Legendary Nigerian actress Jaiye Kuti has reached out to young women as she celebrates 21st wedding anniversary with her husband, Mr. Olanrewaju Charles Kuti.
The Nollywood thespian advised young women to be submissive and respect their husbands to have a successful marriage.
She also added that marriage is more than marrying the man himself, they have to get married to everyone around him; his mother, father, siblings, friends, and workers.
Jaiye Kuti also reflected on how his marital journey with Olanrewaju Kuti started and how he insisted she gets a university degree. In her words, “When I was going to marry my husband, I was already a graduate from the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro in Ogun State, but my husband insisted I go to the University.”
“So I enrolled into the University of Lagos. My husband is always insisting on anything good anyway (smiles). Because of this and so many other good things he was doing for me, I said yes and agreed to marry him.”
“Then we got married, and I thought it was going to be a bed of Roses but I did not find any roses, not even a single rose, but after many years the roses that are in the house started coming out because of our steadfastness. Ours is a bed of understanding.”
She continued; “If you are a young woman out there getting married, you have to respect your husband, you have to be submissive, you see, marriage is not just about marring that man but you are marrying anyone that are with him: his mum, his dad, his friends, his family, and even his workers. You have to know how to manage everybody. Everything might be working against you in the marriage but because of the great understanding you will scale through.”
Jaiye Kuti counselled young couples about behaviours to expect from their partners. She opined that there are a lot of things to be overlooked in marriage. In her words; “My advice for the young couple is that they should not expect their spouses to be always perfect, like when they are in courtship or dating. Some women change after they get married, and the husband begins to wonder how he got to that point in the first place, same goes for the woman too.”
“The day you say yes to a man, you didn’t say yes so that he can be beating you or he can be denying you of so many good things of life but it might happen, you know… it happens. You have to overlook a lot of things in marriage for you to have peace and you have to create peace in your home and put roses in your house as a woman.”
“Today I am thanking God for my husband, you know, last year he was terribly sick for a whole year and I was running from one hospital to another but today I thank God and that is the part of the understanding and with a lot of prayers God will be on our side.“
“So my advice to people is that they should not see any marriage as a bed of roses but it is you in that marriage that will create the roses and put it in the marriage.”
A while ago the thespian was said to be married to popular fuji musician, Pasuma, but later debunked the rumours while declaring that she was shocked by the tales.
To clear the air, Jaiye Kuti, explained that the rumours emanated from a movie she shot with the respected fuji icon and they got wedded in the film. She added that the pictures from the flick flooded the internet, making people spew false news.
Jaiye Kuti reacts to rumored marriage to Pasuma:
Actress, Jaiye Kuti, has said that she was shocked when she heard the viral rumour that she was married to a popular fuji artiste, Wasiu Alabi, aka Pasuma.
Kuti made this known as a guest at Inspire Nigeria Summit, a virtual summit held to motivate young Nigerians.
Asked how she reacts to rumours being peddled about her, the actress said, “There was a time I shot a movie with Pasuma. We had a wedding (in the movie) and the pictures were out there. The next thing I saw in the press was that ‘Jaiye Kuti marries Pasuma’. People did not even go to the body of the story to read what was actually there. They just saw the headline and concluded that I had really married Pasuma. When one wants to be great in life, people would say bad things about one. People could say things that could kill one instantly. The beauty of it is that one has one’s legs and one can keep going.
“People that are spreading rumours about one won’t grow. I have heard shocking stories about me. Some people said I gave birth to Mayowa and Temitope Kuti and their father was Pasuma. I don’t have the time to start explaining to everybody that we were only making a movie. I don’t explain things to people. When they greet me, they tell me to extend greetings to Pasuma, and I tell them that I will. When last did I see Pasuma? He was paid to work and he left. Rumours are part of what we live on. It is part of what makes us what we are. One has to be strong to take it. It is like an arrow shot at one. One should not let it kill one; rather, one has to keep going.”
Kuti also stated that her husband had understanding and supportive despite her busy schedule. She added, “My husband has been so much of a blessing. I have been on locations for months. I have been on the set of a TV series, ‘Borokini’ for seven months. We only come home on weekends. I come home on Saturdays and return Monday morning. I was away from the house for about seven months on that project. My husband is such a wonderful man, who is very understanding. In relationships, love is not enough. Understanding is what makes a relationship work between a man and his wife; not love. It is that understanding that has kept us going and kept our marriage intact. I have known my husband for 23 years and we have been married for over 20 years. We are still going strong. We are still friends because we understand each other.”