A Nigerian man,
Chidimma Amedu has taken a Facebook post to a whole new level when he posted an
unusual advert
on 30 December 2017 asking any woman interested in being his
wife to reply.
He also said he
was ready to tie the nuptial knots on 6 January 2018.
“Am of age and I
am ready to say I do and am wasting no time.
“Send in your
applications – the most qualified will be married on January 6, 2018.
Application closes 12 midnight, 31/12/2017,” t Amedu posted.
He then followed
up with subsequent posts.
“Am serious about
this oh and don’t say you did not see it on time. Good luck.”
He received a
couple of responses, but one from a certain Sophy Ijeoma was the one which
caught his attention.
“Am interested,
just DM me…lols,” her post read.
At first, she
thought it was a joke and she simply replied to keep the thread flowing.
A direct message
from him to her inbox, followed by a Facebook call, would change her life’s
trajectory.
Chidimma placed
the advert initially as a joke but became optimistic when Sophy said she was
interested
Two days after
their first conversation, he travelled some 500km (300 miles) from his home in
the Nigerian capital of Abuja, to Enugu in the east where she lived.
She had been
waiting for him outside a retail store and in true fairy-tale style, “it was
love at first sight”, she recalled.
“He is the most
handsome man I’ve ever met and I liked him instantly.”
After two hours
of “awkward” conversation, he asked her to go to meet his uncle, who
incidentally is also resident in Enugu.
Asked what was
going through her mind at the time, she said she thought it was all a bit of a
joke, but she was excited about it and thought Chidimma was quite an
interesting character.
“We got to the
uncle’s house and he said: ‘Uncle, meet the woman I want to marry.’”
Like Chidimma,
his family don’t seem to hang about when it comes to getting things done
because the uncle gave his approval.
The couple had
been friends on Facebook for over a year but had never spoken to each other
before the advert
Getting family
backing for your choice of spouse is an essential part of Igbo culture.
Whereas picking
your future wife from dozens of respondents to a Facebook marriage advert and
marrying her in six days is decidedly not.
At this point in
their day-old relationship, it was beginning to dawn on Sophy that this fellow
was not playing, but how do you commit to marrying someone you only just met?
She would not
comment on whether they had even shared as much as a kiss at that point but
maintained she was captivated by how focused and determined her new fiancé was.
“When I saw him
for the first time, I definitely found him attractive, but what I didn’t know
was how serious he was about marrying me.
“It was after we
met the uncle and his wife, that I realised that this could actually happen and
I wanted it.”
The engagement
It was now her
turn to worry about how she was going to get the approval of her family to
marry a guy she had just met on Facebook.
But they had
momentum going for them. Having met and fallen in love at first sight, or first
message, if you like, and getting Chidimma’s uncle’s approval, the couple
decided to complete the cycle by visiting Sophy’s family the same day.
Approval from the
family is essential in Igbo tradition.
Sophy recounted
how she relayed the information to her mother. Her dad had passed away, and her
mum said she did not have the final word in terms of giving approval for her to
be married, so it was up to Sophy’s elder brother to give his blessings.
It would appear
the odds were firmly in their favour as Sophy’s brother gave his blessings too.
So after a few
questions from her brother, it was official – Chidimma and Sophy were engaged
to be married in six days.
Last year
Chidimma was engaged to another woman and the wedding was scheduled for
December, but the relationship fell apart in March leaving him dejected.
As December
approached, the disappointment of not being able to fulfil his dream of getting
married made him put up the post, he said.
The wedding was a
blend of old and new“I had the desire to get married, I had a date in mind, but
no bride, so I decided to place an advert as a joke, but I was open and up for
it.”
Asked whether she
knew about his earlier engagement and her thoughts on how this seemingly rushed
marriage might be seen as a rebound, Sophy dismissed any suggestions that her
relationship was not well thought through.
“I don’t care
about that – when you see what you want, you go for it.”
They had been
friends on Facebook for more than a year, but had never met or spoken to each
other in the advert.
“Am interested,
just DM me…lols” was all it took for the union to be formed.
Sophy admitted
her friends were sceptical about the whole thing, while some are still in
disbelief, but as she said: “When you see the one, you will know he is the
one”.
Happily ever
after?
They got married
on 6 January in a traditional Igbo ceremony and posted photos of their wedding
day on Facebook of course – to the amusement of the social media community.
Chidimma put up a
post saying people may have thought he had been joking but he clearly wasn’t.
As can be
expected, there were mixed reactions, but mainly a lot of support for the
couple.
They hope to have
a church wedding in April and perhaps a honeymoon somewhere nice, he said.
Culled from *NAN,
BBC
READ MORE ON:
Subscribe
Socialize