Clergyman Calls For Tolerance In Marriage As Two Covenant University Architects Engage In Wedlock

By Frank Oshanugor

A pastor with Warri based Christ Chosen Church of God International has advised married couples to always tolerate the shortcomings of one another as they co-habit as husband and wife particularly in present time where incidence of domestic violence is on the increase.

The man of God gave the advice at the weekend while officiating at the marriage solemnization of Sonia Okondu and Somtochukwu Obi, both of whom are graduates of architecture from the Covenant University, Ota in Ogun State.

In his sermon, the priest declared that “the success of a wedding ceremony does not usually guarantee the success of the marriage in years to come.

He has therefore enjoined couples to always work tirelessly to make their marriages successful.

He pointed out that for a marriage to be successful, the couples should among other things be tolerant, dedicated, committed, patient, cooperative, encouraging and sacrificial in their relationship. He defined all these as factors that would make marriage to work.

The Pastor advised men to always see themselves as the umbrella that protect their wives and should therefore avoid humiliating them in presence of other family members. He also urged spouses to always relate

well with their extended family members particularly their parents-inlaw as according to him, “couples are not in marriage to forget their parents.”

“Intrusion of third parties in marriages are also to be avoided by couples as that is the easiest way to create unhealthy relationship between spouses,” he further advised.

Two days before the solemnization in the church, the traditional marriage ceremony had taken place at the Warri palatial residence of the bride’s father and publisher of GLITTERATI International Magazine; Mr. Jerry Okondu who is also the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Warri based FreshBite; a popular eatery.

Families and friends of both the bride and groom attended the traditional and church ceremonies in great numbers. The groom’s father Engr. Theophilus Obi from Nkpor in Anambra State came with many of his kinsmen, friends and business associates to grace the occasion.

The post wedding reception which took place at the prestigious Nneoma Collosium located on Deco Road was well attended by very important guests from Covenant University, Delta State University, business, religious, social circles of the couples parents. The guests included Rowell Ubogu who is an Associate Professor at Delta State University, Bishop (Dr) Henry Ndozi Okia of Modern Prayer Ministry, Dr & Mrs Agarana and many others.

One of the interesting revelations at the marriage event was the fact that the bride personally designed and sew her wedding gown and other attires worn by her and bridal girls during the traditional and church ceremonies.

AtlanticNewsonline gathered that since her graduation as architect, Sonia has been engaged in high level fashion business which has earned her a winning position in a national fashion contest that took her for competition in far away United States of America few months after her graduation.

She has skillfully leveraged her architectural knowledge to make a statement in the fashion business with evidence of unique and appealing designs that favourably compare with what obtains in the Western world. She runs a fashion academy for up-comers in the industry.

As a daughter of popular entertainment personae in the city of Warri, Sonia’s traditional and church marriage ceremonies attracted large crowd from various walks of life including member Hussey College Old Students Association, Christ Chosen Church members, Essi College where Mrs. Roseline Okondu (Sonia’s mother), is a senior tutor, graduates of Covenant University, old secondary school mates, members of Ubulu-Uku and Nkpor communities and other groups. While Sonia is from Ubulu-Uku, Delta State, her husband Somtochukwu is from Nkpor in Anambra State.

Both families had provided enough of variety of foods for guests to eat and drink with some gift items as memorabilia. It would remain an occasion to remember for a long time to come.