Being a birthday celebrant today, May 12, is an opportunity to respond to Richard Oshiomhole, a friend and journalist, who unapologetically declared that he doesn’t mark, or even remember, his birthday sometimes.
But celebrating, or marking, a birthday is a given to some people, and they always acknowledge the arrival of yet another one. For some, birthdays are ritual that must be observed regardless of one’s circumstances.
Before his death, a few years ago, a certain Yoruba king always publicly marked his birthdays, with fanfare that clearly exceeded that of his coronation anniversaries, which he probably regarded as lower in priority.
Maybe, you’ve seen the video of a pastor’s wife chastising her congregation for failure to contribute to her birthday party. Read excerpts from her soundbite: “Even my birthday, some of you refused to contribute. May God punish you! Because you are wicked! Unless you don’t have.
“I stand here, I preach. Some of you come to my office, you disturb me (for) prayers, every time. Give money for us to celebrate Pastor Cecilia. It’s not like I’m going to eat the money. It’s for food you are coming to eat… Some of you came…you ate like a pig and carried takeaways.
“I will say it. If you are angry, change. Because if it was you and they come to me, I would give freely, because you are a member. And so, I will look after you. But when it comes to your pastor, you don’t wanna (sic) know. Because you are selfish. You are only thinking about yourselves…
“If you are sitting here and you cannot pay something towards your pastor’s celebration or your pastor’s whatever, why are you here? You are a devil! And that is why pastors are bitter. Minus me, because I am not relying on nobody’s money o. Because 90 per cent of (my birthday expenses) was paid by my husband. Can we clap for him?”
The intention here is not to castigate her for demanding that the congregation should have thrown a party for her birthday, but to point out the emotions people attach to celebrating birthdays.
Birthdays are such emotional matters that even the most ascetic, even spiritual, men of God, celebrate their birthdays, or their birthdays are celebrated on their behalf by their admirers or followers.
In one of the 354 (or 355) days in an Islamic year, Muslims mark eid El Maulud, or Maulud Nabiyu, the birthday of Prophet Muhammed (SWT). It is marked with such zeal and devotion that you’d think that the prophet was part of the celebration.
In Nigeria, Maulud is marked by public prayers at the Muslim praying ground, a public holiday declared by the Federal Government of the (secular) state of Nigeria and “Item 7,” Nigeria’s euphemism for jollity.
In Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, the Prophet’s birthday is celebrated nationally, with the Prime Minister, other dignitaries, senior Islamic clerics and many citizens in attendance.
The Putra Mosque in Putrajaya is the pre-eminent location for the celebration in Malaysia. The celebration starts on that day with pre-dawn prayers, accompanied by readings, recitals, songs of praise, a lecture and procession that ends with distribution of food.
In recent times, there have been arguments that Islam does not teach the celebration of birthdays. In fact, neither the Quran nor the hadiths of the Prophet acknowledge birthdays or its celebration, say the protagonists of this new school of thought.
You remember too well that Christmas, celebrated on the 25th day of every December, is regarded as the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even though some do not agree that Jesus could have been born in that time of the year.
Neither the Gospel of Luke, nor that of Mathew, that accounts for His birth, indicates a date. They are both silent. So, the estimated $1 trillion that Americans will likely spend on celebrating Christmas in 2021 is based on speculation.
Scholars doubt that the shepherds, who were celebrating at the birth of Jesus, would be grazing their livestock in the dead cold of December. They think that will be stretching the imagination too far.
Other scholars argue that the winter of Palestine, the birthplace of Christ, is milder than that of Europe. Yet, other scholars think the lambing of the Awassi ram and ewe, common to the region of the birth of Christ, occurs mostly in January.
You may have noticed that all the Christmas cards produced by Hallmark and the Christmas gifts produced by the sundry manufacturing houses are not given to Jesus; they are exchanged among the people.
The significance of birthdays can also be appreciated from the encounter of Herod, tetrach or sub-king of Galilee; his wife, Herodias; Salome, daughter of Herodias; and John the Baptist, who is regarded by the Bible as the forerunner of Jesus Christ, who came from heaven to earth.
John the Baptist had criticised Herod for divorcing his wife, Phasaelis, and unlawfully marrying Herodias, who was the wife of his brother, Herod Philip I. Herod was so thrilled at the way Salome thrilled him and his guests at his birthday that he invited her to ask him for anything, even up to half of his kingdom.
Salome asked her mother, Herodias, what to ask for. Herodias advised Salome to demand the head of John the Baptist on a platter. To keep the honour of his word, Herod beheaded John the Baptist who had been in the prison for some time.
Helping a potential benefactor, like the President, governors, chairmen of government corporations and super rich men, like Aliko Dangote, mark their birthdays, through lavish congratulatory messages in newspapers in Nigeria can yield immense pecuniary or other material benefits.
Many may not know that the Special Holy Ghost Service held by The Redeemed Christian Church of God mission in March of every year also marks the birthday of the General Overseer, Pastor E.A. Adeboye.
According to an account, Pastor Adeboye had wanted the blessings of God for members of his church as his birthday gift. And God asked him to gather them for a vigil for that purpose. God showed up with blessings of miracles, signs and wonders.
Birthdays are not just records of the day you were born, but also an announcement for celebration. The Psalmist asked God to teach believers to number their days and (maybe) celebrate their birthdays too.
Queen Elizabeth II, like many British sovereigns before her, marks her birthdays twice every year; the first, the actual birthday, which is April 21, during the spring when the weather is cold and usually very unpredictable. Spring runs from March 1 through May 31.
But the Queen’s birthdays are always held on the second Saturday of every June, because the warmer summer weather is favourable to the Trooping of Colours, the military parade held to mark her birthday.
Considering the sentiments attached to birthdays, Richard, a child activist, should rethink his attitude to birthdays. The young birthday enthusiasts, who live in the same house with him, may enlist their mum, and thereby cause his dinners to be served cold.
It’s a good feeling to share the same birthday with the founder of the nursing profession, Miss Florence Nightingale, who would have been 201 years’ old today.
