Frankly speaking, I cannot help admiring this romantic picture of the former military Head of State, Gen. Dr. Yakubu Gowon and his pretty wife, Mrs. Victoria Gowon. 

Can you see how this distinguished General takes his time to adjust the necklace of his pulchritudinous wife in public view at an occasion?

Can you also observe the appreciative smiles radiating from the elated wife at this uncommon gesture?

And this is after 50 years of marriage! The couple's love and affection for each other continues to wax stronger and stronger, regardless of their octogenarian and septuagenarian status. 

This is a practical demonstration of the fact that youthful couples do not have a monopoly of romance and "enjoyment," as what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. 

Going down memory lane, I recall that on a particular occasion in the later days of the Great Zik of Africa (The Owelle of Onitsha), some inquisitive journalists had approached him, and craved to know about his love life. 

At first, the Owelle appeared reticent, but when the pressure from these irrepressible reporters became much, he said in his serio-comic characteristics and I quote, "Life begins at 80!" Can you beat that?

I guess this is exactly what this founder and co-ordinator of a non-denominational religious group "Nigeria Prays" (Gen. Dr. Yakubu Gowon), is trying to exemplify here. 

Your Excellency, I'm wishing you and Her Excellency, many more romantic and healthy Methusalean longevity in the years ahead. 

And please do sustain the tempo, as it serves as an inspiration to new couples,  most of who think that at the 20th anniversary of their marriage, it's all over with romance and such other things that elongate one's lifespan. 

Recently, a very close friend of mine in his early sixties confronted me with a question which I  considered rather unusual:

"Uba, at what age should a man abstain from sex?"  'Sex?,' I intoned, wondering what must have prompted this question from such a gentleman that could easily be mistaken for a celibate.  

Of profound amazement is the fact that this friend of mine who looks every inch a misogynist, is not oblivious of the fact that I'm not a medical doctor, or sexologist. 

l looked at this man intently for some moments, mentally searching for the right answer to his question, when luckily, a bright idea flashed into my mind. 

I then responded with an air of triumph, by telling him that when The Great Zik of Africa was alive, he was once asked the secret of his longevity to which he answered: "Moderation in one's lifestyle."

Hoping that I had hit the bull's eye with my "brilliant" response, my friend was least impressed, saying that I was being unnecessarily hypothetical and evasive to his question, demanding that I should be categorical in my answer.

Though I did not make this known to my friend, I was thinking that as one advances in age, both his libido and even appetite for food would equally begin to diminish.

Even those hobbies he had always found interesting when he was younger, would no longer mean anything to him. So, why should that of sex be an exception, I had soliloquized.

Since I seem to have failed this exam  set for me by my friend, I hereby solicit the assistance of the esteemed readers of this post for bailout!