Before You Spit On 2017

By UbongAbasi Ise

“As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them” – Ecclesiastes 9:12

One of the festivities at Yuletide that always got me vicariously thrilled is the manner new year moments are celebrated. On the night of 31^st of December of every year, people would watch the hands of the clock approaching midnight, and immediately it clocks the hour, the night become speckled with odd assortments of lights and fireworks. From setting ablaze of raffia palm trees in the rural areas and the mesmeric display of fireworks in the towns and cities, old year is bid farewell in an unfair manner, and the new year is ushered in with ecstasy. At the crossover night programmes organized by churches and other religious concerns, the outgoing year would be blackmailed of causing human sorrows, afflictions and hardships, and so it would be incinerated with fire and wished away with much vehemence while the new year is welcomed with ecstatic panegyrics followed by show of artistry in the display of lightning and the explosion of bangers.

              When an outgoing year crawled into the cloud of history along with its supposed bad nature, does it means that court case files would be disappearing or effectively closed? Does it mean that lawyers would no longer have new clients? Does it mean that doctors and nurses would be starved of new set of patients? Is it that petty thieves, armed robbers, phone snatchers, kidnappers, fraudsters, treasury looters, corrupt leaders, economic saboteurs, and all other public officials rorting the polity would all have a change of heart and stay out of their shameful business? Would police, EFCC, ICPC and other law enforcement agencies find no one to clamp down upon in the incoming year? How bad was 2017? Is it not our deeds that brought a plethora of tragedies upon mankind?  

Before we spit on 2017 while embracing 2018, we should understand that as long as man stays unchanged in attitude, future can still be parlous. No amount of prayers can convey us a year-long nirvana experience when man continues in perpetrating evil. Every New Year is like a blank white sheet of paper with nothing written on it. It is therefore human activities that would cover it with characters that form the meaning in the archive of history.  All the phenomena and verities of life are in continuum with no recourse to Gregorian calendar invented by man to measure time. No year is intrinsically good or bad, but their outlook is instrumentally determined by humans.

            We are celebrating the New Year day with new cloths but our hearts are filthy to the extent that we cannot even reach out to embrace our brothers and sisters with our fine appearance. Instead of new cloth adding glamour to our togetherness, it turns out to divide us along the vault lines of haves and have-nots.  

In Nigeria, 2018 is expected to be a very busy year.  The intensity of electioneering activities would increase, and once again politicians would put on their wile dispositions to gain popularity. Desperate politician would soil 2018 with all manner of vices to gain political advantage over their rivals. Our youths that are systematically denied jobs would once again be hoaxed into believing that their messiahs have arrived with oodles of job opportunities. Human beings would be rented and formed into mammoth crowd in order to test candidates’ popularity.

            Before I go into conclusion, I would love to bring up the fact that the calendar we are observing is quite artificial. Time stays in continuum without minding human appellations. The Gregorian calendar the world is observing today is rooted in Roman religion and culture.  January was named after the Roman god, Janus. February was named after Februa, the purification festival. March was named after god, Mars. April (Aprilis in Latin), was named after the goddess, Aphrodite, or it might have come from the Latin word Aperire, meaning to open. May (Maius) was probably named after the goddess, Maia. June was probably named after the goddess Juno. In 44 BCE, July was named after Julius Caesar but prior to that time the name of the month was Quintilis, from the word Quinitus meaning fifth, because it was the fifth month in the Old Roman calendar.

            August was named after Emperor Augustus in 8 BCE. But before that time, the name was Sixtilis, from the word Sixtus, meaning sixth. This was the sixth month in the old Roman calendar.

            September came from the word Septem, meaning seven, because it was the seventh month in the calendar. October, from the word, Octo, meaning eight, was eighth month. November came from the word, Novem, meaning nine, and it was the ninth month in the old Roman calendar. Still in the same calendar, December, from the word, Decem, meaning ten, was the tenth month.

            But why is it that 9^th through 12^th months got names that mean 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th?

            According to Plutarch account, it is because Numa Pompilius who ruled Rome from 715 to 673 BCE, added the two months of Janurius (January) and Februarius (February) on top of the ten month calendar to make it twelve.

            Happy New Year dear readers!

Yes! I am UbongAbasi Ise. For comment, send SMS to 08189914609 | E-mail: ubongabasiise@gmail.com