Abuja, the nation’s capital city has apparently shut down for Christmas as activities gradually wind down and residents, massively travel out of the town majorly occupied by migrants.
Most offices looked deserted onThursday including the very busy federal secretariat. Civil servants in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as private business workers- the few still remaining in town are beginning to wind down as celebration mood sets in despite the tight economic situation in the country presently.
Vehicular movement is also decreasing as was observed except for some parts of the city centres where traffic was noticed, possibly due to rush to complete some last minute transactions.
However longer queues were observed in banks as customers move for last minute transactions especially ahead of tomorrow, being the last working day before Christmas.
The federal government has declared long holidays for the Christmas and New Year celebrations on December 26th and 27th December, 2016 and January, 2nd 2017 public holidays respectively.
But even ahead of the announcement which came on Wednesday, some agencies had already closed down operations to enable their workers travel to other parts of the Federation. Metrobusinessnews also observed that even most churches looked deserted last Sunday as fewer worshippers turned up even in large churches.
While work has slowed in offices, activities have expectedly moved to the markets and shopping malls, though weakened by the tough economic conditions.
In Kubwa, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory, it was observed that most motor parks were beehive of activities as people travelling to various parts of the country jostle for space to embark on their journey.