My Thoughts On Valentine

It was difficult for many
people to fathom why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) originally chose February 14, as the Presidential and National Assembly Election Day.
They believed that February 14, being a day for lovers all over the world, Nigerians should have been allowed to play and enjoy love to the fullest instead of trooping out at polling centres, queing for hours to cast their votes.
One can therefore imagine how glad these set of people were when INEC last Saturday shifted the general election days to March 28 and April 16, 2015.
So, tomorrow, it will be love unhindered all over the places, both married, unmarried and probably divorced would come  together to express their love for each other or better still, pretend to love each other on this very day.
In this year’s Valentine ’s Day we are also expected to witness some unpleasant occurrences that make people wonder if the event is worth celebrating
Valentine’s Day started out well. It is a very old and religious celebration centred around Saint Valentine. Stories have it that Emperor Claudius ll of the Roman Empire decided that young men should be soldiers, so he outlawed marriage. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine, a Catholic priest, defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. He was thrown into prison and put to death on February 14.
Valentine believed in the power of love. He identified with couples that were genuinely in love and paid the supreme prize for his love for others.
Valentine’s Day was therefore set aside for exchange of gifts to loved ones, friends, relatives and others.
Today, the meaning of Valentine’s Day is gone because the society re-wrote it.  With all the radio and television hype the day enjoys, as well as all the activities up in many cities for the event, it’s obvious the real meaning of the day is being misunderstood.
Many have argued that various love activities in the night of Valentine’s Day are capable of luring youth into fornication, alcoholism and other social vices, and are big threats to the lives of the younger generation.
As a matter of fact, many young people are taking advantage of this day to carry out all sorts of immoral acts.  Many get pregnant, relationships are broken, many contract dreadful diseases like HIV/AIDS and the future of many is shattered.
Valentine’s Day is certainly not meant to encourage people particularly the youth to engage in inappropriate sex and other forms of immorality.
History did not tell us that St. Valentine was a fornicator.  So it is absurd  associating Valentine’s Day with sexual promiscuity.
I think for Valentine’s Day celebration to make more meaning in our lives as individuals and as a society, we must have to do things right.  Let us use this day of love to celebrate all the people in our lives.
This is what Valentine’s Day should really be like, seizing the opportunity to tell the people we love that they are special to us and actually making time to do something about it.
The point of this day is not to indulge in immoral acts in the name of  love or ruin your relationship over material things.  The point of Valentine’s Day is, or at least should be, to appreciate one another.  We are expected to use this date to pay tribute to love, this universal human value that transcends geographic, religious and cultural challenges.
There is no doubt that when such selfless, true love is expressed to one another there will be peace in our families and the country in general, especially when neighbourly love is practised not only on Valentine’s Day but everyday.
I want to encourage churches, non-governmental organisations, states and federal ministries in charge of youth affairs to emulate the former Archbishop of Lagos,  Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okojie who usually gathered youths on Valentine’s Day and taught them the essence of the event and also engaged them meaningfully.   Youths need to be occupied with important, useful activities like charity work, visit to the needy.  This will enable them appreciate and love others and at the same time make them better citizens.  Everything must be done to ensure that the purity of the society is not abused through Valentine’s Day celebration.
Happy Val’s Day.

Calista Ezeaku