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Why We Celebrate Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day may be synonymous with romance, yet the history of the holiday is far from a simple love story.

Whether you adore Valentine’s Day or loathe it, one thing is certain: the holiday’s origins stretch back through the ages. Today, it’s characterised by affectionate gestures, heartfelt gifts, and the anticipation of romantic dinners, but its beginnings are intriguingly less sentimental. Here lies the true history of Valentine’s Day—one that wouldn’t quite fit into a romantic comedy, encompassing tales of a martyred saint and historical turmoil.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14, although the day of the week changes each year. In 2025, it will fall on a Friday for the first time since 2020.

Some historians trace its roots to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated annually on February 15. This lively festival heralded the arrival of spring and was steeped in themes of fertility. It featured animal sacrifices, abundant merriment, and possibly even a matchmaking ritual where men and women drew names from a jar.

As Christianity spread, many pagan traditions began to fade. In the late 5th century AD, Pope Gelasius I abolished the festival. He is often credited with instituting St. Valentine’s Day, a day of holy remembrance, to take its place, though concrete evidence of this is lacking. Regardless, the Christian observance eventually overshadowed the raucous Lupercalia.

**Who Was St. Valentine?**
St. Valentine is revered as the patron saint of lovers, those with epilepsy, and beekeepers, among others, but the true story of this enigmatic figure remains elusive. Many legends surround a Christian martyr named Valentine or Valentinus, believed to have been executed on February 14 during the 3rd century AD.

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In one tale, St. Valentine was a Roman priest and physician who steadfastly refused to renounce his faith, resulting in his execution by Emperor Claudius II around 270 AD. Before his death, he is said to have miraculously healed the jailer’s daughter and, in a touching twist, fell in love with her. Legend has it that he penned her a letter on the day of his execution, signing it “from your Valentine.”

Another narrative claims that he was put to death for conducting secret weddings for soldiers, who were prohibited from marrying under Claudius II’s decree.

The details are so unclear that the Catholic Church removed him from the General Liturgical Calendar in 1969, although he is still venerated as a saint. Whoever the man may have been, his feast day replaced the pagan festivities of Lupercalia.

Before the 14th century, St. Valentine’s Day was primarily a day to honour a Christian martyr. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is credited with intertwining St. Valentine’s Day with the notion of romance.

Chaucer’s works flourished during the Middle Ages, a time when grand expressions of love—through poetry, songs, and art—celebrated companionship. In his poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” penned around 1382, possibly to mark the engagement of King Richard II, Chaucer imagines birds gathering on St. Valentine’s Day to select their mates. The goddess Nature proclaims: “You know that on Saint Valentine’s Day / By my statute and through my governance / You come to choose — and then fly your way — / Your mates, as I your desires enhance.” From that moment, Valentine’s Day was embraced as a celebration of romantic love, and we can thank poetry—the most exquisite of art forms—for shaping our contemporary understanding of the holiday.

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However, the tale of Valentine’s Day is not without its shadows. During Prohibition in Chicago, a notorious event unfolded on February 14, 1929, when seven men were brutally slain by a gang led by Al Capone. The Valentine’s Day Massacre became a pivotal moment in the history of Prohibition, prompting law enforcement to crack down on the gangs that had emerged to control the illicit trade in alcohol.

Love letters have a long and cherished history; if the legend of St. Valentine h

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Education

TETFund to partner agencies to boost AI studies in higher institutions

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March 28, 2025

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The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) says it will partner with relevant agencies to boost Artificial Intelligence (AI) studies in the nation’s tertiary institutions.

The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mr Sonny Echono, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.

He said the Fund had drastically scaled up textbook production in addition to other initiatives such as ICT centres to position Nigeria as a leader in AI in Africa.

He said this was part of TETFund’s contribution to the nation’s quest to tap into the multi-trillion dollars global digital economy.

According to him, AI is one of the few subject areas where the Fund could send scholars abroad for further training because it had not fully developed in Nigeria.

“We don’t send anybody outside anymore. But AI is a new and expanding field. It is one of the few areas we are training people abroad because we want to lead in Africa,’’ he told NAN.

He said the Fund had supported the development of AI textbooks, covering topics such as AI in teaching and learning, ethics, and curriculum development.

Echono said the aim was to boost the use of AI and to get the tertiary institutions to begin to exploit and use it in teaching and learning.

He said that in addition to book development, TETFund had trained over 3,000 scholars in AI and emerging ICT trends in the last two years in collaboration with leading institutions.

He explained that the initiative had resulted in the ICT training of over 17,000 educators through the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) programme.

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“We started with general ICT training because we’ve been doing a lot of ICT training. If the teacher is not ICT-savvy, even for him to put his lecture on the platform is a problem.

“For him to interact with the students on the platform or to send his mark, to do his marking scheme, to relate, to get presentations, even zoom meetings would be a problem he must be ICT literate.

“After that we started letting them understand how they can use ICT, how they can leverage on it to improve the quality of their delivery and the experiences of their students,” he said.

“We want to leapfrog others in ICT, robotics. We are coming very strong in robotics now, but we are late comers, some people are already doing it before us.

“But we don’t want anybody to be ahead of us on this continent. So we are pushing those frontiers,” he said.

Echono also said that the present TETFund management inherited a stagnated book development programme that published only 20 books in 13 years.

He said that upon assuming office in 2022, he challenged the book development committee to meet ambitious targets of producing more books.

“I said, in the first year, you must do 50, if not I’m going to disband it, we’re wasting money coming to do meetings, talking, and not seeing the books.

“Later, I said I want to see up to 100 books being published and they said it can be done. We’ll give you all the support, publicise and advertise to Nigerian authors.

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“We identified the subjects where we do not have enough textbooks. We Tasked the professors and all the experts in that field to put things in order..

Echono said this challenge spurred the book development committee as TETFund published 50 books in 2023, another 60 shortly after with another tranche of 50 textbooks published recently.

He explained that another batch of 50 textbooks was currently in under production. (NAN)

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Elumelu appointed into IMF Advisory Council On Entrepreneurship and Growth

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March 28, 2025

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed Heirs Holdings Founder and Group Chair, Tony Elumelu, to its Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship and Growth, convened by IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva.

His appointment was disclosed in a statement on Friday.

The Advisory Council of the IMF comprises global business leaders, policymakers, and academics, dedicated to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.

Its mandate is to recommend policies that enhance resource allocation, stimulate innovation, and catalyse sustainable private sector-led economic growth.

“Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship and whose Foundation has funded, mentored and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa.

“A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments, that deliver social and economic value.

“Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policymaking.

Other members of the Council include: Harberger Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, Professor Ufuk Akcigit; Saudi Ambassador to the United States, HRH Ambassador Reema Bandar Al-Saud; Chair, CEO, and Co-Founder of Salesforce, Mr. Marc Benioff; Executive Chair, Banco Santander, Ms. Ana Botín; Chairman, Tata Group, Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran; Chief Executive, Vodafone Group, Ms. Margherita Della Valle; Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vista Equity Partners, Mr. Robert Smith and Argentine Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Mr. Federico Sturzenegger.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Council on Wednesday 26 March 2025, the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, noted: “The Council brings together a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in business, finance, academia, and policymaking to share their views and experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity—key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth.”

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Natasha’s recall will deepen democracy, put lawmakers on their toes —Group

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7 hours ago

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March 28, 2025

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The Campaign for Democracy, a civil society organisation, on Thursday said the recall of Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP-Kogi Central) by her constituents would deepen democracy in Nigeria.

The pro-democracy group also said that such action by her concerned constituents would help put lawmakers on their toes to serve them well.

The group made the this known in a statement issued in Lokoja by its President, Mr Ifeanyi Odili.

It expressed worry over what it described as “avoidable” crisis between embattled suspended Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio a few weeks ago.

According to the group, the incident has put Nigeria’s image on trial before the global community.

The CSO said it was worried that, rather than addressing the core issues surrounding her (Akpoti-Uduaghan) suspension within the framework of Nigeria’s democratic institutions, she chose to “engage in a campaign of calumny against the Senate as an institution.”

“It’s unfortunate that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s activities within and outside the country since the beginning of the controversy have cast an unfortunate dent on the image of Nigeria, for which she must apologise.

“This is nothing but gross misconduct against Nigeria,” it said.

It advised respected Nigerian leaders to always identify when not to play opposition politics with delicate national issues, in the best interest of the nation.

“More worrisome is the fact that she has distorted the facts preceding her suspension and curiously held on to her sexual harassment allegations against the Senate President as the reason for the initial actions taken against her.

“Taking such misrepresentation to the world stage and representing Nigeria illegally at the Inter Parliamentary Union to air such views can be described as nothing but gross misconduct against the country.

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“She needs to apologise. This should not be muddled up with politics, the group said.

The group wondered why Sen. Natasha had abandoned her faith in the Nigerian judiciary.

According to the group, since she has already taken her grievances to the courts, one would have expected her to allow due process to take its course.

It argued that resorting to media trials, seeking sympathy from foreign audiences, Akpoti-Uduaghan has watered down whatever sympathy she could have gained from them and Nigerians at large.

“Her current confrontational approach serves no productive purpose other than to bring ridicule to Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

“As a public official, she has a responsibility to uphold the dignity of her office and promote national cohesion, rather than dragging the country’s name through unnecessary international controversies,” the group said.

The CSO commended the electorate of Kogi Central for exercising their constitutional rights to initiate a recall process.

“This is a significant step towards strengthening Nigeria’s democracy,” it said.NAN

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