What Nigerians do on Sallah day

During the 21st day of August 2018, one of the things I experienced in Nigeria was the Sallah day celebration and this one was called Eid el Kabir. It is a public holiday in Nigeria and the government actually declared 2 days as work free during this celebration. This one seemed to be a very big day for Muslims. One of the highlights of this celebration based on my experience is the slaughtering or rams and cows.
I’m a Christian and I witnessed the celebration in Southern Nigeria, Lagos particularly.

During this year’s Sallah celebration, one of the first things I noticed that Nigerian Muslims did was to go to their various Mosques to pray. They went for their prayers at about 9 a.m. They dressed pretty well for the Mosque prayer unlike other days such as their usual weekly Friday prayers. I was surprised to find that even some local motorcycle riders a.k.a Okada riders who normally dress poorly were well dressed on their Sallah day. They were dressed in flowing gowns that were well ironed, looking new and a cap to fit. Their prayers lasted for about 15 minutes and they were back home to celebrate.

The next thing I noticed that Nigeria Muslims were doing was the killing of their rams. Prior to the D-day, I noticed that there were many spots and homes where rams and cows have been kept. Some of them were already purchased by end users while some were just kept for resale by sellers looking to make a good profit for the Sallah. I noticed that the price of rams normally skyrocket during such Sallah celebrations than during other times of the year. So, they proceeded to the slaughter of their rams and cows after which theyr shared some of the uncooked meat with their neighbours and friends of which I also benefitted from. They also cooked food withe the meat and had parties with friends and families. During Sallah celebrations, I noticed that many young people visited their family homes to eat and drink with their parents and family where the animals had been killed. It was basically a feast.

During Sallah, one thing I also noticed was that some Nigerian Muslims had also travelled to Mecca prior to the celebration day. In fact, I was surprised that one Muslim who didn’t even have a car or paid house rent surprisingly paid for his flight ticket to Mecca and I guess it’s because they believe that going to Mecca is one of the things that can lead them to heaven or at least give them some credit.

It’s during Sallah celebration that I also found out many Muslims going out for fun as you’d see a lot of theme going shopping at shopping malls and watching movies at the cinema. They just go out to have fun and eat at expensive restaurants with some wearing their hijabs and others dressing casually.

Nigerians Christians also tend to join the celebration with their Muslims friends by eating with them as well as accepting their gifts which they freely shared. Being a public holiday, they also use it to go out for fun and visiting places. During Sallah, even Christians visit their loved ones and relations since it is a work free day.

So, during Sallah, Muslims go to mosque to pray and come back to slaughter their rams. They throw a feast which they celebrate with friends while Christians also eat with the Muslims.