SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI
OMG! In two days, It should be December again! Ordinarily, December should be the month of happiness, the month of celebrations. It used to be the month to count one’s blessings and give glory to the Almighty.
December is the month when the whole world goes on leave and celebrates Christmas. Usually, the quarreling and bickering of the world are put on hold. Beautiful carols everywhere! Messages of goodwill and exchange of gifts!
How are the traumatized people of Nigeria going to celebrate this December? Customarily in December, every member of the family gets new clothes for Christmas. Even the poorest of families will cook ‘Uncle Ben’s’ rice served with some chicken stew.
This December, will there be the ‘chaaa!-chaaa!’ sound and delicious aroma of frying onions in hot oil? In this T. Pain economy?! It used to be the tradition that many thousands of bags of rice exchanged hands in December. Many organizations gave away this favorite food item to their staff, valued customers and well-wishers. Pray, how easy is it to give away a bag of rice this season, now that the cost of a bag of rice is money that would have built a small bungalow not long ago?
I am getting much more phone calls than usual this December. Everybody is calling to greet me. Though the callers do not explicitly say so, I know that a lot of the calls are subtle reminders that ‘family support’ is required and expected this season. How do I deal with it? I have tried to add two and two but it never ends up as four!
Will there be the usual Exodus, movement of Jah people, this December? Will there be ‘go-slow’ on the two Niger bridges as the West pours into the East and just before New Year, the East returns to the West? How does that happen when the cost of filling your fuel tank is much more than the money you paid to buy your car, not long ago? Do you travel by road or by air… with the obscene air fares?
What of the launching of development funds and family meetings that take place at Christmas time? Are we now going to do them by WhatsApp video or by Zoom?
Please, tell me: will unknown gunmen go on leave this December? Will Boko Haram declare a time out? Will the kidnappers surprise everyone with the realization that December is a very-very wrong month to kidnap anyone? Will IPOB relax the Monday “sit at home” this December, so my people can breathe?
December has always been a special month for me. Oh, did I tell you that my birthday is celebrated on December 22, Madam’s is on December 24 and that my family’s December celebrations begin on December 4 when Stephanie, my youngest daughter, was born? My closest aides, Abey and Mama Gbenga, who have more or less become members of my extended family, have as their first names, Abiodun. That tells you that they are Christmas children and celebrate their birthdays in December too.
This last week of November that ushers in December, the COSON family from across the country gathered in Lagos at our Annual General Meeting. 24 hours before the meeting, I was not quite sure if I would be able to write a detailed address to the members which explains much of what has happened in COSON during the year under review as it is my duty. Indeed, I was not sure whether I would be even able to make the AGM which is also my duty to chair. Yes, I was battling with my health from different corners and had just come from my doctors.. When all hope appeared to be lost, I prayed to the Almighty who has never failed me.
I always tell my friends that if you are going on an errand and you cannot find the transport money to get there, be sure that the good Lord did not send you. The good Lord will never send you on an errand without providing you the transport money to do His work. So, I prayed. I asked the Almighty to give me the strength and wisdom to ensure that the members of COSON came together and had an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to remember. After dinner the night before the meeting, I set up my laptop, and began to write my address. By 6.00 am, I had written 15 pages.
I was not sure I could read the address. I had not slept all night and was too weak from the medications I was taking. I thought of giving someone else the long address to read. But I usually don’t just read an address, I discuss it as I go along and break, when necessary, to answer any question that may arise or explain any issue that may not be very clear. Once again, I asked God that if the AGM is His assignment, as weak as I was, He should give me the strength to conduct it successfully.
After reading the address and answering all the questions thrown at me, I got a standing ovation. Not one person was sitting down. I received encomiums upon encomiums from the members. About seven members of COSON who are pastors formed a ring around me and started firing prayers to God for my good health and wellbeing. In Nigeria, where we never see anything good about those who lead us? I was more than humbled. Without knowing it, members of COSON, this week, gave me a Christmas present no money can buy.
This December, I send felicitations to all my friends and family members. I particularly thank the thousands of members of the COSON family and my brothers and sisters on the Board who have shown me great camaraderie and the determination to make tomorrow better than yesterday. I thank our hard-working management and staff. I thank our lawyers across the country and the judges whose decisions have saved us from being swallowed by the wickedness and avarice of the Nigerian nation. I also thank my dedicated staff at TOPS Digital, who have been there for me all the time: Debbie, Ijay, Peter and KASI, one of the most multi-talented and hardworking persons I know. I pray that each of us will have a December that will be remembered with joy in our hearts.
As I write Saturday Breakfast while waiting for a connecting flight at Hartfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Georgia, on my way to join my family that I have not seen for over one year, I extend my warmest wishes to all of you who join me every week to partake in Saturday Breakfast. Merry Christmas and may the Almighty make 2026 a really great year for you all.
See you next week.
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