebration was the least thing on mind. When one is thinking of how to overcome hunger, any celebration becomes secondary. We are thinking of how to survive the period that the lockdown will last.
“I am already planning on going into farming because that appears to be the only business that can never suffer suspension, no matter what any country is passing through. I need to diversify. I hope the lockdown wouldn’t be extended further so that life can return to normal,” Idahosa said.
A trader in plastics and kitchen utensils in Lagos, Mrs. Ijeoma Chukwunonso, said that she gathered her children and prayed at home. This, she said, she has been doing in the last five Sundays, since the disease entered Nigeria.
Said she: “We cooked our normal food. There was nothing to celebrate. How can one be celebrating in the face of war? We are fighting an invisible war, which is more deadly. God will understand the reason we didn’t troop out to mark it. In fact, God would have seen us as foolish people if we had gone out in the name of Easter celebration. Even the Bible says that wisdom is the principal thing.
“But in all, we give glory to God for sparing our lives till this moment. Who would have thought that Africa will remain the safest place during this global crisis? So, obeying government’s directive is one way of appreciating God for His faithfulness thus far.”
On her part, Mrs. Helen Ariator said: “I didn’t remember that there was Easter until this morning (Sunday). It was one of my children that even reminded me that this year’s Easter season was dull. She said that she didn’t budget anything for the celebration.
“For some weeks now, we have been connecting to our General Overseer through the online live telecast for his sermon. This is the same thing we did on Sunday. After the powerful message, we ate the small food we prepared. That was all.
“This strange disease really changed a lot of things in our lives in the last one month. Nobody is talking of which country to visit for vacation, but we are all here praying to remain alive. Our prayer points have changed.”
A member of a popular Christian denomination, Mr. Monday Boye, told the reporter that, as a witness for Christ, spreading the Good News has always been his church’s priority, especially during the season.
He said: “It affected our feast in my local assembly. What we normally do is to hold a special service where we would invite friends to join us. We call it Memorial. In the spirit of the season, we would put on our best attire.
“But that was not possible this year. Some of us had to use members’ houses for the fellowship. We shared ourselves into groups so that we would not flout government’s order on social distancing and no-large gatherings.”
Another Lagos resident, Odunayo Adeola, said that the world was observing a new calendar directed by COVID-19.
“Whatever we do or don’t do at the moment will be determined by the number of cases recorded.
“We can’t be talking of celebrating Easter when thousands of people are dying every day as a result of the disease. Nobody is hosting or entertaining visitors now. It is risky to do so because you never can tell where your guest has been to in the last 14 days,” the young man said.
An assistant pastor in a Pentecostal church in Lagos, Paul Okiki, stated that celebrating Easter this year or not didn’t change the power of resurrection through Jesus Christ.
“I have told my church and family members that God remains who He is. I advised them to celebrate at home in whatever way they can.
“In the past, we used to receive visitors in my hone and we all ate together. But this year, it is my family members and I alone. The food or drinks is not the bone of contention, but the salvation of the entire world. This virus shall become a thing of the past sooner than later,” he prayed.
An undergraduate at the University of Lagos, Opemipo Ogunlade, said that this was the first time she was experiencing no celebration of Easter in her home.
“I am tired of everything. No school, no party, no church service, no Easter celebration. I can’t wait for this coronavirus to go away. Life has become so boring all of a sudden. This is the first time I’m experiencing low Easter celebration in the last 18 years, as far as I can remember,” she said.