When Sade got married to
Billionaire Rasak Okoya, the Chairman of Eleganza years back, she was in her
20s and the union sparked a controversy.
Well, their marriage has
lasted for over 20 years now and they have got four lovely kids!
Speaking at her hubby’s
80th birthday at Oluwanishola Estate on the 11th of January, 2019, Sade in her
special tribute took out time to speak on what she has done to make her
marriage work.
“My Chairman, there is
nothing I write today that would be news to you, because you know everything
about me. You are my Chairman, my darling husband, and my everything. I love
you, just as you love me and I adore, respect and cherish you with all my heart
and will forever do so. Both of us desired to make our marriage work,
irrespective of the wide age difference, and I am thankful to God that we are
all alive to witness the beautiful occasion of your 80th birthday and over 20
years of our marriage.
I knew when I got married
to you, that it was I who had to adjust myself to fit into your life. You were
in your 50s and fully formed, while I was still in my 20s. I never, therefore,
made any attempt to change the way you did your things because I believe you
were already used to your ways over the years and that trying to change you
would be very unnecessary.
For me, marriage is about
sacrifices; and since I did not want it to fail, I decided early in the day to
sacrifice whatever was necessary. I studied your lifestyle and adjusted
quickly; even though it was not easy, looking back now, I can say that it
wasn’t really difficult. You made it much easier with your support, love and
appreciation. I am now more mature, smarter and have a better understanding of
everything and now see things from a different perspective. I now clearly
understand why you wanted things done your way and I am very glad I complied
without much ado.
You are a man of great
stature and wisdom, and all you ever wanted was for me to hold the house and
family together; but as a young girl in her twenties, this task did not look
easy or interesting at the time. I thank God for the wisdom and understanding
he gave me to be an obedient wife and I can say today that everything you
wanted was important and in order.
We now understand ourselves
better, and all I can say to you as you celebrate is that I love you very
dearly and I am grateful to God for blessing me with you – a wonderful husband
and great friend.
You have supported me all
the way; and with you by my side and God being so faithful, I have been able to
play the role you wanted me to play, able to plan well in the Okoya Family and
to fit in properly.
I have learnt great lessons
and wisdom from you that I can even offer some of the words of marriage
counseling to other couples, especially women. We all need, wisdom from God to
understand that our husbands need to be respected and appreciated and be able
to trust us. They want us to be loyal to them and I thank God for helping me to
provide these for you because they matter so much to you.
There is nothing that you
have asked for that was too much; although it was difficult at the beginning, I
have overcome with patience. I have learnt not to argue with you. This, in any
case, was never a challenge to me as I am naturally a peaceful person; which is
why I could accept that I am wrong, even when I know that I am right, for the
sake of peace. I believe that the argument will not get anyone anywhere.
I didn’t think you took
note of these, but you did and have come to respect me so much because of these
sacrifices.
As a matter of fact, I knew
I had to shower you all the respect, especially because of the age difference,
but you have reciprocated in so many wonderful ways that nobody can imagine,
and I am indeed grateful. I thank you for appreciating me so much and for your
love. Once I made my choice of you, I knew there was no going back,
irrespective of whatever people thought then of my early marriage and the age
gap between us. I had resolved to stay married and, thankfully, God has blessed
me immensely, through your reciprocated love, care and attention.
Failure wasn’t an option
for me as I can never trade my loving family and the peace of mind it provides
for anything. You have been a wonderful husband and I am very happy with you.
You have respected and loved me; and my prayer is that our love shall continue
to wax even stronger, that we shall continue to respect each other, and that we
will never take each other for granted. You have not, in any way, taken me for
granted. I am sure we both enjoy each other’s company. Moreover, I personally
feel happy and blessed in our marriage. Together, we have four lovely children,
for whom you have been a great dad.
You have also given me the
opportunity to soar professionally. You have trusted me to run your factories,
which, I clearly understand, are very dear to you. For me, this is a great
measure of trust and I shall, insha Allah, uphold this trust.
With your support, I am
already able to achieve a lot, in terms of restructuring, rebranding, growing
the company, and saving costs. We are working to attain your vision of ensuring
that Eleganza Industrial City becomes the number one producers of household
items in the entire Africa. I am proud to say that, as the Managing Director of
Eleganza Industrial City, and with you by my side, Eleganza is much bigger,
stronger and with high-quality products. I thank you for your mentorship,
vision and support. I thank God for your health and ability to have clear and
untainted vision at 80. I like to note that the New Eleganza Industrial City is
a massive project located on 35 hectares of land. It is called an INDUSTRIAL
CITY for the production of all kinds of household items and more.
My Chairman, you are so
passionate about this project and I pray that Allah will continue to be kind
and good to you and grant you the strength and health for achieving your dreams
and goals in the new Eleganza Extension Site. I resume daily at the factory
from Monday to Saturday. All I know is what you have taught me over the years.
You remain the centre of my universe and my whole world revolves around you. I
have even started to like factory life, just like you. I do not feel complete
except I do my bit at the factory. I have gained a lot of experience from you,
in both the manufacturing and real estate sectors.
People have asked me how I
manage to cope running the company and combining it with family, and even
social demands. You have honestly been a very supportive husband and I thank
you today. You have helped me to rediscover myself. I am, no doubt, naturally a
very structured and organised person. I outline my plans in such a way that all
my roles are played without any one of them being compromised. Today, as you
celebrate the milestone age of 80, you remain my everything, and I offer my
continued unconditional love.
I will continue to love and
to respect you and I pray that we both live many more years together. Happy
Birthday to you, my Chairman! Our products, by the way, include the
following:·Furniture (plastic chairs, tables, iron beds, iron clothes’ stands
and hangers, etc.); •Cooling boxes and
food warmers; •Luggage of different sizes and designs; •Baby diapers and lady
sanitaryware; •Soap, beauty products, etc.; •Hair vinyl thread; •Pet cap and
perfume bottles; •Ladies’ shoes and men’s slippers; •Disposable and reusable
plates and cups. Our recent new products include: •Casserole -different sizes;
•Hair attachment and weave-on; •Aluminum and roofing sheets; •Shaving sticks;
•Eleganza biros/cosmetics are coming back soon.
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