St. Valentine’s Day and 2023 Election
FR HENRY OPARA
The mere mention of February 14 reminds one of St. Valentine Day or Lovers’ Day. It is day people recall the love and passion exemplified by the Catholic Priest known as St Valentine to help young people practise what was divinely and naturally supported, leading to Christian marriage. The take-home is about value, true love devoid of selfish interest, a love worth celebrating, worth cultivating and worth communicating. This story as well as the practice has come to stay. People, especially young ones of different race, colour and background exchange gifts and pleasantries to friends and well wishers.
When you love an individual, that love extends to his or her family directly or indirectly and to a larger extent the nationality he or she belongs. When you love a nation, you work for the welfare of her citizens. The love naturally transcends mere words, to concrete actions, leading to the betterment of her citizens in question. For example, we recall the love with every amount of sacrifice by our own Nelson Mandela for the liberation of the people of South Africa; and even the determination of Dr. Dora Akunyili of NAFDAC in fighting fake drugs in order to save people from adulterated drugs with its consequences.
February 14 is here again. The whole purpose of this reflection is to make a passionate plea for us all, especially the young ones even as we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day to remember this Nation called Nigeria as we prepare to vote our Leaders, from Presidency to State and National Assemblies. Nigeria is our own. We have no other nation except her. The state of the nation is at stake. Everybody, not excluding our own Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, are lamenting on the state of affairs at the moment.
To buttress my point on the state of the nation, the following references become adequate at this point. The first is from one Ben Okezie in his article as published by Daily Sun Newspaper, Thursday, Dec., 29th, 2022 page 16 captioned: Ending the Year in Tears “the past year dramatically inflicted more pains to many homes, sequel to the activities of criminals of various shades across the length and breadth of the country. There were tears being shed in schools where bandits and kidnappers attacked. There were tears in religious houses where worshippers were mercilessly killed. There were tears in hospitals where bandits struck and killed innocent patients and nurses. There were tears in markets, villages and communities where innocent citizens, the young and aged, were kidnapped, raped, maimed or killed without any trace of their bodies.” As one of the leading Presidential Candidates recently said (and I believe him) is that the problem of Nigeria is a problem of leadership. This is a changeable phenomenon. It is not beyond human capacity but a matter of the will and character to attain.
In his own article published by Daily Sun Newspaper, October 27, 2022 p.32 titled God Help Nigeria: A Misguided Prayer, Muiz Banire maintained that “we don’t need God to help us, on, what we can do for ourselves easily”
I recall the first stanza of our National Anthem with an invitation to our Compatriots to arise and serve our fatherland with love, strength and faith so that the labours of our heroes past shall not be in vain. The primary measure and means to serve our fatherland is to hearken to the cries at the moment by performing our civic responsibility with fear of God and the greater good of the suffering masses of our land.
There is no room for nonchalant attitude whereby one will hear someone saying, ‘wetin concern me, whether they vote or not, it is none of my business’. Saint Valentine did not perform the act for which we are celebrating Lovers’ Day on the grounds that he wanted to marry but for the sake of others following the footsteps of Jesus Christ. We all must be involved. Pope Francis on Fraternal and social friendship no.115 re-echoes ’’at a time when everything seems to disintegrate and lose consistency, it is good for us to appeal to the “solidity” born of the consciousness that we are responsible for the fragility of others as we strive to build a common future. “
There is indeed a cry of a nation in the face of life threatening challenges borrowing the words of the 2022 Catechetical Booklet. What then can we do at this point? First, make sure to keep your PVC close to you. Secondly, vote conscientiously and correctly. That is the best love you can show to our country Nigeria during this 2023 election. Adding his voice to this plea in his article 2023: Make or Break Election Year, published by Daily Sun Newspaper, Tuesday, Jan.3, 2023 , p. 12, Daniel Onwukwe maintained ”the lesson in all of this for 2023 presidency is not to repeat the mistakes of the past. There should be no mistake about competence, trust and ability of the next president to govern. Competence is one issue that can give a leader a genuine self – awareness and confidence. Trust is the key of competence. It means saying plainly and simply what you mean- and meaning what you say. Our politicians have repeatedly lied to us, just to win our votes. For them, it’s all part of the game, and nobody holds them to account. As the campaigns enter the homestretch, the question every voter should ask is: Am I better off today than I was when President Buhari came to power? “
The die is cast. As we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, discuss the above experiences with your friends. Take the moment to chat the values necessary for a possible better Nigeria that will be a home for all without any form of molestation, a village of peace especially as the elections draw nearer. The second stanza of the Nigerian National Anthem invites us to direct our attention to the noble cause of our nation to build a nation with freedom, peace and unity. May St. Valentine continue to guide and guard us all as we celebrate this graceful experience and always be mindful of its connection to the general well being of our immediate society and the world at large.
Henry Opara
Owerri, Imo State.
