On the 14th of February, Nigerians put aside the agony of a
crunchy economy to join the rest of the world to celebrate
Valentine Day. To those who believe in it, the day affords
lovers, family members and friends the opportunity to
practically demonstrate their love towards one another.
Aside its rich and characteristic romantic content, over the
years, exchange of gift items such as cards, letters, flowers,
clothes, shoes, bags, jewelries, cars, and other such has
become an integral part of the Valentine ritual. Romantic
meetings where cozy and sumptuous meals are the main
item in a homely spot of choice are also top on the
Valentine Day’s schedule. To demonstrate its uniqueness,
red is the preferred symbol of Valentine’s Day. This is
revealed through the fashion sense of diverse Valentine
disciples and apostles who adorn assorted red stuffs.
Hence, to a large extent, Valentine Day could be said to be
a red lettered day!
Valentine Day has a rich history that dates back to the
ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia which was held on
February 15. According to the narration, a priest named
Valentine disobeyed Emperor Claudius II’s decree that
soldiers remain bachelors. Claudius handed down this
decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and
unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or
engaged. But love drunk Valentine defied the emperor and
secretly performed marriage ceremonies. As a result of his
defiance, Valentine was put to death on February 14.
After Valentine’s death, he became a saint. As Christianity
spread through Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from
February 15 to February 14 and renamed it St. Valentine’s
Day to honor Saint Valentine.
Interestingly, Valentine Day celebration has globally
assumed a larger than life image. Consequently, there is a
huge economic angle to the whole Valentine episode.
Hospitality and entertainment sectors are mostly affected.
Since love and romance are involved, it is only natural that
those in the hospitality and related businesses benefit
hugely from the smell of love that is in the air.
To really catch in on the economic prospect of the day,
many restaurants, nite clubs, cinemas, relaxation gardens
and hotels usually put up special tantalizing offers on
Valentine Day, all in a bid to attract good business. As a
result of the flurry of activities for the day, these spots are
often busier than usual as many people go out for a date
with their spouse, partner or prospective lover.
In Nigeria, younger folks in particular, eagerly look forward
to celebrating Valentine. In most major cities across the
country, streets, hotels, stores, restaurants are covered in
red, pink and white streamers, with big heart shaped signs
wishing people a Happy Valentine Day. Fancy and fast food
restaurants are filled with couples eating out for the holiday.
Places with very unexciting night life suddenly burst into life
on valentine nite. In major cities such as Lagos, Ibadan,
Port-Harcourt, Jos and Benin, Valentine Day often extends
deep into the wee hours of the night with adventurous lover
birds embarking on a mission to paint the town red.
Hence, sales at most popular hang outs, on Valentine Day,
are usually on the high side. This implies that for those in
the hospitality sector and other related businesses,
Valentine Day offers remarkable opportunity to make
extraordinary profit.
However, as it is with every human endeavour, to some
Valentine Day isn’t all about thrills and frills. This is
particularly true of those who view it from a strictly pious
and moral perspective. They are so disgusted that they dub
it ‘a celebration of satanic lies’. They are not sufficiently
convinced about the correctness of the modern day
principle or philosophy behind Valentine celebration.
To the pious school of thought, the real essence of the
huge price that St. Valentine paid for love is being recklessly
trivialized and immorally derided. The kind of love that is
usually celebrated on Valentine Day is being subjected to
severe scrutiny by moralists who believe that a young fellow
who is still in High school has no business embarking on a
‘meaningless satanic voyage’, all in the name of celebrating
Valentine.
This line of reasoning is further amplified by the claim,
though without any empirical evidence, that the end results
of Valentine Day are often unwanted pregnancies, abortions
and other such related ungodly acts. One other objection of
moralists to the whole Valentine argument is that the
celebration of love should not be a one day affair. Choosing
a particular day to celebrate love is, thus, viewed as an act
of hypocrisy borne out of sheer ignorance. Love should be
celebrated and practiced on a daily basis.
In order to ensure that the youths, in particular, are not
imprudent in this weird understanding of Valentine, some
religious leaders and groups now seize the opportunity of
the day to organize seminars, workshops, talks etc that
could help guide the youths from falling into the snare and
error of what they termed misguided interpretation of love.
It is desired to enlighten them to aptly tutor them on the
proper way to celebrate love. The intention is to direct their
minds to the actual connotation of St Valentine’s Day.
The world is presently in dire need of true love.
Unfortunately, true love has become a scarce commodity in
contemporary time. Everyone is in search of true love, but
quite a few are really prepared to pay the price for it. With
separation and divorce now so routine that many see them
as inevitable, it seems the very idea of true love has almost
become a mirage in this dispensation. There is so much
selfishness, greed and evil all across the world that true
love seems rare.
According to late American human right activist, Martins
Luther King Jr. true love heals broken hearts and hurting
wounds. In an increasingly wayward, troubled and
complicated world, true love remains an essential ingredient
for peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and
understanding. It is, therefore, important that Valentine Day
is celebrated with a proper understanding of the real
concept of love.

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