NewStats: 3,259,718 , 8,170,718 topics. Date: Sunday, 25 May 2025 at 07:36 PM 2zb2i

As kids growing up in Nigeria, Christmas was the most important celebration for us and we eagerly looked forward to it.

I came from a very poor background so rice was not what we eat regularly, Christmas was an opportunity for us kids to eat rice and chicken to our fills.

Christmas usually started around November, this was when my parent would go to Balogun market to buy Christmas clothes and shoes for all of us.

We never went along, it was only our parents who would select Christmas clothes and shoes and we had this curiosity waiting for them to come back so we can inspect the clothes and shoes.

They had us place our feets on cardboard boxes and a pen was used to mark our feet sizes before cutting the cardboard boxes, this way, the right sizes of shoes were bought.

Once they were back from the market, we locked the doors and windows to test the clothes and shoes, our friends would be at our windows, peeking to be the first to see our clothes.

I wiping the bottoms of my shoes after testing them so they remain brand new on Christmas day. That was the only day we got brand new clothes, the rest of the year, my mom would send us to Sylvanus store to select used clothes to compare and see who got the best clothes. Hehehehe.

Two weeks to Christmas, my mom would go to the market and select about three chickens to feed for slaughter on the eve of Christmas day. So, at 6 pm on the 24th December, we would kill the chickens and start preparing for Christmas, we kids never sleep in the night as we kept dreaming of the next day.

I and my friends we used car plugs, wood and matches to create knockouts for the celebrate as we could not afford banga.
We would wake very early in the morning of Christmas, bath and put on our Christmas clothes, shoes and attires and, off we went to our friend's houses, together as a group we knock on the doors off all our neighbors and random strangers.

The rule then was anyone who came to your house on Christmas, you have to feed them even if they were total strangers so, we just randomly knocked on doors, walked in , eat rice and chicken and, ask the adults to " do Christmas for us".

We walked all around town eating from strangers, blowing knockouts and collecting Christmas money.

After we are done eating outside, then I would lead my friends to our home, by then my moms food was ready, by and I would eat together. We also dished out foods in trays to share to our neighbors and the neighbors in return will offer us trays of food and drinks.

We had this family friend that worked at Coca Cola and every year end , we always received about 4 crates of Coca Cola for this family reserved for our Christmas day feast.

At the end of the day, I would be so full that I would not be able to lie face down for all the food I had eaten that day.

What was your experience growing up on Christmas day, was it similar to mine?
Did you guys go about eating food from strangers and asking for Christmas money?
Is this practice still continuing today?

Thinking back, I must say it was very fun every Christmas and on new years days, we carried on with the celebrations.
I would not lie as it was a magical moments for us.

Share your experience growing up in Nigeria on Christmas days. Forgive my typos as I am on my second champagne bottle with my Jamaican Dragon Stout beer.

Sapasenator:
As kids growing up in Nigeria, Christmas was the most important celebration for us and we eagerly looked forward to it.

I came from a very poor background so rice was not what we eat regularly, Christmas was an opportunity for us kids to eat rice and chicken to our fills.

Christmas usually started around November, this was when my parent would go to Balogun market to buy Christmas clothes and shoes for all of us.

We never went along, it was only our parents who would select Christmas clothes and shoes and we had this curiosity waiting for them to come back so we can inspect the clothes and shoes.

They had us place our feets on cardboard boxes and a pen was used to mark our feet sizes before cutting the cardboard boxes, this way, the right sizes of shoes were bought.

Once they were back from the market, we locked the doors and windows to test the clothes and shoes, our friends would be at our windows, peeking to be the first to see our clothes.

I wiping the bottoms of my shoes after testing them so they remain brand new on Christmas day. That was the only day we got brand new clothes, the rest of the year, my mom would send us to Sylvanus store to select used clothes to compare and see who got the best clothes. Hehehehe.

Two weeks to Christmas, my mom would go to the market and select about three chickens to feed for slaughter on the eve of Christmas day. So, at 6 pm on the 24th December, we would kill the chickens and start preparing for Christmas, we kids never sleep in the night as we kept dreaming of the next day.

I and my friends we used car plugs, wood and matches to create knockouts for the celebrate as we could not afford banga.
We would wake very early in the morning of Christmas, bath and put on our Christmas clothes, shoes and attires and, off we went to our friend's houses, together as a group we knock on the doors off all our neighbors and random strangers.

The rule then was anyone who came to your house on Christmas, you have to feed them even if they were total strangers so, we just randomly knocked on doors, walked in , eat rice and chicken and, ask the adults to " do Christmas for us".

We walked all around town eating from strangers, blowing knockouts and collecting Christmas money.

After we are done eating outside, then I would lead my friends to our home, by then my moms food was ready, by and I would eat together. We also dished out foods in trays to share to our neighbors and the neighbors in return will offer us trays of food and drinks.

We had this family friend that worked at Coca Cola and every year end , we always received about 4 crates of Coca Cola for this family reserved for our Christmas day feast.

At the end of the day, I would be so full that I would not be able to lie face down for all the food I had eaten that day.

What was your experience growing up on Christmas day, was it similar to mine?
Did you guys go about eating food from strangers and asking for Christmas money?
Is this practice still continuing today?

Thinking back, I must say it was very fun every Christmas and on new years days, we carried on with the celebrations.
I would not lie as it was a magical moments for us.

Share your experience growing up in Nigeria on Christmas days. Forgive my typos as I am on my second champagne bottle with my Jamaican Dragon Sout beer.

. Christmas celebration now is not the same as what you wrote. men I miss those days. merry Xmas boss

Nigerians of today can afford rice and chicken when ever they feel like, they no longer wait till Christmas. But in those days, when live was young, we looked forward to receiving food from other neighbours, going around different houses to beg for Christmas money.
The good old days.

Childhood is when you have most of the happiness in life. This is because you have other people sacrificing their love, funds and time for you as a child.
Also child-innocence give you the experience that life is perfect or perhaps it will always be perfect as time goes on. This perfection is a mirror of ourr parents effort. They give you the ready-made clothes and chicken.

You start to believe every Christmas will always be beautiful. Yes, it's always beautiful. That's because dad and mum made it possible with their sacrifice.

As you start to grow, you are faced with the reality kings of life. The same realities your parents shield you from as a child. You start to understand that you have to work and "scheme" to make soft for yourself and your unborn children. Then you start to feel Christmas isn't as it used to be

Christmas is still the same, the only difference is you now understand the truth about life and having to make lot of cuts and sacrifices just to enjoy the season

Sapasenator:
As kids growing up in Nigeria, Christmas was the most important celebration for us and we eagerly looked forward to it.

I came from a very poor background so rice was not what we eat regularly, Christmas was an opportunity for us kids to eat rice and chicken to our fills.

Christmas usually started around November, this was when my parent would go to Balogun market to buy Christmas clothes and shoes for all of us.

We never went along, it was only our parents who would select Christmas clothes and shoes and we had this curiosity waiting for them to come back so we can inspect the clothes and shoes.
Once they were back from the market, we locke the doors and windows to test the clothes and shoes with some of our friends peeking from the windows to see our special Christmas clothes.

I wiping the bottoms of my shoes after testing them so they remain brand new on Christmas day. That was the only day we got brand new clothes, the rest of the year, my mom would send us to Sylvanus store to select used clothes to compare and see who got the best clothes. Hehehehe.

Two weeks to Christmas, my mom would go to the market and select about three chickens to feed for slaughter on the eve of Christmas day. So, at 6 pm on the 24th December, we would kill the chickens and start preparing for Christmas, we kids never sleep in the night as we kept dreaming of the next day.
I and my friends we used car plugs, wood and matches to create knockouts for the celebrate as we could not afford banga.
Wr would wake very early in the morning of Christmas, bath and put on our Christmas clothes, shoes and attires and, off we went to our friend's houses, together as a group we knock on the doors off all our neighbors and random strangers.

The rule then was anyone who comes to you house on Christmas, you have to feed them even if the were strangers so, we just randomly knock on doors, walk in , eat rice and chicken and ask the adults to " do Christmas for us".

We walked all around town eating from strangers, blowing knockouts and collecting Christmas money.

After we are done eating outside, then we would come to our house, by them my mom's food was ready and I eat together with my friends. We also dished out foods in trays to share to our neighbors and the neighbors in return will offer us trays of food and drinks.
We had this family friend that worked at Coca Cola and every year end , we always received about 4 crates of Coca Cola for this family reserved for our Christmas day feast.

At the end of the day, I would be so full that I would not be able to lie face down for all the food I had eaten that day.

What was your experience growing up on Christmas day, was it similar to mine?
Did you guys go about eating food from strangers and asking for Christmas money?
Is this practice still continuing today?

Thinking back, I must say it was very fun every Christmas and on new years days, we carried on with the celebrations.

Share your experience growing up in Nigeria on Christmas days. Forgive my typos as I am on my second champagne bottle with my Jamaican Dragon Sout beer.

Bros, you be OG o. You just shared my mum's experience.
My own experience of xmas as a kid starts around October/November with racket and my mum's double geese matches dey suffer gan especially the one we usually made with bottle crown, it requires two matches to make a deafening sound. We don't buy shoes and clothes yearly tho'. What my mum usually do is that she go for quality and oversize clothes and shoes that you'll end up ing to the next generation. If my mum buy shoe, it'll spend at least 3 years. There's one ready made cloth with jacket that I wore, my brother wear it, even our 4th born wear it. Christmas present the chance to eat chicken. The friday before xmas, my dad will come home with half bag of rice, a gallon of turkey oil and 2 cockerel nah when I grow up I know say nah from cooperative society. Little wonder January dey always dry. I pray my children have a different and better tales to tell about their xmas.

Yemike:

Bros, you be OG o. You just shared my mum's experience.
My own experience of xmas as a kid starts around October/November with racket and my mum's double geese matches dey suffer gan especially the one we usually made with bottle crown, it requires two matches to make a deafening sound. We don't buy shoes and clothes yearly tho'. What my mum usually do is that she go for quality and oversize clothes and shoes that you'll end up ing to the next generation. If my mum buy shoe, it'll spend at least 3 years. There's one ready made cloth with jacket that I wore, my brother wear it, even our 4th born wear it. Christmas present the chance to eat chicken. The friday before xmas, my dad will come home with half bag of rice, a gallon of turkey oil and 2 cockerel nah when I grow up I know say nah from cooperative society. Little wonder January dey always dry. I pray my children have a different and better tales to tell about their xmas.

You remind of racket my brother, we call it knockout in those days. We use car plugs driven into woods, nails and matches and we were good to go.

arkad139:
Sapasenator please I have not eaten rice this Christmas opay



Pls let this sapa not kill me. Nothing is too small

Sent 5k.

Sapasenator:


Sent 5k.

seen. Thanks very much sir. God bless you more nd more

arkad139:
seen. Thanks very much sir. God bless you more nd more

Merry Christmas

Sapasenator:


You remind of racket my brother, we call it knockout in those days. We use car plugs driven into woods, nails and matches and we were good to go.

Christmas or any public holiday celebration isn't like before. After thanking God for gift of life I have nothing good to say

Sapasenator:


Merry Christmas

merry Christmas sapa my man.. I guess people in their mid/late 20s above are the ones that might have experienced the good old days of Christmas not now anymore.

Abeg boss help me make i celebrate myself

0228185087 Gtbank
Fisayo

Sapasenator:


You remind of racket my brother, we call it knockout in those days. We use car plugs driven into woods, nails and matches and we were good to go.

There's one wicked baba (Baba Muda)that usually sieze our football then, we do make sure we return the gesture by frustrating him with racket. Baba Muda might be sleeping and we'll just sneak up to his window, the next thing is gboaa!! He usually swear but we don't stay around to hear it and we don't care as we believe we're having our sweet revenge.

Experience ke!We are lucky to escape Nigeria.

Christmas time for me as a child was the best. A day before Christmas I would arrange my bogus Christmas clothes on the side of the bed with sun shades and all and occasionally look to see how cool I would look the next day.

Barely sleeping, I would wake up by 5am, take my bath and "baff up" big time .

Another amazing thing was going to spend a week in my uncle's house, all cousins present and having fun. Good times really.

In all, we must Jesus Christ came. Our sins keeps us from our God, we must make conscious effort to fight sin in order to please God:

Ezek.18.30 - "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.

I wasn't born in Nigeria

hmmmm.... Christmas those days was fun

It was fun but ........

If not that 25th Christians go to church to celebrate Xmas, by now it would have been history esp in Nigeria.

After you Kemi Bandenoch.......🤗

Everywhere good

Growing up in Festac, in the 80's was fun.

let me say growing up in surulere back then in 1989.
Christmas was heaven,
Cole street near ojuelegba is always filled with lagosians standing and watching masquerades of all sort perform
ekpo
nnabo ekpe
blacky
elephant
very colourful and exciting from morning till evening
ojuelegba was the best back in the 80s to early 90s when it comes to festive entertainment

but now that place is like a burial ground

What do you mean by cooperative society?

Yemike:

Bros, you be OG o. You just shared my mum's experience.
My own experience of xmas as a kid starts around October/November with racket and my mum's double geese matches dey suffer gan especially the one we usually made with bottle crown, it requires two matches to make a deafening sound. We don't buy shoes and clothes yearly tho'. What my mum usually do is that she go for quality and oversize clothes and shoes that you'll end up ing to the next generation. If my mum buy shoe, it'll spend at least 3 years. There's one ready made cloth with jacket that I wore, my brother wear it, even our 4th born wear it. Christmas present the chance to eat chicken. The friday before xmas, my dad will come home with half bag of rice, a gallon of turkey oil and 2 cockerel nah when I grow up I know say nah from cooperative society. Little wonder January dey always dry. I pray my children have a different and better tales to tell about their xmas.

Christmas when growing up was the best ever. With little my parents/your parents can afford, we are the biggest boys and girls. Ok wears was the order of the day, who get time for designers and extra luxury lifestyle. After walking around greeting everybody and stacking up 10s 20s 50s and 100s from Christmas aunty, uncle and neighbors dash me, when we are home, Christmas rice and chicken is already waiting for us lol. Now Christmas is all about who wears the best chains and all other irrelevant things. Yesterday was terrible, Christmas I know and enjoyed while growing up is not the Christmas of now.
So many memories.

It was really fun
As a kid then my mama use to carry plates give me make we go give neighbors

Always inside the house during xmas. Lockdown by my mum. She was afraid we will go missing or being poisoned by enemies.

.. growing up in the early 80s, we wore aso ebi sown by a local tailor in the neighborhood. You can also call it " and-co"

We also put on our brand new plastic wristwatch and googles

We trek from street to street to visit families friends and church . We eat rice and chicken at everywhere we visit and returned home in the evening with bloated stomachs and over-bloated pockets. 🤪

There was no knockout or banger in my time, we made use of what we call racket as firecracker. My racket and matches were always in my pocket during this season. We move in group and blast our rackets everywhere we go. Na so we go dey sing "olopa ko le mu wa, odun lo'de..."

Sapasenator:
As kids growing up in Nigeria, Christmas was the most important celebration for us and we eagerly looked forward to it.

I came from a very poor background so rice was not what we eat regularly, Christmas was an opportunity for us kids to eat rice and chicken to our fills.

Christmas usually started around November, this was when my parent would go to Balogun market to buy Christmas clothes and shoes for all of us.

We never went along, it was only our parents who would select Christmas clothes and shoes and we had this curiosity waiting for them to come back so we can inspect the clothes and shoes.

They had us place our feets on cardboard boxes and a pen was used to mark our feet sizes before cutting the cardboard boxes, this way, the right sizes of shoes were bought.

Once they were back from the market, we locked the doors and windows to test the clothes and shoes, our friends would be at our windows, peeking to be the first to see our clothes.

I wiping the bottoms of my shoes after testing them so they remain brand new on Christmas day. That was the only day we got brand new clothes, the rest of the year, my mom would send us to Sylvanus store to select used clothes to compare and see who got the best clothes. Hehehehe.

Two weeks to Christmas, my mom would go to the market and select about three chickens to feed for slaughter on the eve of Christmas day. So, at 6 pm on the 24th December, we would kill the chickens and start preparing for Christmas, we kids never sleep in the night as we kept dreaming of the next day.

I and my friends we used car plugs, wood and matches to create knockouts for the celebrate as we could not afford banga.
We would wake very early in the morning of Christmas, bath and put on our Christmas clothes, shoes and attires and, off we went to our friend's houses, together as a group we knock on the doors off all our neighbors and random strangers.

The rule then was anyone who came to your house on Christmas, you have to feed them even if they were total strangers so, we just randomly knocked on doors, walked in , eat rice and chicken and, ask the adults to " do Christmas for us".

We walked all around town eating from strangers, blowing knockouts and collecting Christmas money.

After we are done eating outside, then I would lead my friends to our home, by then my moms food was ready, by and I would eat together. We also dished out foods in trays to share to our neighbors and the neighbors in return will offer us trays of food and drinks.

We had this family friend that worked at Coca Cola and every year end , we always received about 4 crates of Coca Cola for this family reserved for our Christmas day feast.

At the end of the day, I would be so full that I would not be able to lie face down for all the food I had eaten that day.

What was your experience growing up on Christmas day, was it similar to mine?
Did you guys go about eating food from strangers and asking for Christmas money?
Is this practice still continuing today?

Thinking back, I must say it was very fun every Christmas and on new years days, we carried on with the celebrations.
I would not lie as it was a magical moments for us.

Share your experience growing up in Nigeria on Christmas days. Forgive my typos as I am on my second champagne bottle with my Jamaican Dragon Stout beer.

I can relate, now everything has changed