2020 Xmas: Port Harcourt Residents Grapple With Realities

The year 2020, will go down the anals of history, globally, as one of the most turbulent years, that confounded nations through the COVID crisis and its attendant consequences.
The corona virus proved to be a formidable foe, culminating in negative social consequences like the #ENDSARS protest that sent wild signals across the nation.
With the eventful year dragging to its sluggish end, the spontaneous effects of the season are missing, and the people are barely counting their days to get off the rigours and encumbrances of 2020.
Most of the residents of Port Harcourt, who spoke with The Tide existent, observed that the regular routines of christmas, such as, the rush buying, jingle bells, euphoria and definitive aura that pushed the season, are grossly elusive.
One of the respondents, Mr Promise Mene, said the 2020, Christmas celebration defines the spirit of the era.
He said: “The echoes of the yearly chiming bell is fainty, there is no excitement of Christmas which we are used to, over the years, the activities of the year 2020 are lessons for everyone.
My observation is that the people just relapse into eventual outcomes of the year, and I ‘m convinced this experience will certainly help them in the years to come”.
Another respondent, Mr Ikpotu Wilson, said, the buildup to the Christmas was already a signal for the people to prepare for the worst.
Wilson, a rig worker, who lost his job, during the peak of the COVID 19 pandemic said, he had already learnt to cope with the difficult moments, since his job was halted indefinitely. “Since the month of June when my job was interrupted by the COVID- 19, I ‘ve not been called back”, he said.
It’s very difficult for my family to eat, I believe that things will get better, and I return back to work, I ‘m a welder by training.
Another respondent, Teddy Soah, a stand up comedian, who spoke with the Tide metro, said, “my observation is that corona virus had been able to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. It’s only in the corona crisis that the rich want to hook up consciously with the poor, the rich want it to sound as a disease for the poor, and the poor pray that it should remain within the realms of the rich”.
Mr Nelly a commercial motorist, Nelly Wiga, said he missed the aura of the Christmas season. He said, “by this time you see, people, making moves to travel to their various communities, but this urge is not there among the people; every body is careful about how to manage themselves especially now that they say corona virus is fully back, many people may not travel to their communities this year”.
According to Mr Felix Dornah, people should be grateful to God for keeping them to see this year’s Christmas, instead of complaining.
He pointed out that, “during the covid pandemic, many families got shattered as husband and wife were separated, teenagers got raped and impregnated, several abominable things, ignited by lack and poverty happened, I pray that the spirit of the season of Christmas, which brings good tidings to the world will shield us from the dangers of the times”.
Another respondent, Mrs Abigail Todun, who deals on cloth, said she recorded very low patronage this year as people seemed to concentrate on how to bring food to their tables than to buy cloths. “I deal on buying and selling of cloths, and I have been in this business for over 12 years, but this year is one of the worst years. Apart from the difficulties we faced to get the products, we also find it difficult to sell, as they always complain of no money”.
For Barr Barivule Kpobe, “2020 is a very tough year’. In this year, we had corona virus, endsars protest and a list of endless cases of kidnappings, extra-judicial killings, rape and other malfeasances, that have constituted a snag in our development process. I can tell you now that families exist who can barely get a meal even at christmas not to imagine the pleasure of it,
Mrs Essien Clifford, who deals on food stuff also lamented about low patronage in her business, as the expected level of turnover in the season was quite disappointing. She however expressed gratitude to God for keeping her and family to see the 2020 Christmas.
Another conspicuous feature of the season is the long queues and sometimes fight at banks and their ATM services as people struggle to outsmart each other and beat the hiccups of clever bank operatives, trying to explore the situations to their personal advantages.

By: Taneh Beemene