Christmas is an annual event in Christendom where the faithful across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a season of happiness, joy and all round excitement as most people cease this period to hold reunions and settle issues at family, kindred, village, and community levels. They use the period to make peace and reconcile with one another.
More so, many Christian groups hold their prayer meetings, evangelism and crusades this season. It is also a season for the exchange of gifts.
However, some people approach the celebration from another direction. Some see the season as a time to get rich quick by tripling the costs of goods and services such as petroleum products and food items. Others see the season as a time to eat, drink and make merry without control. This category of people, in the excitement of the season, quickly forget how they laboured all through the year to make ends meet and then extend the limits of their pockets and return to their bases bankrupt. For these people, the essence of the celebration is totally lost.
There are other young persons who in the desperation to wear the best of clothes during the celebration and to be seen as successful by their peers will end up engaging in different forms of crime and will regrettably end up in one police cell or another during or after the celebration. For these groups of people, they must be reminded that the reason for the celebration is Jesus Christ who brought salvation from sin to mankind. So, why should someone plunge himself or herself into sin just to celebrate the season?
Therefore, there must be a new thinking by everyone if the essence of the celebration should be realized. It should be a season for sober reflection, stock taking, and individual and group assessments for the success and failures of the year.
To have fruitful celebrations, there must be safety and life skill tips every one must embrace. Parents and guardians should be on the alert as this is the period that all kinds of stories are heard. Know the details of where your children especially teenagers and the girl children are going to. Monitor their association – new friends and old acquaintances with new behaviours. They might not like the increased supervision you might introduce now but sooner or later they will realize the dangers you saved them from.
This is also a time to be more careful as a road user. As a pedestrian, observe every traffic regulation and never assume that that driver is on his right senses. That is the first way to avoid being a victim of road crashes. Drivers, as well, whether private or commercial should also be careful this season. Drive according to the rules. Always be on the approved speed limit. What you could not achieve in the last three hundred and fifty-seven days of the year, it is not clear that you will achieve them in the remaining eight days. Remember, do not drink and drive and if you must drink, don’t drive. On the other hand, the men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency, ARTMA, and other security agencies in the state must synergize to ensure we enjoy a road crash-free celebrations this year.
Suffice it to commend the efforts of the Anambra State Government, under the leadership of Mr. Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, for the massive ongoing roads constructions and rehabilitations across the state. The Solution Governor has also put measures in place to ensure that security of life and property are guaranteed. These are all in an effort to make sure that Ndị Anambra who would return and those in the state experience a hitch free Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Remember to celebrate rightly! Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year ahead!
Written by BONAVENTURE ALUFO
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