- Reveals How He Fell In Love & Married His Wife
Not many people know the wife of the National Co-ordinator of OPC, Otunba Gani Adams who has just been made the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. Although, Gani Adams is a popular figure, his wife has remained a quiet and easy going woman who is forever smiling. She is pretty and stylish in her own way.
A few weeks back, City People got Otunba Gani Adams to talk about his love story with his pretty wife who has remained one of the unseen pillars behind the Arigidi Akoko born a strong man. How did he spot this pretty babe then? How did he convince her parents to let him marry her? He told City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE their love story.
If you enter the house of the new Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Otunba Gani Adams you would be shocked at how neat and clean it is. Because of the fact that he controls millions of Yorubas who are members of both the OPC of which he is National Co-ordinator and OPC of which he is a founder, you would think that his house will be a marketplace, with a large number of people trooping in and out of his house. But no way. Otunba Gani Adams is very organized and meticulous. Forever in white, his house is sparkling clean.
And wait for this! He is liberal when it comes to Religion. He was born a Muslim and his mum was a Christian. His wife too is a Christian. Unknown to many, Otunba Gani Adams practices the 3 religious. He went on Holy pilgrimage to Mecca about 7 months ago. He associates with the Moslems, Christians and the traditional religion worshippers. It is no surprise that he has the photos of Jesus Christ hanging on his wall. How come? “I am very liberal when it comes to the issue of religion.
I was born into a Muslim family. I had my foundation as a Moslem. My mother had a strong Christian background. Even the traditional religion we just started having knowledge about in 1997 or 1998. You can imagine somebody who had grown, to almost 27 years before understanding other religion. I am not a traditional believer, but I believe in traditional believers.
So, I am liberal about the 3 religions. I am not a Priest of traditional belief. I go to church. I pray in the mosque and at the same time, I respect the traditional believers. In my room now, if I take you there you will still see a candle burning because we burn the candle every day. If I am in the house, before I come down everyday from my room upstairs, I must pray with the candle, if I am in Nigeria, in my house, not in the hotel. I pray in the Christian way, Moslem way and the way of traditional religion every day.
When you want to lead various people key into their religion. I just came from Mecca about 7 months ago. I went for lesser hajj. I am so versed in all these religions but I am liberal with all of them. How does his wife cope with him, with all these religions?
How does she cope with being the wife of the strong man called Gani Adams? “She is used to the system. This is a marriage of about 14 years ago. She is used to it, although she has a very strong background in Christianity. Her mother is a good Christian. Her father was a lawyer. We lost him last 2 years. Her mother has a church in Ijanikin and Idi-Iroko. Her mother is an academician.
She worked at the University of Ife, before setting up her church. When my wife came in, it took her about 2 years before she can blend in into the system. But she is not part of OPC. She is not a leader in OPC. Being my wife does not mean she is a leader in the OPC. She is just the wife of a leader in OPC. There is a distinction between the group and the family.
And she knows her own boundaries. The organisation gives her, her own respect. There is a mutual respect for the group and the family. It is easy for her to cope because I am not a priest to any religion. “How did he choose her as his wife? “Well, we met when I was in Ilorin. One Sunday, I was just moving around Gere Alimi area, I saw her, she was coming from church”. Is she from Ilorin? “No. She is from Ondo township. She was studying in Kwara State Polytechnic by then.
I saw her I stopped to chat with her. It took me about 25 minutes to convince her, to offer her a lift. She was a student. My target was to get her address. So, I took her back to school and dropped her at her hostel. And I left. On the 2nd day, I came to visit her. It took me more than 3 months to convince her to listen to me. I was going and coming back to Ilorin. After about 6 months, she took me to her mother. When her mother saw me she was scared. She called her stepfather. She said in Yoruba.
“Bishop Egba mi, Ologun ma ni Moji mu wa sile yi ooo. But the way I see him he does not look like someone who is as bad as they portray him to be. I have been watching him. Please help me, how do we want to resolve this issue now?” The step father now replied her. He usually calls Moji’s mum woli. He now said WOLI relax, do you remember 4 or 5 years ago, there was a spiritual message that our daughter will marry somebody who is like a military man? Although we had the expectation or the mindset that the man would come from the Navy, Army or Airforce or Police, but this man is a warrior too at his own level.
Let us give them a chance. Let’s give them sometime. Lets watch them.” About 4 months later, the mother now finally agreed. But she said I am not the only one that has the final say. We have to go to Moji’s biological father. He is a Lawyer. We spoke to him. He said, No problem. Gani is an activist. I am a lawyer. We are the ones that normally defend them. I have been hearing about him. I have been monitoring his actions. He is defending us as Yorubas. He has my blessings. After a year, we had the marriage, it was a popular wedding at LTV 8 premises. It was one of the most popular weddings. That was in 2003. We thank God we are blessed with 3 children. We adopted one as our child.
