I have a story to tell you, a friend of mine that have known for quite a while now, usually live by the mantra that he always says that “we only live once, so live your life to the fullest” this is he does every festive season and interestingly this same friend of mine usually complains about how choking the new year can be and all the expenses that comes with it

So you see, I have come to accept one universal truth that binds Africans across borders, tribes, and various geographies: January is not just a month in the Gregorian calendar, it is a season of reckoning. It's a monthly that stretches more than an elastic and lingers more than Lagos traffic. January is not just days counting, it's a period that tests character and humbles even the most disciplined among us. And every January after the usual shout of HAPPY NEW YEAR and the endless list of new year resolutions that might not be achieved—the reality sets in and many act surprised, as if they didn’t see it coming.

Yet they did, fully aware of the consequences of their actions but ignored it anyway because December did not happen in secret.

December: When Discipline Takes a Holiday

December in Africa and in the country where I come from, it is not just a month; it is a state of mind that is fully expressed. It is the Oblee season, the time for enjoyment. It is also the IJGB season—I Just Got Back—where airports become runways for the diasporan celebrities who have not been to the shores of their home country in a long time and the fascinating trend here is that you would see Instagram bios suddenly carrying flags of countries they just visited and have not even spent up to five days. It is Detty December, where Lagos forgets traffic etiquette entirely and the standstill is energy draining, where Accra becomes everyone’s second home, and in South Africa enjoyment becomes a full-time job.

The arrival of the Christmas season is one that seems to be dressed in nostalgia and curated pressure. You must spend , travel, show up and the most important of them is "you must ball small.” The mantra is simple: we only live once. And so, budgets are disrespected, savings accounts that have been meticulously guarded since the beginning of the year are bullied, and the future? January is treated like a distant relative that no one cares about or is expecting to see anytime soon.

I have watched with keen amusement how reasonable people spend money with the confidence of billionaires whose oil wells are personally supervised by their ancestors. There is food for visitors who we haven't seen or spoken to since the beginning of the year, ironically the end of Christmas the previous year. You would go to the market and see clothes that are bought "specifically for the season.” Drinks purchased for vibes we won’t remember at the end of the day and the unhealthy side of it, is that generosity becomes competitive, as if there is an invisible scoreboard for those who sprayed more, who hosted the season more better and who showed off the most.

December is loud, I cannot even lie, I usually anticipate the whole experience. It is warm, welcoming and most importantly, it gives everyone the chance to take a break.

January: When Reality Clears Its Throat

January usually arrives both quietly and loudly at the same time, funny isn't it, loudly in church cross over services and quietly in the purse of everyone, this is without any prior warning or reminder.

January is the month where decorations come down, and so do the vibes. The playlists change from Christmas jingles to silence. Across the city, offices reopen, emails return, and that one colleague who sent you “merry Christmas and see you next year” now sends “please see attached.”

Businesses across various sectors of the economy resume operations, but it seems to be that profits are shy. Salaries feel delayed, even when they are technically on time. The same bank app that behaved like a supportive friend in December now refreshes slowly, as if judging you for your misconduct.

Ironically the bills do not understand Detty December. Rent does not clap and dance with vibes. Electricity bills do not accept “memories” as payment. And suddenly, in all of this moment, January feels endlessly long—not because it has more days, but because everyone is waiting. Waiting for salary alerts, for clients to respond and for bank balances to stop looking like a typo.

Without any warning or maybe there was warning and we just ignored them life becomes serious again. Alarm clocks resume with authority. New years resolutions briefly make a cameo before disappearing. January does not laugh at jokes about “new year, new me.” January wants evidence and demands accountability from everyone .

Friendship, Borrowing, and the Economics of January

This is also the season where friendships are tested, audited, and sometimes unfriended. January exposes financial habits the way daylight exposes dust. That is when we start hearing sentences like, “watch who you call your homies,” or “Once you need money, you’ll know who your true friends are.”

But the truth is deeper than that and less flattering.

All of these statements are just rooted in desperation and in the struggle to stay afloat in the period that looks to be one of financial tribulations.

January is when people ask for loans with the same December confidence and but with January desperation. It is also when lenders remember previous long standing debts and repayment was treated as mandatory. In the speed of light and with emotional statements, boundaries are called wickedness, and accountability is mistaken for pride and saying No is seen as been Inhuman.

In all of this, I have learned that January does not reveal fake friends; it reveals financial patterns and habits that are yet to be tamed. It exposes who plans, who just wings it, who borrows both responsibly and those who don't pay back, it also reveals the confusion of those who associate friendship as a credit facility.

The month is long because trust is short.

Why January Feels Endless—and What It Teaches Us

January feels long because December was intense and spending was not monitored. It feels heavy because many individuals live loudly before the new year arrives. It feels slow because many of us are recalibrating and adjusting from enjoyment to responsibility, from fantasy to structure, from excess to balance.

But here is the part we rarely admit: January is not merely punishing us, It is actually educating us and many at times we are oblivious to this fact.

It teaches delayed gratification and financial prudence. It reminds us that joy without structure is expensive, and celebration without planning comes with interest that would eventually come knocking at our door. January is not anti-fun; it is pro-sustainability.

The month forces us to ask uncomfortable questions. Did I enjoy myself, or did I overspend to belong? Did I rest, or did I escape? Did I plan for January, or did I assume God would handle it exclusively?

And somehow, despite all of these issues, January still ends. Salaries still arrive and businesses stabilize after a while. Across the street the anxiety softens and slowly life finds rhythm again and everyone moves with it. By February, we are already laughing about how “long” January was, forgetting that next December, they will do it all over again, creating an endless cycle of the same experience.

Maybe it is because we are human and we love joy irrespective of the routes we take and the cost of it. Or just maybe because December is tempting and we all fall to the temptations.

But maybe, just maybe, the reason January feels long is because it is trying to tell us something. And if we listen carefully, between the bills and the bank alerts, we might learn how to enjoy December without fearing January and what the new year brings.