The Global Achievers Issue 12/2021 | Page 72

learn as much as needed. This family had just moved into the neighbourhood because they built their home there. I was constantly in touch with them, observing how they lived their lives.

 

One day I asked an interesting question to the husband, “Can you tell me how you guys met?” the man smiled and said I should ask the wife. Typical of some ladies, she shied away so the man had no other option but to tell me himself.

 

“Many years ago I was a secondary school student in the village when someone whispered into my ear that one of the city girls on holiday in the village has expressed interest in being my friend. With this information, I looked out for her and we became friends. She was a secondary school student in one of the schools in the capital city but I schooled in the village. After some years she attended the state university to study Law while I had my admission to study Law at a federal university in another city but we kept in touch all those years. We got married soon after graduating from Law School. I quickly went into private practice while she started working at the state Ministry of Justice. We began humbly and now see how God has blessed and led us.”

The story to me was very interesting: that two young people from secondary school could be in love and that didn’t deter them from making significant career progress. It was kind of different from most marriage stories I had previously heard. For those who know about how we marry in Nigeria, when a man has started earning some income, suggestions will start coming from ‘well-meaning’ friends and family that it is time for him to ‘settle down’. At this point, the man will begin to look for prospective and suitable ladies either in his