By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

Dear Engr. Eric Nnamdi Anyamene,

I bring you greetings in this season of love. Writing this valentine missive to you during this period of love is imperative given the acts of love you have done for a great number of people, who live in Idemili North and South LGAs.

The word, valentine, is symbolic or representative of love. It connotes and denotes love, too. Empathy is an intrinsic part of love. And St. Valentine for whom we commemorate the Valentine’s day on every February 14 is an empathetic man. It is said that he performed acts of love for other people without expecting that they would requite his kind gestures.

But there are different versions of the life story of St. Valentine, which have raised critical questions and posers. Was St. Valentine for whom we mark the Valentine’s day a historical person? Or was he a mythical figure conjured into being and/or existence to teach us moral lessons, which are centred on love? Or is the true story about the provenance of St. Valentine and the Valentine’s Day celebration lost in the mist of time? Whatever is the case is immaterial to us, now, as we are concerned with the meaning and significance of the St. Valentine’s day.

Now, it is a known and indisputable fact that Valentine connotes and denotes love. In the Bible, which is the holy book of the Christians, we are admonished to love one another. The teachings of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, which are contained in the new testament of the Bible, are predicated on love. And a popular biblical quote says this: love covers a multitude of sins.

The BBC dictionary defines love as: “the feeling that a person’s happiness is very important to you, and the way you show this feeling in your behaviour towards them.” We demonstrate our love for other people through diverse ways. For example, when a rich man pays all the fees for the tertiary education of a person from an indigent home without demanding reciprocity from the poor person, the rich man has carried out an act of love. But do we possess the virtue of love?

Love, we all know, is a scarce commodity among us. If we are actuated by the feelings of love, our political leaders will not contemplate stealing money from our national exchequer, not to talk of carrying it out, thereby rendering our economy prostrate. If love exists among us, terrorists will not corral kids and women into houses to liquidate them with guns for no just cause. If love truly exists in the hearts of Nigerians, children will not kill their parents in brutal and mind-boggling ways for money-making rituals.

The dearth of love among us is an affliction that has contributed greatly to our country’s underdevelopment. We are hard-hearted, avaricious, and egocentric people, who care less about the well-being of other people. We are driven by hate, not love, which has accounted for the acts of wickedness we carry out on a daily basis in the country. And it is our loveless acts that reinforce the centrifugal forces of ethnicity and religious bigotry, which are tearing Nigeria apart. Nigeria cannot become a truly united and developed country unless and until we learn to love one another, not minding our ethnic origins and religious affiliations.

But we still have Nigerians, who are actuated by feelings of love. They are few and far-between, though. And they can be counted on our finger tips. Were they many, they would have transformed Nigeria, radically and positively, and leapfrogged it to the class of first world countries. Among the few Nigerians, who have love in their hearts is Engr. Eric Anyamene.

A trained engineer, Engr. Anyamene had his tertiary education both in Nigeria and in the overseas. Before he returned to Nigeria to take up a political appointment as an aide to Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, he had worked for companies in the United States of America. Since he pitched his tent with Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, he has been contributing his quota for the development of Nigeria and Bauchi state by carrying out his duties with nationalistic fervour and fear of God, and suggesting ways on how to fix our problems.

But beyond his sojourn in the corridors of power, Engr. Eric Anyamene is defined by his uncommon acts of philanthropy, which cover the areas of education, health, and human and infrastructural development. Not only does he buy UTME forms for students in Idemili North and South LGAs on a yearly basis, he also offers scholarships to those who perform spectacularly well in the UTME under the Eric Nnamdi Anyamene Foundation (ENAF). The Eric Nnamdi Anyamene Foundation (ENAF), of which he is the founder, organizes periodic healthcare outreaches for the free treatment of sick people, too. And Engr. Eric Anyamene is deeply involved in the infrastructural development of towns in the Idemili North and South LGAs.

A true quintessence of philanthropy, he executes uncommon acts of love for the generality of the people because of the love he has for his fellow human beings. He embodies the loving spirit of St. Valentine, the man for whom we commemorate the St. Valentine’s day.

So as we are in the season of love, let us reflect on the St. Valentine’s story, and imbibe the morals embedded in them.

Our loving other people, unconditionally, will make the world a better place. If you love your neighbour, you will not put him or her to the sword. If you genuinely love your parents, your will not kill them for money-making rituals. When our hearts are filled with good thoughts, we will stop perpetrating acts of wickedness. And, it is only, then, that the world will become a paradisiac oasis of peace.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye, a poet, writes from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State. He can be reached via 08062220654 and 09125204141