WE DON’T ALLOW INTRUDERS IN OUR MARRIAGE -KAYODE AND SEUN OLAGUNJU

Kayode Olagunju is an Assistant Corps Marshal at the
Federal Road Safety Commission while his wife, Seun -an award-winning
broadcaster with African Independent Television and Nigerian Television
Authority – is Head Corporate Affairs, Transmission Commission Nigeria. They
share their love story with BAYO ADEOYE

How did you meet?

Kayode: I met
her in the course of duty several years back. I was then the Sector Commander
in Lagos. I attended a late night radio programme anchored by the late Livi
Ajuonuma and she was the Continuity Announcer at the Daar Communication’s
Raypower station, that day. She signed on the programme me, and disappeared. No
‘notice me’ stuff. Her beauty was compelling. At the end of the program, she
came back to sign it off.

I endorsed copies
of Highway Code for all the staff on duty and slipped my call card inside her
copy requesting that she should call me. She did not. I met her again, one
early morning while attending another programme and she was still very
stubborn.

Somehow, I
developed some new strategies that finally worked. Seun: It was a professional
meeting. I was the announcer on duty and he came for a late night programme
which the late Livi Ajuonuma anchored.

Was it love at first sight?

Kayode: She
actually thought I was married and to compound the issue, I was there with a
lady friend. It was also a loud arrangement with a convoy of cars and many
aides. We came in from the National Stadium where the Eagles had played a match
and I was a member of the Local Organising Committee.

She later
told me she thought I was just irresponsible, leaving a wife at home, coming in
with a girl and chasing another lady. When she finally agreed to meet me, I
knew I was with my wife and I told her so. Seun: No such thing. I told you it
was a professional meeting.

She played hard to get…

Kayode: Of
course from my explanation above, it could be seen that it wasn’t easy to
convince her that she was not meeting a Casanova. It took several months of
persistence and perseverance before I succeeded.

Seun: Well,
any respectable lady should not jump at a man at first interaction. I gave him
a tough time of course. And there was no GSM then, so communica- t i o n more
difficult. He was always sending his friend and PSO to me. I actually didn’t
want to have anything to do with him because I thought he was married. It was
after I found out he wasn’t that I gave him audience.

After you agreed to date him, did you nurse any fear?

Seun: Fear of
what? It was a well-considered move.

How did you propose to her?

Kayode: We
went to Whispering Palms in Iworo, Badagry and at the Lagoon side, I told her I
would want to marry her. I also told her that she had no option and that we
should agree on our wedding date right there. She thought I was crazy, but of
course, the whole world now knows I was not.

How did he propose to you?

Seun: No such
romance storybook proposal. He told me from the go that he was looking for a
wife, not a fling and that he wanted to marry me. Although I didn’t agree to
that immediately.

What was the duration of the courtship?

Kayode: Over
a year. Describe her in few but romantic words. Kayode: My sweet angel, my
life.

Is he romantic?

Seun: A bit.
He’s a very practical person. I used to jokingly call him a ‘bush man’.

Given your ‘fine boy’ look, how do you cope with female
admirers?

Kayode: By
appreciating the fact that not every lady that likes you wants to get intimate
with you and you don’t have to nurture the thought. I use my ‘church mind’ to
perish the urge of getting too involved with ladies. You have to respect
yourself, your position and your family.

Do you feel jealous when you see women around him?

Seun: Why
should I? I have absolutely no feeling of insecurity. It’s women who can’t hold
their own who put a leash on their men. I have no such time.

With your beauty and nature of your job, doesn’t he feel
threatened at times?

Seun: A real
man does not feel threatened. Although he might be in a better position to
answer that question.

How do you manage pressure and advances from men?

Seun: Nobody
has ever tried to force me to do what I don’t want. So if there’s no force, why
should I be under pressure? If a man wants me and I say no, and we both go our
separate ways, how does that create pressure for me? As adults, we should know
how to say no and mean it.

What if the handshake goes beyond the elbow?

Seun: I don’t
give room for that. How has the family fared, given your constant job transfer
across the country? Kayode: They have adapted and are coping well. They are in
Abuja where our national headquarters is situated. As a senior officer, I must
have things to do at the HQ regularly. We also go on vacation as a family to
bond together. I love my family greatly, so any little opportunity I have to be
with them, I don’t allow it to slip away. Seun: My job takes me away a lot too
but after all these years, we’re used to it. I married a paramilitary man so I
knew what I was in for.

How does the home front fare when daddy and mummy are not
around?

Seun: When
the children were younger, my mother helped as best she could. When I lost her,
things got a bit tough. But now they’re mostly in boarding house in secondary
schools (although that’s deliberate). So it’s much better now.

What role has she played in your life?

Kayode: She
is my life. The lady that dared to be my wife. Describe him in one sentence
Seun: He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

You have been married for over 13 years, what has kept your
marriage going?

Kayode: I
think it is the ability to understand each other very well. Never expect a
perfect partner and learn to forgive no matter how much you have been offended.
S e u n : Do not allow a third party into your marriage.

Culled from New
Telegraph