Valentine’s Day: Ibadan residents express divergent views on celebration
A cross section of Ibadan residents has expressed divergent views concerning the forthcoming St. Valentine’s Day celebration.
The respondents expressed their views on the celebration in separate interviews with news men on Tuesday.
A banker, Mrs Aderonke Lawal, said love should be expressed daily, not only on the day marked for the annual Valentine’s Day.
According to Lawal, the best way to prove you love someone is by expressing it daily.
“To me, the expression of love and the exchange of gifts shouldn’t be limited to Valentine’s Day or birthdays.
“I believe that the exchange of gifts should be part of our everyday life. If you love someone, you should be showing it all the time and a good way to show it is by giving gifts.
“The gift, however, might not be something big or expensive, but the thought behind it can’t be overemphasised,” she said.
An entrepreneur, Mr Ganiu Badmus, said that his religion, Islam, did not recognise the celebration of Valentine’s Day.
“That is haram in Islam.
“Real Muslims must not celebrate it as Islam does not recognise it,” he said.
Meanwhile, a teacher, Mrs Kehinde Ogundipe, said she and her husband usually spend the day, otherwise known as ‘Lovers Day’, to reassure each other of their love.
Ogundipe, who had been married for eight years, said reassurance was one thing they held dear in the union.
“We don’t only celebrate Valentine’s Day, but we keyed something about our marriage into it, making it more memorable.
“We got married on Valentine’s Day, thus making it a very special day for us,” she said.
A pharmacist, Mr Femi Ilori, told news men he never believed in celebrating the day until he got married.
Ilori said his spouse made a big deal out of it in the first year of their marriage.
“After our first celebration together, I had to change my mindset about the day.
“Women are more invested in it than men; for peace to reign in my home, I started making a conscious effort to plan for it,” Ilori said.
An undergraduate, Miss Tope Adebayo, says she loves the ideology behind the celebration but that it promotes fornication among the younger generation.
Adebayo said the day should only be observed by the legally married or those with pure agape love for one another.
“On the said day, many youths engage in ungodly acts, hence, the reason I’m not totally in support of the celebration,” she said.
Supreme news reports that Saint Valentine’s Day is also called the Feast of Saint Valentine and is celebrated annually on February 14.
The annual festival celebrates romantic love, friendship, and admiration.
