26/07/2025
🟣🔴 How We Met
🔹Gaise Baba and Funto Ibuoye
We met on October 20, 2012 at a seminar organized by Steve Harris. It was tagged ‘Business of Your Talent’. I was a participant while she volunteered and was at the registration table, so she was the very first person I saw on getting to the venue. She was definitely beautiful, petite, smallish and all bubbly with smiles and laughter even on top ordinary registration; who born me not to take note!
The Headies Awards were later that night so I had to leave rather early but I ensured I got her Blackberry PIN before leaving. We started chatting I think the next day and we were almost always chatting those first weeks; we obviously liked each other and we both knew it.
We had to wait though. She was in a relationship not very long before, and I needed to be absolutely sure ‘this’ was IT. I remember telling her December 31 that same year that I couldn’t get into any relationship for 6months or even possibly up to a year, also because I was fresh out of one. She was hurt and she didn’t hide it, but her final response after some preamble was,
“Love is patient… 1 year right? !
The next 6 months were tough, really tough! We deleted ourselves on BBM, unfollowed on Twitter; just so we’re not in a pseudo-relationship while claiming to be waiting (I’d had enough of such in my lifetime, story for another day). But still we’d both stalk each other’s TLs on twitter, post a few subs, and I’d steal a visit once every while.
All this time I was praying, searching scriptures. I wanted to be sure, I needed to be sure, needed something to hold on to. My close friends and those who’ve known me for quite a while will understand why; I’ve fallen in and out of love quite a few times, even I was tired. So I needed something beyond myself and claim of love, and so I decided I’ll go for the Word. And thank God I did, because I found. Not one scripture, not two, but three!
Then on Saturday July 27 2013, our seventh month of waiting, our relationship began. The first five months were a mix of ups and downs though, largely due to our strong personalities. This was when those scriptures were of great help, they helped me (and by extension, us) through the hard times, the emotionally dry times when you don’t feel anything at all, the clashing of egos, ‘strong-head’ and all other causes of ‘fights’ in relationships.
As we turned the year, iron had sharpened iron, and like sandpaper smoothens and fine-tunes a rough surface, we improved, matured and became wiser in our dealings; I learnt to be more selfless and she became more submissive, not trying to enforce a point like before. We could have given up at several points but we didn’t; we worked at it and worked it out. That’s why we’re here today!
By February I was ready to propose. It was Valentine’s season but I chose to do it 2 days earlier as I felt Valentine’s Day would be too predictable. So I made an artwork of her, got a bouquet of flowers and of course the engagement ring. I chose her office as the venue and I’d told one of the guards ahead as I was going to need him too.
So February 12, myself, my best friend (who’d later be my best man), and David, my guitar-playing baritone-voiced friend set out for her office on Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja. I arrived and dropped the artwork and flowers with the guard. While my guys hid close-by. I called her to come give me her iPad, that I needed it for a meeting on the island, just to get her to leave her desk. While with me, the guard went in to place the items on her table. I ‘left’ and she returned to an already agog office with everyone screaming! By then myself and my guys come into the reception, David already strumming his guitar and singing along, and the deed was done! A colleague of hers actually recorded the latter part with his phone.
Well, today we are happily married and blessed with children. It's been an amazing journey so far.
