Okay, so today I’m sharing my little adventure with “nigeria holidays”. It all started last week when I was planning a small getaway. I wanted something different, not the usual tourist traps, and Nigeria popped into my head. I thought, “Why not?”
First things first, I hit up Google hard. I mean, really hard. I was trying to figure out when exactly these “nigeria holidays” even were. You know, public holidays, that kind of stuff. Found a few websites that listed them out, but they seemed kinda all over the place. Some sites were outdated, some were missing key dates, it was a real mess.
I decided to cross-reference everything. Opened up like five different tabs and started comparing dates. Independence Day? Easy, October 1st. But then there were all these religious holidays – Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Christmas, Easter… those were trickier ’cause they shift around based on the lunar calendar or whatever.
After a solid hour of digging and comparing, I felt like I had a pretty solid list. But, being the cautious type, I didn’t just trust the internet. I figured, what’s a better source than someone actually in Nigeria? So, I jumped onto a few expat forums and asked around. Got some really helpful responses from people who actually live and work there. They confirmed some of the dates I had and corrected a few others.
Next up, I wanted to put all this info into a calendar format. I’m a visual person, so seeing it laid out month by month helps me plan better. I ended up using Google Calendar. Just created a new calendar specifically for “Nigeria Holidays” and started plugging in all the dates. Added reminders for myself, you know, a week before each holiday, just in case I decided to book a trip.
Here’s a quick rundown of what I ended up with:
- New Year’s Day: January 1st
- Good Friday & Easter Monday: Dates vary (usually March/April)
- Workers’ Day: May 1st
- Eid al-Fitr: Dates vary (based on the Islamic calendar)
- Eid al-Adha: Dates vary (based on the Islamic calendar)
- Independence Day: October 1st
- Christmas Day: December 25th
- Boxing Day: December 26th
Now, the important part was making sure this calendar was actually useful. I added notes to each holiday event. For example, for Eid holidays, I noted that many businesses and government offices might be closed for a few days. For Independence Day, I added that there might be parades and celebrations in major cities.
Finally, I shared the calendar with a few friends who are also interested in traveling. They thought it was pretty cool and useful. One of them even suggested adding local festivals and events to the calendar too, which is something I might do later on.
Lessons Learned
Honestly, the whole thing was a bit more work than I expected. But it was worth it. I learned a lot about Nigerian culture and holidays, and now I have a handy calendar I can use for future travel planning. Plus, I got to connect with some cool people in expat forums. Not bad for a little research project, eh?
So, yeah, that’s my “nigeria holidays” adventure. Hope it helps someone else out there planning their own trip!
