Tunde and Wunmi Obe are one of the most celebrated and scandal-free celebrity couples in Nigeria today.
In a recent interview with Yes Magazine, Tunde Obe talked about his wife and the mother
of his three children (Roxanne, Ricardo and Andrea), the one he doesn’t
like, what most people don’t know about their undying love for each
other, why they are succeeding as musicians and lots more.
He gave beautiful answers to all the questions but when asked to talk about the nicest thing Wunmi has ever done, his answer was kinda hilarious but beautiful.
See excerpts below:
What must any artiste who wants to be scandal-free do?
Don’t do anything you don’t want them to write about, don’t do
anything you would be ashamed to hear or to read on the pages of
newspapers, always act with dignity and have a lot of integrity when you
have business dealings with clients. It’s as simple as that.
How does it feel to be doing the same thing with your wife?
I guess maybe because we met doing this. It’s not strange. It wasn’t
like we got together, then we started music. We were musicians. She was
on her own, we were in school, she was doing her thing with her own
band; I was doing my own thing with my own band – Turning Point. And
when her own brand broke up, she joined my band. So, we met as
musicians and we were both singers, then we became friends, then we
found out that we had so much in common and here we are 25 years later.
Are there times you feel like being on your own and without Wunmi?
Because you people are always together, both at home and at events…
I have actually told her before that her juju is very powerful
(General laughter). I have told her many times – the day I discover your
juju man, I will strangle him so I can be free of this. But sincerely
speaking, I never get bored with my wife. I don’t know why, I can’t
explain it, but I really always look forward to seeing her; I always
wanna be with her and it’s vice versa. Even when I travel, if I have to
travel for any reason, we are on the phone for like 2,3 hours at a time.
It’s ridiculous that after 25 years it’s still like this. I don’t know
whether other people’s marriages are like that. But for me, it’s
shocking that we enjoy each other’s company so much, up till now. I
mean, I am telling you that I am shocked; I’m amazed about it. Maybe as
we get older we will be bored with each other, but for now, I enjoy
being with her. Unfortunately, we are not together as much as people
think. We are only together when we work and all that. Most of the time,
she goes to do one run, I go to do another thing. Right now, she’s not
even back home. I’m missing her and hoping she will come back soon
(Laughs).
What do you love most about Wunmi?
I think the fact that she has a good heart. You see, in these end
times, you find that a lot of people are just wicked in their hearts.
People come into relationships with already pre-set goals and targets;
what they want to achieve in that relationship and it’s all about them.
And you can never make a relationship work when it’s all about you; both
partners in that team have to open their hearts. You have to open your
heart to the other person, take all the nonsense and then you have to be
ready to forgive; you have to respect the other person. You can’t be
married to somebody you don’t respect. So, for me, what I love most is
her heart. She has a good heart and no matter how she comes across
sometimes. I know that inside, she’s only protecting that soft heart she
has. She’s very loving.
What don’t you like about her?
I’ve always told her and she gets upset. I wish she would shop less.
Because she buys a lot of things that she doesn’t need. She buys things
that sometimes for one year she will not go near them. So, I wish she
would do that less. Especially now; with the economy being what it is.
Anytime there is a disagreement, how do you resolve it?
Okay, I’m the kind of person that if you offend me, the first thing I
do is to keep quiet. Because I’ve realized that most marriages are
broken within that first second when you react; what you say first is
always the nastiest thing that can come out of a human being’s mouth –
to your partner! The things that when they repeat them to you later, you
will deny you said them. You will say no, no, no, I couldn’t have said
that. So, when I realized that it happens for everybody; if somebody
annoys you, the first thing you want to say is you are mad, you are
stupid, something nasty must come out. So, what I do is I keep quiet
first. I keep quiet until I’ve calmed down. Then, when you have calmed
down, you can now articulate your points and discuss it like a business
proposal or tell yourself that a client has offended you or a business
partner has done something. Take it away from the marriage so that it
will be easier for you to put your words together. That’s what I do.
Otherwise you will find yourself saying things to somebody and they will
never really totally forgive you, because you’ve said something you
don’t really mean and they might not believe you don’t mean it. They
will say oh, that thing that came from your heart, all these ones is
because you have calmed down. So, cool down first before you talk. And
if you have a reasonable partner also, that person too will understand.
And once it starts getting heated, walk away.
What’s the nicest thing that Wunmi has done for you?
Ah! Yee! (Thinks) It has to be regarding the kids. Carrying the
children, three of them for nine months. If you see them when they are
in their third trimester or what do they call that thing of pregnancy,
you will pity them o! They will look like ballon. I mean, I think that
for me is the nicest thing. They are our kids anyway, but it’s a lot of
sacrifice for a woman to lose her body like that for nine months.
What hasn’t Wunmi done for you?
I can’t think of any. Because most of the things that I really think
are important to me, if I discuss them with her, she normally complies.
She’s a very reasonable person, so if there’s really something that
really matters that much to me; that I need from her, she will do it.
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