Reflections on Christmas in Lagos

Olusegun Adeniyi

For those of us who profess Christianity, Christmas is more than a festive holiday. It is a reminder of the most incredible gift ever given: the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and the promise of redemption on which our faith is anchored. But Christmas also gives us an opportunity to find reasons for giving thanks as we reflect on family, friends and our many blessings while exchanging gifts and sharing thoughtful messages. Despite the circumstances that conspired to ensure I am not in Kwara State today, as I am every year, life has taught me to be grateful for everything. And that really is the essence of the season. 

Even before I relocated to Abuja in 2007, I would normally depart Lagos by the 23rd of December for Kwara State and return two or three days after Christmas to prepare for the new year. This same pattern continued in Abuja for the past 18 years. But I wake up in Lagos today for the first time on a Christmas Day due to reasons far more ennobling than ‘Detty December’—whatever that may mean. And it has been exciting being in the city. On Tuesday, my wife and holidaying son, Korede, were hosted to a dinner by the chairman of Caverton Group, Mr Remi Makanjuola and his ever-gracious wife. And last night it was my friend, Executive Director, Administration & Finance at NIMASA, Hon Chudi Offodile and wife, Vivien, who hosted us to dinner. Joined by Ije Nwizu and her husband, Obiora, it was a fun time together in the spirit of Christmas.

Meanwhile, in the earlier hours of yesterday, I spent considerable time with the Oba of Lagos, HRM Rilwan Aremu Akiolu I, at his ‘Iga Idunganran’ Palace. He shared with me interesting stories about the ‘Adamu Orisa Festival’ (Eyo Festival) that will be held on Saturday after an eight-year interregnum. The last one was held in May 2017 for Oba Elegushi and to celebrate 50 years of Lagos State. The Lagos monarch said they needed to rid the festival of the urchins who use it to harass and molest innocent Lagosians.  

Ordinarily, the festival heralds the death of a Lagos Oba as well as the ascension of a new one and is also used to honour prominent individuals and mark special occasions. With archival materials, the Lagos monarch took me through a history of the Eyo festival which was first held on 20th February 1854 for Oba Akitoye. To date, there have been 73 such festivals. Even though there were some decades when that was no festival, six were held in 1906 and four in 1909—all for prominent people. Notable individuals for whom the Eyo Festival has been held in the past include the late Elizabeth II in February 1956 during her visit to Nigeria and in June 1988, in honour of then military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.

Perhaps because of the season, my conversation with the Oba of Lagos dwelt on so many things, and it ended on why we should all be grateful for the mercies of God in our lives. No matter the challenges of life, the Lagos monarch admonished, there is something we can always be grateful for. Yes, I am aware of several issues in the country today: From ‘doctored’ tax laws to what many experts have described as unrealistic revenue projections in the 2025 budget to the socio-economic pressures that have turned many Nigerians to destitutes. But all these issues are not going away so soon hence they can wait. This is Christmas and we must celebrate. Now, what does that really mean?

In 1897, an eight-year-old American girl by name, Virginia O’Hanlon, wrote to the editor of ‘The Sun,’ a New York City newspaper at the time, asking whether Santa Claus was real because her friends say otherwise. Frank Church, a writer and editor of the paper, sent her the reply below, which I have slightly abridged. It remains a timeless reminder of what this season is all about:

Dear Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

To all my readers, Merry Christmas!

Afrexim Bank’s Statement to Elumelu

I was at the Afreximbank event in Abuja last Saturday when Mr Tony Elumelu and Dr. George Elombi put pen to paper on what turned out to be a historic $750 million financing agreement for Heirs Energies. As I watched the ceremony unfold, I could not help but reflect on entrepreneurs who complain about the absence of funding for “serious businesses” in Nigeria. “The money is not there,” they would insist with the certitude of someone who had tried every door and found them all locked. Well, here was $750 million, real money being committed to an African enterprise by an African financial institution. It was a calculated investment in a company that has demonstrated performance, governance, and the kind of vision that transforms industries.

The numbers tell their own story. When Heirs Energies took over Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 from Shell, Total, and Eni, production stood at 25,000 barrels of oil per day. Today, it exceeds 50,000 barrels. The plan, according to Samuel Nwanze, the company’s CFO, is to hit 100,000 barrels daily within three years while ramping up gas production to 250 million cubic metres. These are not pie-in-the-sky projections, but targets backed by proven operational capacity and the kind of discipline that makes financiers comfortable parting with serious money.

At the ceremony, Elumelu was characteristically candid about the journey. He spoke about the delays his company faced under President Muhammadu Buhari when acquiring OML 17. The Buhai administration stalled his efforts on grounds that the asset was “too large for private sector ownership.” The irony, as he also noted, was that Shell itself is a private sector entity. Those delays, Elumelu said, came at significant financial cost. Yet Heirs Energies never defaulted on its obligations, even while battling the severe oil theft that has become an unfortunate feature of Nigeria’s energy sector.

Elumelu was effusive in his praise for Afreximbank, which he described as “the most impactful and catalytic financial institution in Africa.” He spoke about trust, performance, and the discipline required to sustain partnerships with institutions that put their money where transformative projects exist. “When financial institutions support you,” he said, “the least you owe them is to perform.” It is a simple truth that should resonate with every aspiring entrepreneur: access to capital is one thing; the credibility to deploy it effectively is quite another.

Elombi, for his part, emphasized that Afreximbank’s confidence in Heirs Energies was built on demonstrated leadership, governance, and asset quality. This transaction, he added, aligns with the bank’s mandate to support African champions driving sustainable economic transformation. And there lies the key point: African institutions have the capacity and the willingness to back African enterprises. What they require are bankable projects led by credible teams. In fact, I was stunned when Elombi openly prompted the President & Group CEO of Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp), Dr. Owen Omogiafo, to come up with ideas that would help expand their business across the continent, promising the finance. “Whoa!” exclaimed an excited Elumelu while beaming with smiles. But bank executives don’t play Father Christmas with money. They must have seen value in their relationship with the businesses championed by Elumelu who said that, as a matter of principle, he prefers to source funds outside the United Bank for Africa (UBA) which he chairs.

I may have become a broken gramophone on this issue but I will not stop saying that what Nigeria needs are more risk-takers, men and women willing to bet big on the country’s potential rather than seek safety in trading, real estate speculation, or the easy money of import dependency. In this same country, some of us can still remember a young man who had access to the authorities in the oil and gas industry yet rather than invest, he spent all the time and money buying yacht and ferrying supermodels around the world.

What Elumelu and his team have done with Heirs Energies is instructive. They identified a critical sector, acquired strategic assets, navigated regulatory complexities, and built operational excellence. The $750 million Afreximbank facility is validation that when you get these fundamentals right, the money will come. The broader lesson extends beyond Nigeria. Across Africa, we hear lamentations about the absence of capital for meaningful development. Yet Afreximbank alone has assets exceeding $40 billion. Add to that the African Development Bank, the continent’s sovereign wealth funds, pension assets, and private capital pools, and the picture becomes clear: Africa has money. What Africa needs urgently are more entrepreneurs with the audacity to dream big, the competence to execute, and the integrity to sustain investor confidence.

As Elumelu put it at the ceremony, “This is Africa financing Africa’s future.” It is a powerful statement, one that challenges the narrative of perpetual dependence on Western capital. But for this narrative to become reality, we need our governments to create enabling environments. The regulatory delays Heirs Energies faced should never have happened. When private sector players demonstrate capacity, government should facilitate, not frustrate.

As I left the venue, I thought about entrepreneurs who insist the money is not there. Perhaps the real question is whether they have a project compelling enough to attract it. The Heirs Energies-Afreximbank deal proves that when African entrepreneurs bring bankable mega projects to the table, African capital will back them. The finance is there. What we need are more people willing to take the risk.

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com