On the night of February 7, 2015, exactly a week to Valentine’s Day, many Nigerians stayed glued to their television sets itching to hear the fate of the elections that had been slated for that day.
A lot of them desperately hoped the elections would not be postponed, with some analysts already engaged in various public discourses on what the delay would mean for Nigeria’s young democracy.
Eventually after a nail biting period that drew close to midnight, the elections were postponed. One of those glued to their TVs was Mr. Muyiwa Fagbemi, a banker, who had awaited the news with bated breath. As arguments and counter-arguments went on around Fagbemi about the implications of the six weeks delay as announced by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, another thought was going on in his head.
Fagemi’s immediate problem was far from what the delay in elections portrays for the country, his mind was rather on Valentine’s Day, which Jega’s announcement had just returned to reckoning in the minds of the public, and most especially that of his fiancée, Ibukun.
With the shift in elections, Fagbemi’s excuse to Ibukun was shattered to pieces. Initially, Fagbemi was glad election would hold on Valentine’s Day, ditching all romantic thoughts of candlelight dinner which Ibukun had imagined for the day with her man.
For Fagbemi, fixing an election for February 14 was a life saver.
“Personally, I was happy when election was fixed for February 14. I had a perfect excuse to bail on Valentine’s Day because my fiancée had been counting down to the day before INEC fixed its timetable. After every Valentine’s Day, she starts counting down to the next one,” he told our correspondent.
Fagbemi had bought a gift for Ibukun and had hoped he wouldn’t have to spend additional money to take her to a choice restaurant in Lagos as is their tradition.
“She always counts down to Valentine’s Day and any special day like birthdays, anniversaries and so on. It’s natural for her. I knew I couldn’t escape buying her a gift but I had thought that with the election, there would be no hanging out for us. On hearing about the postponement on TV, I was pissed. With the postponement, I know I can’t even fall ill on that day, I’m sure she would revive me,” he said with a frown.
After spending about N150,000 on iPhone6 which Ibukun said she wanted for Valentine’s Day, Fagbemi is not keen on spending additional N40,000, which he estimated would cater for hotel lodging and restaurant bills for them.
Also, one of Fagbemi’s immediate tasks is to get the necessary bookings done for them on short notice. He said Ibukun wouldn’t have suggested they celebrate their love the following day, which is a Sunday because of their church programmes and their need to rest ahead of a new working week.
Interestingly, Fagbemi’s story is similar to that of some other men in the country, one of whom is Mr. Ikechi Madu, who has been married for a year.
Madu was also disappointed by the postponement of the election from February 14, which has ruined his plans.
“I was not even happy at all; I was hoping the election would hold and I would be able to blame the election for not allowing us to go out. But now that it has been shifted, I have to start re-strategising again,” he said, smiling sheepishly.
Madu’s likely strategy is to make himself unavailable on Valentine’s Day, but he was yet to figure out how to achieve that.
He said, “I’ve already got a gift that I would give her but you know women, it’s not just about the gift, she would still want me to take her out to a nice place. Going out was the part I was trying to avoid in the first place. Now it’s likely I find a way to make myself unavailable. I’m not keen on going out and I was hoping that the election would save me the stress. Now, it’s either I go out or find a way to make myself unavailable.”
Madu said taking his wife out could cost him up to N18,000, going by the bills he incurred when he took her out recently to celebrate her birthday.
“To be honest, going out will increase the cost for me because that will mean an extra N18,000 or so to go to a restaurant. I think we spent up to that when she celebrated her birthday.
“And secondly, women are too sentimental about Valentine’s Day; there is just too much attachment to it. Meanwhile, as far as I’m concerned, it’s just like any other day,” he said.
But for some women, shifting the election from this year’s Valentine’s Day was a pleasant development.
A cross section of them told Saturday PUNCH they had already reminded their partners of the need to make the day a memorable one now that the election previously slated for February 14 had been shifted.
Mrs. Damilola Johnson said her heart leapt for joy when she heard that election had been postponed. To her, fixing election on Valentine’s Day was a bad idea in the first place.
“Why should anyone fix election on Valentine’s Day?” She said with a broad smile.
“I‘ve told my husband that he no longer has a choice in the matter now that elections have been postponed. Before now, he had stylishly asked me to forget about it this year but I suspected that he was happy about it. Women love to be cherished so it’s a good feeling for us.”
Johnson explained her love for Valentine’s Day, describing it as one of the few times she is able to get her husband’s attention away from work and enjoy some quiet time with him.
With the postponement of elections, Johnson is not taking this year’s Valentine’s Day for granted. She said a red dress she just bought and intended to grace the occasion with was already hanging in her wardrobe while she shopped for a new perfume for the “special occasion.”
For some others though, election postponement or not, Valentine’s Day has never held any special meaning to them.
A civil servant, Mr. Deji Subair, doesn’t believe in Valentine’s Day and has never taken his wife of six years, Adenike, out to celebrate the occasion.
“I don’t do anything on that day so postponing the election or not, I’m indifferent. Luckily, my wife doesn’t insist I take her out. It’s more like any other day for me so I don’t have any special plans,” he said.
Adenike, however, described her husband as someone belonging to the “old school”, saying she actually wished he was more open to it.
“I like it but my husband doesn’t believe in it. He’s indifferent to whether elections hold on Valentine’s Day or not. So we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day at all. Therefore, changing the election date doesn’t change anything for me too since I can’t celebrate it alone,” Adenike told our correspondent.
Also, a newly wedded woman, Mrs. Uju Daniel, said love should be celebrated everyday and not only on Valentine’s Day as some people do.
She said she and her husband, Monday, go to a park around their residence most weekends to “talk and show love.”
“Valentine or not, we celebrate it everyday. We exchange gifts, celebrate our birthdays, wedding anniversaries. I didn’t even remember election were to hold on Valentine’s Day anyway because I don’t give any special thought to the day,” she said.
“It doesn’t change anything because even if election was to hold on February 14, we would have been back home to celebrate it together, share love and talk heart to heart and these are things we still do everyday. We go out but it shouldn’t necessarily be on Valentine’s Day. Most weekends, we go to a park, sit and talk.
“We show love to each other everyday. For some people, Valentine’s Day is the only day they go out with their spouses but it’s not like that with my husband and I. Sometimes, I call him to join me during my lunch time and we eat together because we work in the same area. It has been fun all the way . So if the election had not been shifted, we would still have shared intimate moments together.”
Meanwhile, for some other lovebirds who had hoped to get married on Valentine’s Day since it would fall on a Saturday, they would consider it as a missed opportunity following the postponement of the election.
One of such couples are Ms. Bidemi Eyiwumi and his fiancé, Akinwale Ogunyemi, who had picked February 14, 2015 as their wedding day, only to shift it to March 14 following INEC’s timetable.
Bidemi had wanted to be wedded on Valentine’s Day because of its significance as a day when people share love.
She said, “I actually wanted February 14 because I felt that it was going to bring people around together to celebrate love with me and my partner. That was my basis for choosing February.
“Since it’s a day people share gifts and feelings, I wanted people to come and celebrate with us. I thought we would make use of that moment to share our own love.”
However, Bidemi’s wish was not to be even though election will no longer hold on Valentine’s Day.
Her consolation stems from her belief that Valentine’s Day is not for couples alone and therefore a time for people to share love with family, friends and even strangers.
“But actually for the mature minds, there is no need to wait for Valentine’s Day to show our love to those we love. Also, it is not only for spouses or partners. In my office, we exchange gifts among ourselves. The motive behind it is love since the day has been dedicated to love. But the love should not die on that day,” she said, with a silent prayer that the one she shares with Akinwale will endure forever.
