We are grateful to God for all He has done for us in 2013. We thank Him for keeping us united after all the upheavals, troubles, fights and quarrels. We thank Him for making us strong to overpower our weaknesses and failures, for enabling us to see this day as we say goodbye to this bittersweet year.
What makes this day special in Nigeria?
New Year’s Eve service does for millions of Christians, and the thought of starting afresh after many failures and disappointments makes today special to virtually everybody.
New Year’s Eve is a day to rise above our failures, weaknesses, frustrations, disappointments and pains. It’s a time to look beyond the confines of the past and embrace a new beginning.
Today is the day when we put behind everything that has made the outgoing year terrible and hopefully look forward to a new beginning, one we strongly believe will be fulfilling and prosperous.
It’s time to make new resolutions, too.
Fresh graduates and many unemployed citizens will be praying for good jobs and a better lifetime. Unmarried youth will hope to get married and have a great family.
Many secondary school students in their final years will be praying for admission into tertiary institutions – universities, polytechnics and colleges of educations – in the country.
Children are not left out. Many of them will be praying for a better year, a year where they’ll be fruitful and become more of a blessing to their families.
Those in government will hope for a better Nigeria, a Nigeria that will uphold the very reasons for which we gained political independence.
Politicians will hope to curry favor with the citizenry come 2014 so that the 2015 general elections will be to their advantage.
Everybody wants a fresh start. Nobody wants to cling to the past.
It’s with this ‘new beginning’ spirit that we trooped into churches tonight for a service that lasted through midnight.
Personally, I hope to get my resolutions written down. I hardly keep them, but this year, I want to not only get them written down, but to also keep them, too.
In the service, we danced and clapped, celebrated and appreciated God for all He’s done for us. But we’d never forget to ask for a new beginning, a fresh start in all we do.
The service mostly ends with chants of “Happy New Year.”
But what we want to hear is, “New Year, New Life,” a phrase that resonates with nearly all Nigerians.
It gives us a sense of what the New Year actually means – a fresh start. Wishing a prosperous New Year to all our readers worldwide!
Linus Okechukwu is a Reporter for Youth Journalism International
