No Show For Valentine

The annual celebration of love and affection on February 14 appears to have been dealt a devastating blow by the just ended Ghana 2008 soccer fiesta. The celebration is a few days away but the media activities relating to it have lost out to CAN 2008 issues. The media are engulfed in discussion of the just ended fiesta especially the performance of the Black Stars and matters arising out of it. Traders who should have commenced selling paraphernalia relating to the event such as flowers and others are still counting their losses over heaps of the red, gold and green fabrics which they could not dispose of.The predicament stems out of Ghana’s semi-final exit from the tournament. They had counted on disposing most of the fabrics had Ghana reached the final stage, which they had little doubt about. Daily Guide has even learnt that some of the colours were still awaiting clearance when the Stars were stopped by their Cameroonian counterparts. Even before the tournament, signs began to point at a withering Valentine’s Day celebrations as a number of moralists and religious leaders had embarked on a countrywide crusade, sermonizing against the celebration.Their beef is that some youth use the occasion to engage in what according to them are immoral activities such reckless sexual behaviour. For the past few years since the celebration was raised to new heights in the country by the media, florists make brisk business as lovebirds exchange artificial and natural flowers including greeting cards to reassure each other of unflinching love. If the trend continues, it would not be long before the importance of the celebration of Valentine’s Day is dealt a death knell. A couple of years ago, the day was re-christened Chocolate Day, a development which has added to the diminishing stature of the Valentine’s Day activities.Various theories have been propounded for the celebrations. Some trace it to the Roman Catholic St. Valentine who was martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith.He died on February 14, 269 AD and legends have it that he left a farewell note to his jailer’s daughter who had become his friend with the following words: “From Your Valentine”.Another school of thought has it that St. Valentine served in the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius who had him jailed in 496 AD. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 as a day on which to honour the deceased. For us in Ghana as in other parts of the world, the exchange of re-assuring words of love and tangible objects like flowers form the greater part of the St. Valentine’s Day.