Virtual Christmas party ideas for Nigerians abroad

For a lot of Nigerian families, Christmas means going home. People who live in the cities travel to their ancestral towns and villages to be with family, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are public holidays, and in December the Nigerians who live abroad, the IJGBs (“I Just Got Back”), fly in for weddings, reunions and nights out. If you are in London, Houston, Toronto or anywhere else this year and not on that flight, here are ten ideas for a virtual Christmas party that still feels like family.

First, the time zones

Nigeria is on West Africa Time, one hour ahead of GMT, and it does not change its clocks. In December that means:

The sweet spot for a party across the UK, North America and Nigeria is usually late afternoon or early evening in Lagos: late enough for North America to be awake, early enough that grandma in Lagos is not asleep.

Ten virtual Christmas party ideas

1. A jollof cook-along

Jollof rice is a Christmas dish across southern Nigeria. Pick one recipe, send the shopping list a week ahead, and cook together on a call, with the best cook in the family as the host. Everyone eats “together” at the end. The arguments about whose is smokiest are part of the fun.

2. A colour of the day

At a Nigerian party the family often dresses in matching fabric, the aso ebi. Online, keep it simple: pick a colour and everybody wears it. The photo of the call will look like a family occasion. Read about aso ebi and the owambe dress code if you want to go further.

3. The family playlist

Ask each household for three songs: one old one the parents dance to, one the cousins play, and one Christmas song. Play them in turn and make each household explain their picks.

4. Carols and the church service

If your family church streams a service, watch together and stay on the call afterwards, the way people stand outside after church to greet each other.

5. A December quiz

Questions about the family (who was the naughtiest child?), Nigerian slang and Nollywood. Keep the teams mixed: one household in Lagos with one abroad.

6. Send the small chops

If you can, have a snack box delivered to each household for the same evening. If not, agree that every house makes puff-puff. Small chops are what a Nigerian party starts with.

7. A gift swap by post

Draw names a month ahead and post one small gift to each person. Open them live, one at a time.

8. The “what I missed this year” round

Each person gets two minutes to tell the family what happened to them this year. For relatives who have not seen each other since the last trip home, it is often the best part.

9. Keep it short

Video calls tire people faster than real rooms. Researchers have argued that one cause of “Zoom fatigue” is the overload of nonverbal cues on a video call. Ninety lively minutes beat four hours of frozen faces.

10. Meet in a virtual Lagos instead of a grid of faces

For the cousins and the friends, especially the ones who would have been out every night of December, try a place instead of a call. AJ Cities is a free open-world browser game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, and its party mode is a live estate party with other real players. To be completely clear: it is a virtual party inside the game. There is no real venue, no real date and no real ticket, and nothing in it gets you into a real event.

How it works for a family or friends’ Christmas night:

1. Everyone opens ajcities.com, on a phone or computer, and chooses Party at the estate. Each guest signs in with an email and must be 18 or over. Nothing to download.
2. Agree a world. Always night is 10 pm all the time, so it is night whenever you meet, which is handy across time zones. Lagos time follows the real Lagos clock. Pick the same world and you usually join the same estate; each holds up to 60 players.
3. Dress up free at the salon and clothes shop by the main gate, and agree a colour.
4. Ask the police to let you in. Most nights about four in five guests who ask are let in free. Optional tickets from ₦250 open more of the estate for 24 hours.
5. Meet on June 12 Street, then go to Prizm, the club, where Joe-Izzy plays from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time, or down to the beach party.

The estate radio plays the same song at the same moment for every player, so everyone hears the same track. If somebody has to answer the door, they can pause and stay in the world as “away” for up to ten minutes. One honest note: the game has no Christmas decorations. It is a Lagos night out, not a grotto.

The game is for adults only, so it is one for the grown-up cousins rather than the whole family. Read more in Detty December from abroad.

A sample evening

How do I throw a virtual Christmas party for family in Nigeria?

Pick a time that works across time zones (late afternoon in Lagos suits the UK and North America), keep it short, and plan a few activities: a cook-along, a quiz, a gift swap or a shared virtual place to meet.

What time is it in Lagos at Christmas?

Lagos is on West Africa Time, one hour ahead of London in December, six hours ahead of New York and seven ahead of Houston.

Is the AJ Cities Christmas party a real event?

No. AJ Cities has a virtual party inside the game, with no real venue, date or ticket. It has no Christmas decorations; it is a Lagos night out you can join from anywhere. 18+.