Yuletide: Abuja residents defy hardship, throng recreational centres

Parks, Gardens and other recreational centres in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) hosted large numbers of fun seekers in celebration of yuletide despite the perceived economic downturn.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that fun seekers from different parts of the FCT on Boxing Day trooped to the popular Millennium Park, Central Park and others to celebrate the season.

Other centres visited by NAN included Magic Land Amusement Park and the Abuja Christmas Village in Life Camp, with fun seekers seen in large clusters enjoying themselves with their families.

Some of them who spoke with NAN said they did not allow the current hardship to dampen their enthusiasm for their usual Christmas fun as they have toiled all year and needed to unwind.

Monday Adamu, who came to the Millennium Park with his family, said staying at home throughout the holidays was boring and they needed a relaxed environment from home.

“The country is hard, but I just have to do this for my family because the holiday is a very long one and my children are at home.

“We usually come here during Easter or Christmas but we could not come during Easter, so I promised my family that I will bring them this season.

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“You do not need to have a lot of money to come here; you just bring your food, but unlike before, I had to buy fuel of N20,000 in my car to come here this time,” he said.

Another fun seeker, who simply introduced himself as ‘Mr Ekene’, said coming to the park was a better option to paying a huge amount for transportation to his village during the yuletide.

“My brother, I think my case is the same with many people here and that is why everywhere is filled up like never before.

“How can you pay N25,000 to N30,000 to the East just for your transport and then times that by 4 persons in your family before you will buy clothes and food?

“So many of us decided not to go to the village this time around and we have to bring our families here because Christmas can be celebrated anywhere,” he said.

At Central Park, Celilia Phillips, who came with her two children, said coming to such a place was a sacrifice needed to make loved ones happy in the season.

“We know things are hard, but Christmas comes once in a year, and you just have to do this because the children are on a long vacation too.

“If you look at money, you will only work and not make yourself happy, so we decided to go out and I think this place is not bad at all.

“Things are really bad out there, but we hope next year will be better so that Nigerians can really be happy,” she said.

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NAN reports that the large influx of fun seekers also encouraged vendors and photographers to throng the recreational centres for business.

At the Abuja Christmas Village, an ice cream and drinks vendor, who declined to mention her name, said patronage for the day was unusually high, unlike the previous Boxing Day in the FCT.

(NAN)