It’s Not the Most Glamorous or Most Wretched Weddings that Last; Nigerian Actor Counsels
Nollywood actor Bob-Manuel Udokwu has postulated that the “till death do us apart” cliché is not determined by a couple’s choice of marriage ceremony.
He observes that the criterion that decides marriage in the current dispensation is sponsoring the rampant divorces that the world sees.
“I will tell them to look beyond the present. When I say the present, I mean superficial things like beauty, handsomeness, and material things. The world, these days, is very materialistic; young people nowadays in Nigeria are too materialistic. All their focus is on material things. It always does not work like that,” the actor who has stayed with his spouse since 2000 told Punch in an interview.
Compared to the olden days, he noted that marriages proved to be more successful while divorces were rare.
“Some of our parents started with nothing. Some of our fathers were not millionaires, they did not even have thousands of naira before marrying our mothers, yet they built sustainable marriages. You will find out that it is not the most glamorous wedding that lasts well, and it is also not the most wretched wedding that makes the best of marriage. It is the individuals that make marriages work.”
The 57-year-old in his counsel to the youth urged them to focus on the future rather than the present in making marital decisions to enable them to realise the full potential of marriage.
“Young people should think about the future. They should consider what would happen 10, or 20 years from now. Such decisions are deeply personal. Historically, women have had the foresight to recognize the potential in men even when they possess little material wealth. Some older women often recall that their husbands had ‘nothing’ when they married, though that ‘nothing’ symbolized a growth potential… People should carefully consider what they want from marriage”
Bob is married with two kids.
Source: opemuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
