When Nigerians think of travelling for the Christmas holidays, they hardly think of visiting a place like Makurdi in the North-Central region.
But as entertertainnaija.com found out two Christmases ago, the capital of ‘The food Basket of the Nation’ has a lot in store for revelers
A member of the Makurdi Club 1930 entertains guests with a traditional flute.
bus terminus for inter-state journeys—still busy with travellers who had arrived from nearby cities and many others still headed further to other parts of Benue State.
Street traders on both sides of the road called the attention of passersby in a last-minute attempt to sell off what was left of their wares.
But driving to the hotel in a cab, I found a city largely asleep.
Except for a few vehicles, the streets and main roads were empty. I noticed, however, that the IBB Square was alive with music; later, I would learn that the goings-on that night were part of a “beer fair” that had become an annual feature of the city in December and would last till New Year’s Eve.
Knowing that Nigerians love the night life, especially in open-air bars, I could only imagine the fun and excitement within those walls.
“It is entertainment all through from the 7th of December,” long-term resident Niyi Ogundele told me. “From early in the evening there are musical and comedy performances which run till the wee hours of the next morning. All the pubs and joints in the city virtually relocate to the Square each year, thus shifting the focal point of social life of Makurdi.”
Early on Christmas Day, I climbed on a bike and headed to the St Joseph’s Catholic Church, where I was lucky to catch the last segments of the service in Tiv language—offering, consecration, and announcements.
About a dozen teenagers, seated in the front pews and wearing all-white clothes, filed to the altar to receive the Holy Communion.
St Joseph’s Catholic Church
Soon after, I was excited to hear the Women Choir sing a series of praise songs in that remarkably stirring choral voice in the local dialect, complemented by traditional musical instruments, and I thought to myself: “This choir deserves to go on a national tour with this brand of music.”
Late afternoon, I crisscrossed the city, moving from one hub of festivity to another. On my way about, I noticed that residents gathered in the front of their homes and, in some places, under the shade of trees and raffia-huts to drink, discuss and keep merry.
Besides these few spots of merriment, there was really no buzz, the sort one would expect at a time like this.
“You know this is a civil service state,” one man told me. “Everywhere is this laid back because most workers have not been paid.”
But I later found that a bit of the celebratory pulse of the city was at The Balcony, a newly opened garden and park for families. I walked in, past a barbecue chef, to see the DJ and the MC treating the children to a variety of music and games as parents and guardians looked on with interest.
A few metres away, under a pretty square-shaped shelter (roofed with raffia palms) residents engaged in banter over drinks or watched the large-screen television; for the adults seeking exclusivity, there was a VIP section, all air-conditioned with comfy sofas.
Children enjoying a series of activities at The Balcony.
Cute, brightly coloured chairs and tables dotted the room, lit in a rotating spectrum of light. I saw brands of drinks I had never before come across.
I loved the atmosphere and the energy and the ambience; I ordered a stout and yoghurt at the crowded bar section, found myself a seat in the north-east corner and settled down to enjoy the scene for the couple of hours.
At that point, I was pleased with myself. My dream all along was to break with a longstanding tradition of spending the Christmas holiday season in Lagos, the city of my birth, and I felt fulfilled that I accomplished that.
Besides The Balcony, I learnt that Macafa Children Park, the Pauline Maka Social Center as well as a host of other clubs in the GRA area also pulled the revellers; same for the BSU Zoo and Garden.
The Beach (KM 4/5 on the banks of River Benue, along Gboko Road) teemed with youths, while the Aminu Isah Kontagora Indoor Theatre typically hosted gospel and carol performances and plays as well as the Miss Benue pageant.
Ogundele told me that the Christmas experience in Makurdi is a function of age, individual lifestyle and family inclinations, which can be said of other parts of the country or the world even. He particularly singled out the Benue Carnival parade as a must-see.
“The carnival is a total cultural exhibition of all the tribes and social groups from the 23 LGAs comes and it is held on the 27th of December,” he said. “The procession starts from the gate of the Benue State University, through the food basket roundabout and High level roundabout and winds up at the IBB square.
Essentially, if you participated in the carnival, you could get a snapshot view of the culture of the Benue people in a day and that experience alone is refreshing in itself”.
Organized by the Benue State government, the carnival is repeated on New Year Day.
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