HER name Wura means gold. And lucky me, I have literally struck gold, pure gold with beautiful Miss Wura Awotayo who today will become Mrs. Wura Awoyinfa at the International Conference Center, Ibadan where we would gather to celebrate our wedding. How do I feel? Nervous, I guess. But I think, it’s to be expected for every expectant bachelor waiting to become a full-fledged husband.
How did I meet Wura? It all started ten years ago with my sister Victory Dimgba Igwe, who was then a student of Bowen University. I asked her through our Blackberry chat: “Don’t you have a ‘fine girl’ in your school that I can befriend and see how it goes?” Those were my exact words. She then said she had a pretty friend, a floor mate at the university.
She now sent her picture and I was blown away. I said: “Wow, this is a very beautiful girl!” Instantly, I saw in her the picture of the woman of my dreams, the picture of my future wife, a very beautiful girl indeed. I asked Victory her name and she said her name is Wuraola. In Yoruba, the name means Gold and Honour. I saw the golden girl clothing me with honour and glory. Gold! It was like I struck gold. Her name, her beauty, her aura. Everything just aligned. Never have I been struck by the beauty of a woman. I was love struck. It was love at first sight. I just knew this was my wife. There was joy in my heart. I hadn’t met her and I hadn’t spoken to her but there was joy in my heart already. A feeling so sublime.
I got her Blackberry pin number. I added her and she accepted. In those days, Blackberry was the in-thing. We started chatting on BB and from there one thing led to another. We chatted every day. We didn’t even call. It was just chatting. I wooed her with my sense of humour. Day after day we got closer through Blackberry. Victory had earlier forewarned me: “This girl I am giving you, are you sure you will be able to cope? Are you sure you can handle her? She is a strong girl. She takes no nonsense. She is an Iron Lady.”
We were chatting and we were flowing. Mother Luck was on my side. I needed a friend and she needed a friend. It was simply the Hand of God. From chatting, we started calling each other. She invited me to her school, but I was a bit lackadaisical. She wanted to see me face to face. As a Yoruba proverb says: “Oju loro wa.”
Meaning, face to face is the real McCoy. But I blew it. And we lost contact. She was in her 300 Level then, studying Biochemistry. A year later, after her studies, she came to Lagos and I got to know. I went to meet her. She berated me for not coming to see her at school. I apologized and from there we started our love journey. That was eight years ago. And today, we are here. It has been a journey of patience, endurance, love, fights, settlements and more love. We got to know the good, the bad and the ugly about ourselves. And we have been able to adjust, we have been able to sacrifice, commit, learn and unlearn again. We have cried, we have loved, and lot of water has flown beneath the bridge. Today, we thank God. Finally, we are marrying.
There is no perfect man nor is there a perfect woman. If she likes you, she likes you. She can be a servant for you. She can do anything for you. She is well brought up, well trained. She gives a lot. She sacrifices a lot. For eight years, we had been like husband and wife without living under the same roof. She is a woman of virtue and a woman of principles. I can vouch for that. The God factor really drew me to her. She is a prayerful woman.
She drew me closer to Christ. From her, I learnt how to fast, how to pray—starting from thanking God, asking for forgiveness of sins, intercession, then telling God anything you want, then crowning it with thanking God again. That was the prayer pattern I kept going through which has helped us and moulded our path. We wake up 5.30 every morning to pray. Even when she was at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, we were still waking ourselves up to pray, listening to Papa, Bishop David Oyedepo.
I went to Covenant University but I never had that impact. She drew me back to Bishop Oyedepo. I started waxing stronger in faith. She brought that fire to our relationship. The God factor has been awesome. She will wake me in the middle of the night and be praying for me. My mum drew me to Christ but this was a different dimension. She made me see Christ in another dimension.
She is just a replica of my mum. When I do wrong, she comes at me hard and I come back to my senses. Just like my mum would do. Iron Lady. Margaret Thatcher kind of woman. I am a very soft person. Just like my dad. If you don’t tell me what to do, I might just be carried away and be relaxed. I need someone to put me on my toes. She is that kind of person. She is loving but she doesn’t take nonsense. Her good sides have taken over the bad side like an eclipse. Nobody is perfect but this is my perfect woman.
She did her Master’s degree in Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing from Strathclyde University, Scotland. She was away for over a year. Absence makes the heart fonder. Distance couldn’t separate us. We were able to pull through. She finished her studies and came back to Nigeria. And here we are. In spite of the course she read, her passion has always been fashion. She is growing her fashion empire. She is a Jack of all trades.
She is into food, accessories, fabric, fashion. She is just a boss lady. She coming back, I saw that factor of entrepreneurship in her. She also inspired me to think entrepreneurially. At that tender age, she has a staff and pays them salary. Despite studying a very good course for her Master’s, she came back to pursue her passion which is fashion. Her fashion design company is Safewudo Adol. On Instagram she is @safewudoadol. She is presently based in Ibadan but she is coming to conquer Lagos. Trust me, she will take over. I believe in her. She has big dreams. She is already strategizing to take over. She is also into food. Her handle for food is: @thebestfood.com.
My role is to advise, support and encourage her. She is an Iron Lady but she needs a soft voice like mine to calm her down when she is in the mood to be hyper. Sometimes she can be and my role is to say: “Baby, calm down, calm down.” Like the kid in that trending video.
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