The annual worldwide celebration of love has come and gone again, with its attendant glitterati and paparazzi. The origin of this annual celebration appears to be mired in a series of controversies. However, there is a common denominator in all explanations bandied around the origins of the valentine day celebrations, and that is the concept of love.
It is this concept that has been subjected to different interpretations by different people and cultures the world over and has made the celebration of valentine a very controversial issue. In the view of the African celebration of the day, some of us are tempted to run against the grain of popular opinion by attempting to situate this annual ritual within the context of cultural imperialism or what the late Nigerian Afro beat maestro tagged “Kolo Mentality”. It is a corrupted aphorism for the relics of colonialism which has affected the psyche of the average African who sees him or herself as more European or more white than the average European or white.
The natural and pristine African value that we know of is communalism, that is, love and brotherliness to all in the community. It is a natural African value that presupposes that when an African cooks a pot of soup it belongs to all and sundry in the community irrespective of whatever contributions individuals have made to the materialization of that pot of soup. Furthermore, a child in the typical African community is brought up and looked after by the whole community aside from the biological parents. In a nutshell Africans practice and celebrate love all the days of their lives, hence on deeper thought, the idea of setting aside a special day of the year to celebrate love seem preposterous when examined within the context of the reality of daily life in Africa.
However, as we continue to bask in the euphoria of the annual ritualistic celebrations of valentine’s day, it is important for Africans to ponder on the immortal words of the late reggae superstar Bob Marley who admonished us to “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery”.
