Koforidua, Feb. 13, GNA - The authorities of the All Nations University College (ANU) at Koforidua has banned students from participating in Valentine Day celebrations on the campus "on scriptural and moral grounds."

The ban was announced by Rev. Dr John Futagbi, Head of Biblical Studies Department of the Collage on Friday at the close of a debate on the celebration of the Day, organized by the Department on Friday. The interdepartmental debate was between combined students of the Computer Studies and Electronic and Communication Engineering (CS/ECE) departments and their counterparts from the Biblical Studies and Business Administration (BA/BS) departments and was won by the latter. The debate on the topic: "Should Valentine Day be Celebrated or Not" was aimed at exposing the students to the noted immoral indulgences now associated with the celebration of the global love feast, traced to the third century Saint Valentine, which falls on February 14 each year.

The BS/BA team convinced the four judges that although the Valentine Day had some nobler objectives when it was first conceived, its recent manifestations, especially the debauched activities that have come to be associated with it, did not justify its continual observation.

They claimed that the celebration of the day in modern times promoted sexual promiscuity and that it could possibly encourage the further spread of sexually transmitted diseases and the judges concurred with this argument, giving them 649 marks out of a possible 800. The opposing EE/CS group managed 601 points, mainly based on their failure to persuade the judges about the continuous relevance of the Valentine's Day in a world encumbered by political bitterness and religious intolerance in the name of clash of civilizations.

The group also failed to convince the judges of the high economic benefits that are accrued to individuals and organizations through various promotional activities, influenced by the idea once championed by Saint Valentine, to promote contacts between distanced lovers.

Rev. Dr Fatugbi said the College would continue to promote the moral view of the Day's celebrations through interuniversity debates in the years ahead to instil morality in the future generations. Prizes of cash and certificates were later distributed to the debaters.

Some of the students the GNA spoke to generally support the ban, describing it as "most appropriate for us".