By Biodun Busari

Mother’s Day or Mothering Day is the day earmarked around the globe for people to celebrate and honour their mothers and mother figures.

Mother’s Day is not a public holiday but an observance day. It is held on the fourth Sunday of Lent, primarily three weeks before Easter Sunday and usually falls in the second half of March or early April.

Britain celebrates Mother’s Day with the rest of the world around Easter. Since Nigeria was colonised by Britain, thereby, adopting the British official language, and some of its cultural values, educational style and religious principles, it joins the United Kingdom in celebrating Mother’s Day.

This year Mother’s Day for the UK and Nigeria was celebrated on Sunday, March 19, 2023.

Children gave flowers, cards, and other valuable gift items to celebrate their mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, mothers-in-law and other mother figures at this time in honouring their heroine contributions to their lives.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Mother’s Day was celebrated on the second Sunday in May, hence, May 14, 2023, becomes this year’s commemoration.

Mother’s Day in the US does not follow the religious ritual or lunar calendar like in the UK but is established in history.

It was demonstrated by Anna Jarvis, an activist who celebrated the first official Mother’s Day through a service of worship at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908.

While it is not a bad idea to celebrate mothers in a society where the values and impacts of female figures cannot be underestimated, Nigerians should know that their alignment with the UK has subjected them to celebrate Mother’s Day alongside Brits.