A NIGERIAN man, who married his Zimbabwean sweetheart, promised his in-laws that he will fly lobola cattle from his home country.
Adewale Yusuf Olayiwola married his fiancée Nunurai Colleta Mudarikwa, daughter to legislator Simbaneuta Mudarikwa and his wife Verna Muromba Mudarikwa in Mutoko.
Adewale, who is in Real Estate and Logistics entrepreneurship in both Nigeria and South Africa, was represented by his father’s brother, Ishmael Olayiwola, two men and a woman all from Nigeria.
“I am excited, because today is my birthday and I am getting married to Adewale.
“We met about five years ago through mutual friends at a friend’s house. In fact, we started off as friends and we eventually started dating,” she said.
“I do not tolerate cheating and it helped me in my relationship. I do not have the emotional capacity, so I cannot stay with a cheating man, even if I get that my husband is cheating on me, I won’t stand it.”
However, cultural differences made the marriage a bit of a challenge:
“The only challenge that I faced is that my husband is Nigerian, so cultural differences were kind of a challenge for both families at some point. However, we managed to have a mix of both and we ended up with our own culture,” she added with a smile. She also hinted on a wedding.
“Our wedding bells might be sometime later next year due to Covid-19 restrictions. We are going to have a very big wedding because we both come from very big families.
“He is from a family of four, but in terms of his extended family, they are very closely netted into a very big family,” she said.
“On food, I like Nigerian food because I adopted it during dating, I am able to cook many of the dishes and I no longer eat food without chilli due to its deliciousness,” confessed Nunu.
Adewale, through his uncle Ishmael acknowledged the Mudarikwas’ hospitality.
“We are happy after getting married to a Zimbabwean, so far so good, we are very happy, they took care of us, we acknowledge the Mutoko hospitality.
“Everything went well even though they charged us a lot of money but I know, diamonds are found under the sand, anything that is nice, you work hard for it, so everything went well.
“They have been together for some time now and you can see they complement each other very well; we are really happy.
“Zimbabwean men who want Nigerian girls, you can also come. Nigerian girls are pretty and cultured,” said Adewale. Nunu’s mother, Mrs Mudarikwa was ecstatic.
“It is exciting to witness my daughter getting married to a Nigerian, but what excited me most was their humility.
“Nigerians are very good people, I witnessed it today, imagine they were sitting on the floor for almost the whole day, respecting even a child on the father’s side.
“About my Nunu, wherever she is going to be, I know my daughter is going to be a good wife anda mother.
“They paid around US$10K but as for the herd of cattle they promised to deliver from Nigeria very soon.
“Nunu graduated with a masters in ICT. She married at 27, do your schooling first then steadily decide on your life time friend to marry, God first,” said Mrs Mudarikwa.
Hon Mudarikwa was equally pleased. “Firstly, to me this marriage was a Zimbabwe-Nigeria cultural-exchange celebration.
“Secondly, as Africans, let us always unite our families during celebratory times, not to wait for them to flock in after a death.
“It takes the whole village to bring up a child, that is why all my relatives, old and young came for this dream come true in our clan.
“It was not about money but about my daughter finding a life time partner from God.
“They said they want to fly my herd of cattle from Nigeria, I said ok vanangu (my children), but if the government animal movement logistics and protocols get tough, we will just let them buy from Zimbabwe like we had proposed, because vana vedu, these are our children. We must help them for life,” said Hon Mudarikwa.
hmetro