New Year Eve Vigil: Nigerians stockpile old tyres to burn evils of 2021
“I remain up at the request of my cousin in his home, and the chamber is ablaze with crimson candlelight. I’ve squandered 36 years of ebb and flow. I’m going to value my time from now on.” – Ancient classic poetry called “The Vigil.
New Year’s Day is a worldwide celebration that takes place on the first day of each year, January 31, based on the Julian calendar. But the most interesting aspect of the celebration is what happens on the night that ushers in the New Year, the New Year Eve Vigil. New Year Eve Vigil has a long history, depending on each country, but we only want to present a few of them.
China: “Surviving the Nian (year)
On the lunar New Year’s Eve, it is customary for Chinese people to stay up late. The celebration starts with a long dinner that can run from twilight till midnight. People reflect on the past and look forward to the impending New Year by staying up late during the Lunar New Year Eve vigil.
“Surviving the Nian (year)” refers to staying up late on the lunar New Year’s Eve. Legend has it that there was a fierce beast known as “Nian” during the ancient and chaotic period. The beast emerged from the sea on each lunar New Year’s Eve, destroying crops and gardens and devouring humans and animals. It caused havoc on the folks who had put in a year’s worth of hard work. People closed the door before dusk and stayed up on the lunar New Year’s Eve to avoid encountering the beast.
Palestine
But the Palestinians would prefer to use the night to settle political scores with their archenemy, Israel.
Nigeria
The ancient Nigerians, on the other hand, observed feast days in accordance with the sun and moon cycles starting from the New Year Eve Vigil. As a result, they appeared to have always known when to use this strategy to celebrate a new year.
During the New Year’s Eve Vigil, Nigerians join people all over the world to indulge in a variety of enjoyable activities. It is customary in Nigeria to spend the night with friends and family while engaging in a variety of cultural activities.
But the 2021 cross-over night may witness unprecedented display of an age-old custom in Nigeria: the burn of scrap tyres during New Year Eve Vigil.
Morenews.ng investigation revealed that Nigerians have practically stockpiled old tyres to burn 2021 out of frustration.
Despite governments’ statements warning the people to desist from burning inflammable items, including scrap tyres, on the roads during this year’s cross-over celebration, many are bent on daring security personnel and may even cut short church services to light fireworks and burn old tyres at strategic junctions in their communities.
The custom of burning scrap tyres during New Year Eve Vigil is highly connected to the belief that doing so would put an end to evils and bad luck associated with the old year to usher in the so-called Happy New Year.
Several Nigerians consider 2021 as one the worst years in their lives in the past decade, given the frustrations and hardships it meted on them.
Having survived the economic recession, COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the aftermath of 2020 #EndSARS protests, Nigerians had hoped that 2021 would usher a sigh of relief. But it was not to be.
“The hardships and anxieties of 2021 had been unprecedented,” one trader was quoted as saying.
One comedian even called for the 2021 Christmas to be postponed in Nigeria in view of the high pressure it mounts on the citizenry.
To purge their frustrations and disappoinment, many have resorted to burning scrap tyres during New Year Eve Vigil in a bid to wipe of all traces of the so-called bad luck of 2021.
People have started gathering old tyres in preparation for the vigil of all vigils.
The practice of eating together as friends and family during the New Year Eve and on the New Year as hundreds of local cuisine are served to delight of enthusiastic Nigerians has been suspended in some quarters during the Yuletide owing to hardships.
Even rice that had become the most important cuisine during the season has become luxury as prices of rice skyrocket in recent months.
Locals in tiny Nigerian communities occasionally organize events to entertain family and friends who have traveled from the cities to visit them but only few communities can afford such luxury this year.
Taboos on 2021 New Year Eve Vigil
The following are certain greetings and wishes should not quick to wish people during this New Year’s Eve Vigil until the first morning of 2022, for some reasons:
May this year be filled with loads of laughter and plenty of blessings.
Greetings in the New Year…
It is the journey, not the goal, that is important.
I’d want to wish you a happy new year.
Here’s to a fantastic year and an even better one ahead of us.
Let us take a look back at the previous year on this New Year’s Eve.
