Abike Dabiri’s Mum, Alhaja Abeke Erogbogbo Shares Really Beautiful Insights On Her Life & Marriage +Advice For Young Couples
Recently turned 90-year-old Alhaja Abeke Erogbogbo who is the mother of the Chairman, Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, shares with Alexander Okeke of Punch newspapers about her life experiences as the mother of many successful children, what marriage was like for plus she spared some marital advice for young couples.
The matriarch who revealed that she is a mum-of-seven also shared that she is a fulfilled grand-mum to 23 children and great grand-mum to 11 children. She shares on how she met her late husband, how she raised her children, and the joy she feels that they turned out well.
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Erogbogbo said her husband often praised her body frame calling it ‘figure eight’ and that her body figure was one out of the many things that attracted her husband. She also shared on what principle she holds dear in her interactions in life.
Read excerpts from the beautiful interview:
How did you meet your husband?
I met him during the time I was teaching at Ansar-ud-Deen School in Ebute-Meta, Lagos. I recall that during that period, the school organised a funfair and I was actively involved in it. The period also coincided with Sallah. I probably wore a dress that caught his attention. He followed me to a bus stop when I left the school to return home. He insisted that he would follow me home and I did not object. After he knew my home, he told me he liked me and gradually, I got to know him better. He would always come by bicycle when he visited me; he had a Raleigh bicycle.
How did he propose to you?
He told me he liked me and I liked him too because he was young then and he had no wife. Before he came to me, I had vowed that I would never get married to someone who was already married. So, when I found out that he did not have a wife as a Muslim, that made me like him more. We eventually got married in 1952. However, much later, he married another woman. My last child was about 18 years old then; it is not something I would want to talk about.
How many children do you have and what do they do?
God blessed my marriage with seven children and they are all alive and doing well. My first daughter is Alhaja Kofo Kazeem, an accountant, while my first son is Alhaji Abayomi Erogbogbo an information technology systems consultant. Others are Taofiq Rotimi, Joke Gbeleyi, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Moji Williams, and Shola Erogbogbo. In all, I have four female children, three male children, 23 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Truly, it was Allah’s doing, not mine.
How difficult was it raising them?
Again, I give all thanks to God Almighty because he was the one that saw me through that. All the things they learnt from me came through God’s guidance; I cannot attribute it to myself or their father. God was kind to us in that regard.
You seem to have very successful children…
Naturally, a mother whose children are successful in life should be very happy and I must say I give God all the glory. May God continue to look after them.
If you had the opportunity to live your life all over again, would you still marry your husband?
I would marry him because he took care of me. But like every couple, we have our differences. We have seven children, that means we have a peaceful marriage. He is a good husband. And he has a sense of humour. He always jokes about my ‘figure eight’. He says I still have a good figure, which was one of the things that attracted him to me. He is 94 years old now and still doing fine.
What advice do you have for young couples?
They should be contented with their marriage. Once you are married, you should stick to each other. They should remain where God has put them and not think much about wealth. It is better for women to remain with their children in one home than to move from one home to another.
What’s your guiding philosophy?
In my life, I will not do evil to anyone. Be kind and helpful to people and be your brother and sister’s keeper.