The colour red stood out loudly
in all the attires worn by the
young and old as they made
their way to the Canaan hall of St.
Cyprian’s Catholic Church, Oko-Oba,
Agege, Lagos State on St. Valentine’s
Day, Friday, February 14, 2020 soon
after the evening mass to continue
with what the organizers of the events,
Catholic Youth Organisation of Nige-
ria-CYON, tagged ‘A night of selfless
giving’ to commemorate the feast of
St. Valentine, a Catholic priest who
was executed by the Roman Emper-
or, Claudius 11 on February 14, about
270 AD for defying his order ban-
ning all marriages and engagements
for young men to enable him raise a
strong army; Valentine realizing that
they were unwilling to join the army
because of their strong attachments to
their wives and families, continued to
wed them in secret and paid with his
life.
Just as the popular refrain has it ‘St.
Cyprian’s got the talent’ underscores
the raw abilities and skills often exhib-
ited by the children and young adults
whenever the occasion calls for them
to publicly display their hidden talents
waiting to be fully harnessed, they are
always on top of their game, so it was
on this day as the youths under the
aegis of CYON creatively put together
a film show, incentives and other en-
tertainment activities to prove that the
act of giving and genuine love builds a
stable and healthy society.
The Parish CYON president,
John-Bosco Adewale and his vice,
Ify Nwadei revealed that they act of
genuine love motivated them to put
together the event and that 15 of the
youths would smile home at the end of
the day as they would be given finan-
cial support to enable them sit for this
year’s joint tertiary matriculation ex-
amination, a development welcomed
by the Parish priest and Dean of Agege
Deanery, Very Rev. Fr. Augustine
Nnaemeka and the parishioners, some
of whom were at the event as a show
of solidarity.
On the film shown entitled ‘Mowgli,’
the head of IT (Information Technol-
ogy) department of the parish CYON,
Osamudiamen Christopher Okhueg-
be explained that the idea behind the
film is to exhibit the act of selflessness
and being there for others through
acts of genuine love, that should be
it about St. Valentine’s Day, he noted.
The highpoint of the event was the
exchange of gifts among the youths
and refreshment. The Assistant Parish
priest, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Anyanwu
among other dignitaries attended the
occasion.
