Burdens are weightless, worlds change and love endures when the partners in a union are contributing their maximum. Both take their turns on the wheels, covering for one another’s lapses, supporting, caring, encouraging. Sometimes the partner is a shelter against the storm. Sometimes they are the storm blowing fresh impetus into a lethargic soul. Marriages last when both the man and the woman are active stakeholders.
Any sceptics to the above just need to have a long and earnest talk with Akinwunmi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank. Even though the charismatic former minister of agriculture under former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has quite a lot on his plate, nothing is more paramount in his mind than celebrating Grace, his one and only jewel of inestimable value. The two of them celebrated 35 years of marriage a few days back and the usually laidback dude couldn’t contain his excitement.
He was all over twitter singing his wife’s praises to the high heavens. He credited her for being the rock in whose crevices he sheltered during various turbulent times. It is increasingly rare to find marriages contracted so young last so long but Grace and Akinwumi continue to remind the rest of humanity that true love remains a sweet thing that can remain untainted and undiluted by the passage of time.
“Today is a special joyful day for me: 35 years ago I married my sweetheart, Grace Yemisi. I would not be who I am today without her. I will marry you again, honey, 35 times over. Happy 35th anniversary my sweetheart, rock and friend.
“My sweetheart, we were so young, found love, and never looked back since 1981. Today as we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, I just want to thank you for marrying me. Marrying you is the best decision of my life!” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Adesina is setting in motion machinery to prosecute a campaign that he hopes will return him to the AfDB for another term. He has already secured the support of many African representatives whose countries have been beneficiaries of the bank’s developmental disbursements since he assumed the mantle five years ago.
