When December starts, the holiday spirit spreads across Nigeria. People living abroad start planning their trips home to visit. They pack big suitcases and get on planes and buses coming from cities far away. Even those with fancy jobs abroad still come back for Christmas.
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An extra helping of steaming jollof rice or the sound of familiar language greeting you at the bustling airport or bus park The embrace of Grandmama’s loving arms as you walk in the door or your little cousins clamoring ‘welcome home!’ As another holiday season rolls around, families across Nigeria eagerly await and prepare for the arrival of those returning home, even if just for a short festive while.
The yearly pilgrimage of relatives making their way back to local hometowns and villages has become a hallmark tradition, deeply rooted in cultural values of community and connection. Whether coming from schools abroad or jobs in distant cities, successful migrant family members are especially expected to return and share the fruits of being ‘scattered abroad’ when holiday celebrations come into swing. Arriving in fine dresses and polished shoes, seasoned travelers and eager students alike relish these weeks as a nostalgic chance to reunite and uphold bonds to their place of origin.
From lavish meals to lively parties, gathering of kin makes spirits bright through nights of music, storytelling, gift exchanges and words of advice elders are so keen to pass on. Photos and news are shared of those now dwelling continents away yet still part of the extended clan. In the familiar sounds, scents and sights of ‘back home,’ tradition marches on as children witness cousins now grown and another generation prepares to one day take their own turns navigating a changing world.
This tradition of returning home for the holidays persists strongly across Nigerian communities worldwide. No matter where Nigerian immigrants have settled – whether in local cities or faraway foreign countries – they often still travel back to familiar hometowns each December.
Making this trip is not always easy or cheap, long flights or drives can be tiring and expensive. Staying put abroad would allow enjoying overseas holiday festivities and comforts. But most Nigerian families abroad deeply value upholding this custom nonetheless. Honoring their roots and connecting with elders who enabled their achievements outweighs the inconvenience of getting there.
The same strong pull brings successful members back from Nigerian neighborhoods overseas and from closer urban centers. Sharing food, laughter and wisdom in the very places that nurtured them as youth sustains cultural identity. No fancy foreign attractions provide the special spirit recharge of sitting with relatives under old roofs, recalling bygone days. This significance keeps the holiday homecomings tradition enduring anywhere members of the Nigerian diaspora may roam.
The whole family celebrates together during this heartwarming time. They laugh while giving out gifts. Elders share wise advice and make sure the visitors know how proud they feel. Even if they all left Nigeria, coming back to remember roots and customs is very important. The trips back home help keep the whole community connected and traditions strong, year after year.
The season’s tidal wave of family soon scatters once more to resume scattered lives and ambitions by January. But having been nourished and anchored again in ancestral soil and soul, all depart with identity rewoven tighter ...until next holiday season shines its light on the cherished privilege that is coming home.
My response to the hive learners prompt , week 94 Edition 2
